Mental Toughness

I can recall as an athlete being told to have mental toughness and even coaching players saying the same thing.  What is mental toughness?

How can one have mental toughness without first being taught how to do so?

Here are a few quick tips on mental toughness that can apply to athletes, coaches, employees, managers, leaders or even children:

1. Define your Identity: Know who you are.  Know who you are capable of.  Know what your strengths are.  Know what your weaknesses are.  Write these things down and be confident in them.
2. Repetition is the pre-requisite to Confidence.  You will be confident in something you do repeatedly (even if it is the wrong thing).  I have seen players take bad shots and they are confident in those shots, because its what they have always done.  I have seen children not get their way and throw a tantrum because it has worked in the past to get there way, so they keep doing it.  So when you see these bad habits - redirect them to what is appropriate.  Then repeat this and have them repeat the correct habits.  This could take weeks, months or even a few years before you see a change.  You will know that their confidence has shifted when you no longer have to redirect, that they are self led.
3. Confidence in your own identity and gifts will be huge keys in this next one which is Cooperate with others.  Collaboration or better known as Team Work in today's world, because we cannot expect to have success in life - alone.  How can a team be successful if the people within are jealous and manipulative and trying to tear one another down.  The ability to work with others, be confident in your own identity and appreciate other's strengths - is pivotal in our life.  We must be ok with others having success.  We must also be empathetic when others have pain and do what we can to help them keep moving forward.

These three steps will position anybody for mental toughness.  Like I tell each player I have ever coached - anybody can be mentally tough during good times or when you are up by 20 points in a game.  The true test of your mental toughness will be when adversity comes and everything looks like it will fall apart.  Will you know who you are in that moment?  Will you have confidence in what you have been doing and practicing?  Will you work with others to make sure you overcome this?

Mental toughness is not developed overnight.  Nor is is practiced enough in our world today and when we experience hard times, we begin to question who we are?  Why are we even doing this?  DO NOT BECOME A VICTIM TO THIS WAY OF THINKING. 

Take intentional steps today by being transformed in your mind and renewing the way you think!

#BeBlessed

KBJ

Learning Styles

As promised, I want to expand on my previous post about the 4 different learning styles according to the VARK model.  VARK is an acronym for Visual, Aural, Read/Write and Kinesthetic as the four main learning domains.  My first year as a head coach, I decided to have each player take this quick 5 minute test that helps me see how they best learn.  As I went on through the years of coaching, I studied them so well, now I can pickup on someones learning style simply through conversation and hearing their tendacies.  I have also become more observant and I watch when the light bulb goes off so I can make a mental note to help with teaching those individuals.  You can learn more about the VARK learning styles here: http://vark-learn.com/

For creating a positive learning environment, it is important that as a leader, teacher or coach you are aware that everyone learns in different ways and at different speeds.  I want to write this blog to be more about how to implement and apply these learning styles.  Have each player and coach take a learning style survey so you can better understand how to get information across to your team.  What is the value in understanding your player's learning style?  Most of the time, there is a short amount of time that a team has to get everybody on the same page or to make a quick adjustment in a time out or half time, so knowing your player's learning styles will help with how you communicate.  Once you discover your learning style as a player or coach, here are some tips for coaching each learning style:

