In April of 2024, the NCAA wrapped up both men’s and women’s college basketball tournaments. The NCAA tournament is such an exciting event filled with school pride, excitement, twists and turns, and eventually a champion. Well, many people get caught up in the hoopla of the teams and upsets and things like that, I tend to focus on the officials. As a former men’s basketball official, I am rooting for the men and women in the stripes.
And how do they do their best when it matters most? How do the teams perform at the highest level when it is needed the most? All the games are important but you can’t make them special. Here are a few tips for you to be at your best when it matters the most:
#1: Don’t make it special. You have graduations, parent meetings, ceremonies, assemblies, and different events over the course of the school year. They are all important but don’t make it that this is the most special one. This is the thing that is going to make or break you. Do a good job at all the things that you do, but don’t make them special.
#2: Take care of yourself during the journey. If you are dragging into that graduation ceremony because you haven’t slept, you haven’t eaten, you are nervous about your speech and it was a long school year, you were not going to perform at your best. Hydrating, wearing comfortable shoes, putting a smile on your face, and trying to enjoy the journey along the way are important components of taking care of yourself. Remember it’s a marathon, not a sprint.
#3: In the mirror, practice in your car, rehearse on the stage. Be prepared for that event, that meeting, the event that is on your mind that you want to do a good job. Maybe it’s a controversial assembly with the kids regarding a new cell phone policy? Maybe it is a contentious negotiation with a business group or education association. Whatever it is where you need to perform, prepare your slides, prepare yourself, and be ready for the event.
#4: Talk to yourself. Take some time to reflect. Envision yourself doing a good job, you will. Tell yourself that you will do a good job and you will. I like to put my right hand up and touch my pointer finger to my thumb and say “I”, my middle finger to my thumb and say “can”, my ring finger to my thumb and say “do” and lastly my pinky to my thumb, and say “this”. “I can do this.”
I tell myself I can do it and then I envision myself doing the thing that I want to do.
Many years ago before I arrived in Port Jervis I had my first administrative job. It was an alternative school in Northern Jersey. The school was made up of young people who were expelled from their traditional school and were placed at an alternative school. They were bused to the location.
I was nervous as heck. The school bus pulled up and my knees were shaking, and I wasn’t sure what I was about to get myself into as the kids approached, I told myself that I would do a good job. I’d be a great leader for these kids and the school. I put a smile on my face, took a deep breath, and jumped in.
It all worked out. I made it through that year and was able to land in Port Jervis and be an administrator for the last 20 years! It’s been a great journey. Surviving & thriving through it all.
Over the years, there have been countless important events and this is how I treated them: important, but not special. When you have a mentality of “this is it this is my chance, it’s now or never, it’s do or die”, you’re looking at it the wrong way. Approach it and tell yourself “I’m gonna do a great job in this event right now.”
Lastly, I will leave you with one of my favorite affirmations/mindsets. It’s magic. It’s called the 5SW’s. Put these in your pocket as you are on your journey this school year and beyond.
Sometimes it will * Sometimes it won’t * So what * Someone’s waiting * So stick with it!
