"Giving your ALL"

Throughout my life I have been coached to give my all and have coached my boys to give their all, but what does it really mean? In athletics it is a saying that is common from parents, teammates, and coaches alike, and is fundamental for the success of any team. Giving your all means to go all-in and do everything in your power to help your team succeed. I believe it also means to adopt the philosophy of your leader and put in the time and effort to represent that philosophy.

Over the past two years I have watched a group of young men exemplify what it means to “give your all.” They have put in hours of blood, sweat, and tears for me, their teams, their family, and their school. It was a selfless effort as a united group to succeed. They bought into the fact that if they did everything possible to get better individually that their team would be better for it, and they didnt care who got the credit. I always go back to the quote from John Wooden, “One hand washes the other” and when we seek to follow this motto, we will be successful and so will our company/team. It is a contagious attitude to give your all. As for my boys this year, it was almost always demanded by their parents, from the youngest player to the top player, that they give their all everyday. I loved this reinforcement from the parents to their athlete. However, it also opened the door for me to see the true meaning of giving your all and how non-existent it is in our world today.

In our lives how often do we “give our all?” Do we act as a selfless teammate? We preach it to our athletes and to our kids, but do we set the example? At work, how many hours of the day are we all-in? Do we give our all for the success of our company because we know it will make us a better individual? Or are we just showing up, clocking in, and clocking out? At home, men specifically, do we give our family our all? Or are we too busy or too tired from “work”? (See above, did we give our all at work?)

I believe this is a serious contributing factor to why America and our society is in the shape it is in today. I am challenging myself to not be this way and “give my all” in my endeavors with the hopes that it will positively affect my job, friendships, faith, and relationship. It our job as men and leaders to set examples for kids and others. By “going all-in” you can set the ultimate example.