1. For the Visual Leaner, make sure to draw the play up for them to see first.  Also, in practices when introducing drills - have someone else do a walk through so they can see what it looks like first.  Also, watching film is the best teacher for the visual learner.  Film of them in practices or games helps this learning style a ton!  So the more visual aids you can find to get across the play, lesson, scout etc.  --- the better!
2. For the Audio Learner, you will need to perfect your ability to articulate exactly what you mean.  You know the saying - "Say what you mean and mean what you say."  This is so vital for the audio learner because they learn based on hearing.  One thing in particular that I have learned with this learning style is that open dialogue and discussion is so necessary to limit and control when bringing forward new information.  Here is why - this is their primary form of learning and they will learn the wrong information or get confused if there is not a clear concise message they hear.  These learners probably enjoy songs with lessons or even audio books as a form of learning.  
3. Read/Write Learners can retain information better the more they read or write it.  These learners are almost self taught and probably enjoy online classes as they are able to read information and comprehend it without anyone actually reading it to them.  Another thing that helps this learner is TAKING NOTES!  The more they write or read over the notes, the more they will understand.
4. Kinesthetic Learners are at their best learning when they can actually do something or engage in it.  Now - do not be deceived, just because they are kinesthetic does not mean they can do something once and learn it.  For instance, when coaching a kinestheic learner, they may have to do the same drill multiple times before they can understand how to do a particular skill.  The kinesthetic learner's best friend will be repetition!!!  For these learners - homework can be so beneficial for them to do because the more they do it, the more they will comprehend it.

This blog was written with the intent to help anyone that is in a leadership position as being someone that needs to teach or coach people from different backgrounds.  Please keep in mind that all people learn at different SPEEDS as well!!!  So just because an audio learner hears something once, does not mean they get it.  Remember that no matter what learning style your team has - they all need repetitions.  

As a coach, once I got a hold of really appreciating these learning styles I was able to create environments that would accommodate these different learners.  Another reason my teams play so hard for me and my players give me such great effort is because they UNDERSTAND what I am saying.  Not because of me being a "great coach" but really more because I am compassionate and understanding that not everyone learns the same way.  So I must be sensitive to them individually.  Preseason is so vital to teams bonding and really understanding my expectations as a coach.  So I must intentionally create practices, meetings and film sessions that engage all learning styles so that each one of my players is able to grow and learn our team identity and style of play. 

HOW?

We give each player a hard copy of our first 5 plays to start the season.  We will have a class where we walk through drawing up each play and each option out of the plays based on how the defense guards it.  This really appeals to the read/write learner.  Then we would show the team video footage of practices and how we see them and ask a very plain question - "Is this your best effort?" They would always say no.  So this is an opportunity to show more raw film and they get to see themselves from a third party perspective.   This appeals to our visual learner and trust me, in our next practice, their effort is on a different level.  Another thing we always do the day of learning any new drill or play, I always verbally explain what is about to happen (for our audio learners) then we walk through it  (for the kinesthetic learners) which helps everyone get another visual of our new play.  I hope that these nuggets help somebody improve in some kind of way. 

Creating a Learning Environment

I just want everyone to know that we are extremely grateful for the opportunity to take some time off from blogging and be renewed mentally.  This time as allowed both Kevin and myself to be able to reflect on KBJ Academy and our current needs we see.  We noticed that our audience has expanded beyond the sports world and we have gained attention from not only players or coaches but also college students, children, teachers and parents.  The fact that you read our blog is a blessing to us and we do not take it for granted.  We appreciate your continued support.



During this time off, Kevin and I have been able to travel hosting various camps such as the men's Top 100.  We have also been serving on a 1 on 1 level with our skills training sessions.  Our most recent visit was to the University of Texas at Arlington for a team building retreat.  The staff there is truly first class and the team is amazing!  Check out this video for some high lights of the day:

Special thanks to @KBJAcademy for working with our team today! #TeamBonding #DecideToDance pic.twitter.com/jD0ptO0YvJ

— Lady Mav WBB (@LadyMavHoops) October 23, 2017

We are about to have our second empowering conference that we really believe is the beginning of some powerful things God wants to do through us.  Our goal with this conference is to Empower Men to win in the mind, body and spirit so they can be confident to be the man God has created them to be.  You can look at our Empowered Men's page here to read more about it or reserve your seat: kbjacademy.com/empowered but trust me, you won't want to miss it this Friday!

As we travel and help other people WIN in their goals and aspirations, we had a very interesting dialogue that I want to blog about and share:

Creating a Learning Environment
I have more than 10 years of teaching and coaching in various environments ranging from Pre-Kindergarten all the way to college.  So my youngest child I have ever taught was 3 and in PreK and my....most seasoned student in college was 63.  I must admit that I have quite a unique perspective on the learning environment and I have been able to create it in classrooms, locker rooms, basketball courts and meetings.  I found that certain tools help me in running businesses such as KBJ Academy and TRSS Mentoring as well as coaching players and teaching students of various ages.

1. Connect with each PERSON and Create a Sense of Belonging: I love the quote "People don't care how much you know until they know how much you care" by Theodore Roosevelt.  As I am on a quest to create a learning environment I want each person to belong and know that they matter to me. I try to get to know their names, immediate family and something unique about them that they love.  Another way to connect is:
2. Listen Actively: Most people listed with the intent to refute.  I listen with the intent to hear you.  This helps with giving the most accurate response or in the case of my Kindergarten class - those sweet babies just want to be heard!  So most of the time they just want my undivided attention.  So I give it to them.  I start each morning with allowing them a few minutes to play a game of their choice, then gather them on the carpet for circle time and they get to tell me all about their favorite thing they did last night.  THIS SETS A STANDARD!  It is an unspoken message that says what they have to say matters.  As I begin any lesson or instruction I have shown them what respect looks and sounds like.  So if they do not reciprocate this to me, I remind them "Remember when you talked about how much you loved going to the fair yesterday and I listened to you and gave you eye contact the whole time you spoke and never interrupted you?"  They answer "YES."  So I can finish with "Now its my turn to teach a lesson and I need you to show me the same respect as I showed you."  Almost 99% of the time, they comply immediately. 
3. KNOW Your Audience: I heard my Pastor - Sheryl Brady say this at her annual Mentorship Moments conference this past week and it confirmed the value of this concept.  Even in her setting as a professional speaker and pastor she understands she is a teacher and one thing she taught was "KNOW YOUR AUDIENCE."  I typically start my day working as a Kindergarten teacher serving 4-5 year old children.  After work, I may have a skills training session with high school level student-athletes ages from 15-17.  On weekends I serve at church in the 7-8 year old class.  So as you probably guess, each place that I transition in and out of, I must know the audience that I will be teaching for that time. I cannot teach my 17 year old the same way I would a 4 year old.  Besides ages - you have to consider learning styles and frame of reference. 
4. Accommodate EACH LEARNING STYLE in some way in every lesson:  I plan to dig deeper into the LEARNING STYLES and how knowing them can make or break you as a teacher/coach in the next week.  Be looking out for that blog because it is something that I keep circling back to when mentoring other teachers or parents - each person has a difference learning style.  You cannot lecture a primarily visual learner for long and expect them to retain most of the information.  The visual learning needs to see it.  So find a way to incorporate at least the four primary learning styles: Visual, Auditory, Read/Write or Kinesthetic (According to the Neil Fleming's VARK model)  THIS WAS A GAME CHANGER FOR ME AS A COACH!  This helped with teaching plays and scouting reports - understanding my team and coaching staff's learning styles. While considering learning styles also take into account that even once you grab a hold of their style, we all learn at different speeds.  Consider possible disabilities and be mindful of language barriers for students who's first language was not English.  Teaching can be overwhelming to someone who does not know to make room for all these variables. 
5. Have a PLAN: As a teacher you have curriculum, as a coach you have a practice plan, as a business owner you should have an agenda for every meeting you conduct. Not having a plan opens the door for chaos!  It opens you up to possibilities of being sidetracked or going longer than expected.  It is also a measuring tools for you to have record of topics discussed.  I'll switch gears and tell you about my experience coaching.  Five years I lead three different college programs and changed losing cultures to winning cultures.  I was instrumental in the hiring of my successor at each school I left because they trusted my input.  More importantly than my input, I left a notebook and clear cut plan of how I navigated my time at each program to the next coach along with a blue print of how I planned each season, game and practice.  These tools were valuable in making sure that these programs were in better condition than when I started there.  Making a plan is not to keep you in bondage and control you - instead it is to help guide you and give clear cut direction to everyone that is with you!  Players would come into the gym at least an hour prior to practice to get warm and get some shots up because they knew that when practice time started - we were rolling and we had expectations from the tip!  I noticed that players looked for this plan and would ask questions like "Any new drills today coach?"  When you hear these kinds of questions - you have set a standard that learning is the expectation and they come in looking forward to the day.
6. Articulate the GOAL:  One things I know is that the season is long!  Yet in the blink of an eye its over.  You may set goals formally with your team, you may just verbally say "We want to win."  In whatever way you choose - I think it is necessary to set goals for not only every season, but also for every game and we even broke it down by quarter.  So by the end of the first quarter we wanted 10 defensive stops!  We even had goals in practice.  We want to make 100 lay-ups in 2 minutes.  These players know that they can't walk to meet this goal.  The same is true for my classroom.  I tell my 4-5 year olds what the goal is "Today I want everybody focused and engaged for our reading lesson because I am going to ask a few questions afterwards and I'm going to pick somebody to answer.  So lets pay attention to this story." You would be surprised how simply articulating a goal will captivate CHILDREN and grab their attention.  No punishment attached and no incentive either - simply a GOAL to FOCUS!When dealing with children I believe that talking to them and have the same consistent expectations creates a normalcy that they will adjust to and live out.  I believe they learn best when it is made clear to them that running inside is not safe for them or anyone else.  
7. Evaluate and Give FEEDBACK: Now I wrote about feedback almost a year ago and I still hold true to my beliefs on the necessity of it.  Please read this post about the difference between feedback vs. constructive criticism because I truly believe it will broaden your perspective on how you engage with your students, players or employees.  Feedback is necessary for creating a learning environment because a huge part of the learning process is oftentimes re-teaching.  Feedback given with love can open your students up to want to learn more.  This is going to either strengthen or break your trust how you handle it so be cautious.  As you assess and evaluate each person's execution of your direction, be ready to give them accurate feedback on their ability.  

As always, my goal is to help teachers, coaches, managers, maybe even parents create a learning environment where learning is expected by your subordinates.  I hope that you believe in life long learning because as you continue to grow in knowledge so will all those who follow you.  Please share this article with somebody and feel free to comment back your thoughts.  

#BeBlessed 

The Play

 A "play" in sports is nothing but a standardize way to play the game of the sport that's being played.  Within a play, there are a lot of elements that go into performing a play.  Different elements that go into performing a play is formation, what action is being performed in the play, and what are all options in the play that should be looked at in attempting to reach team goals in the game.  Coaches, what is your play?  How does your team learn all elements that make up the play?  For example, any business or organization you work for have policies.  Policies are the "plays" within an organization.  Procedures are the elements that employees learn to make policies work and without procedure, there is no policy, without policy, there's no reason for procedure.  How will your team be successful?

Formation
What are your formations within your play?  Your players must know the bases of your plays so they can get a clearer picture of how the play should be ran.  For example, in basketball on offense you may have a play call based on a 3 out 2 in formation.  Can your players articulate that the formation of the play is 3 out 2 in? Strengthening a player's IQ in this area will always help for better execution of the play being ran to reach team goals.  Different ways to help players with this would be film, repetition in practice, or constant teaching of different types of formations and the breakdowns of them.

The Action Performed In The Play
What's the action you are trying to accomplish within the flow of your play?  This is another IQ stretcher right here.  Your players need to understand what action is going on within a play they need to read and react to.  For example, in basketball, ball screens may be the action that you want to accomplish within your play.  Can your players articulate it?  You must break down all different areas of the action, (ball screens) you are looking for to your players.  Repetition is key with this as well.  The more players understand, the more effective the play will be.

What Are The Options Players Can Use
What options are you looking for your players to find within your play?  It's always good to have multiple options to hit within the flow of plays for your players to execute at a high level.  Before players can understand options, they must understand the formation and the actions within the play.  Here again, increasing a player's IQ with teaching and repetition will help your players know all options to hit within a play.  You can't put all your eggs in one basket!

     Now that we have discussed three elements within a "play," remember what was mentioned in the first paragraph; "a play is nothing but a standardize way to play the game."  As much teaching and repetition that goes into players being equipped with all the different elements of a play to run that play to perfection, a key phrase to remember is "play the game."  Coaches, players can run plays more freely to showcase their talent within the play if you break down the play so they can "play."

Positioning to Win

Have you positioned your team to Win?

The worst feeling in the world, is to feel alone.  Especially in battle.  Could you imagine going out for the biggest fight of your life.....alone?

That's the mindset of a person who has not yet embraced the team mentality.  In sports - unity and teamwork is often discussed but not as frequently achieved.  In the recent trends of increased transfers, there is an epidemic of not feeling a part of a team.  Think about it - if they truly embraced being a part of a team, would the words "transfer" ever come across their lips?

How can you as a coach position your team to win?  Of all the great intrinsic values gained from playing sports, the top quality that every player and coach gain that will serve them in the rest of their lives is TEAMWORK!  Teaching your team how to WORK as a TEAM is easier said than done but once achieved can yield great results.  Here are some tips to teaching TEAMWORK:

1. Discover what your player's strengths are? - Position each player based on their strength.  This increases confidence, morale and commitment!  Helps players take ownership when they know they are trusted to do something they are good at.  Win-Win situation!
2. Discover what your player's learning styles are? - Try to reach each learning style in everything you teach.  For instance: When teach new plays, we always give hard copies of the plays in each player's playbook, we talk about how to execute each play in practice, we allow each player to get multiple repetitions in practice then we go back and watch the film of the plays to study together.  
3. Determine who your leaders are.  This may take some trial and error as some players tend to be one way in front of you and another way when you are not around.  Once you find authentic leaders - you will need to develop their leadership to lead to YOUR expectations.  Everybody's idea of leadership is not the same but once you get on the same page, this will benefit you because True Leaders ensure the team is a team on and off the court!  For example: My sophomore year in college, I was voted team captain and we were on a strict curfew all season long.  My teammates asked me to ask our head coach if we could all go to the club to celebrate our record breaking season, which I did.  The head coach allowed us to go and told me that I was responsible for everyone going and coming back to the dorms.  I didn't understand it then, but now I see that my coach was showing me that the BEST teams stick together on and off the court!  
4. Decide what your goals are as a group and who is willing to step into necessary roles to achieve these goals.  Goal setting is so much deeper than saying "We want to win."  Once goals are outlined, ask players who is willing to do what it takes to reach this goals.  If your team wants to average 40 rebounds per game, then make it personal right then ---- ASK "How many rebounds are you getting as an individual?" Each player should take ownership as their own contribution to these goals.  This is how you get commitment from players to give consistent WORK to the team's overall production.
5. Last piece of advice for teaching TEAMWORK: Incorporate camaraderie with your players.  Create a chant, cheer or secret hand clap to players to get excited about one another's success.  Set the standard by acknowledging when a player executes direction or a play that gives them success with a high five or clapping for them.  The more players see you get excited, the more they will get excited.  Camaraderie is a learned behavior but once developed will create a sisterhood that will help sustain you through the wins and losses to stick together.  

A lot of people say that winning cures everything, but it actually can cover up things that need to be addressed and give a false sense of success.  I believe that the true test of a team that is positioned to win is when you lose.  How do you respond? Are you blaming people?  Do you look for the quick fix?  Are you ready to give up?  A team that is Positioned to Win will respond to adversity by taking responsibility, correcting their mistakes and choosing to put the work in to change the results immediately.  They don't play the blame game, instead they encourage one another to make the necessary adjustments in order to Win Again.

Check out more blogs and motivational podcasts on kbjacademy.com for free!

Community

One thing that I always enjoyed about playing sports was being apart of something that was bigger than me.  I truly believe that anyone who has ever been apart of a team, understands how that dynamic can help you get through the highs and lows of life.  You draw closer together during loss and you celebrate with each other when you succeed. Things that seem impossible alone, become attainable when we know someone is there to support us.  It becomes your community.

As we continue to grow older, we move at times and join new communities.  We have some people leave our communities.  I believe one of the most valuable things we can create in any job, school or neighborhood is to establish a sense of community.  When you have a community, you have unity. You have people who care for one another.  You will also have people that support you even when you feel like giving up.  The best part about a community is that you are never alone.  You have people that look forward to seeing you and miss you when you are gone.  Who doesn't want to belong to a community?  We were created to connect with one another.

We at KBJ Academy are working on building our community and we want you to know what we are doing.  Your support is appreciated by both of us - Kevin & Brenita Jackson.  We want to support your business, family, work, church or school just as much as you have for us.

How can we stay connected?  You can E-mail us at kbjacademy to subscribe to our e-mail list.  You can also connect with us on Facebook.  Also you can call or text 469-844-8KBJ anytime.  Thank you again for supporting the KBJ community!

Training

One of the most under-appreciated acts of preparation in the work place today is training.  If you think about the typical year for an athlete, they spend all year long preparing for just a few games where they will actually perform.  With each college basketball season, teams have 30 guaranteed games to play.  The amount of training that goes into preparing players for the season is happens daily throughout the year!

College Basketball Season Breakdown:

Off Season: May - July

Weekly Individual Training; Weekly Team Practices; Weekly Weight Training and Conditioning

Pre-Season: August - October

Daily Individual Training; Daily Team Practices; Daily Weight Training and Conditioning

Season: November - March

Daily Team Practices; Team Meetings with Scouting Reports and Game Plans; Weight Training a couple days per week; Games twice a week or more

Post Season: March - April

This is the time of the year every team has prepared for.  PLAY OFFS!  Win or go home.  The teams that win - advance in the regional and national tournaments.  This is the most important time of the year to every team.  

My question is, what if we prepared our employees in the same way that coaches prepare their athletes?  What if training our team of employees took priority to leadership all over this world?  Our businesses would thrive if they were being conditioned the way that athletes are.  Companies would have much higher morale and unity among their staff members IF the value in training was understood the way coaches use it.  

Think about it.  Coaches never schedule a game without first practicing.  So as a business owner, you cannot expect to put an employee on the job and expect high performance regardless of their experience or background without training them first.  No matter someone's credentials, they still need training on your company's expectations and processes.  As a coach, we don't say "this player was an All-American in high school so she/he doesn't need to practice."  Those kids still need to learn our way of playing the game.  They need to learn our system.  

In conclusion, I encourage all companies/businesses to review their value in training their employees with the following strategies:

1. Train like a coach: Training should be consistent and practical.  Make each expectation clear and concise to your subordinates.  Coaches need to be present and engaged at all practices just like managers should be.  Keep expectations fair and attainable.
2. Lead by example: Do not expect your subordinates to be organized and meet deadlines if you do not first give them all the necessary tools to succeed.  You cannot expect a person to make lemonade out of bananas - so give them what they need which is your example to them.
3.  Give Feedback: In a post back in November, we published a blog about feedback and the proper way to execute Feedback.  Please read the entire post, but the overall theme with feedback is to not to give constructive criticism because it is still criticism.  Instead, the objective is to feed them the knowledge or insight necessary to complete the task.  Remind yourself that they are not to the level of comprehension that you are - so be patient with them.  You are a teacher of the sport so teach and re-teach them what you know.
4. Affirm the good behavior to see it be replicated and reciprocated:  I'm telling you what I know!  When you give affirmations of correct actions, you will see it again and again.  Others will do it because they want to hear the same affirmations.  It will be reciprocated when players start seeing each other do the right things and acknowledge one another in their right actions.  I even had players tell me during a time out "good play coach."  This is the affirmation being reciprocated because I have set a tone that we don't just correct, we also uplift!  In running a business, your employees will mirror the behavior that is affirmed as correct.  Their confidence will increase as you acknowledge what they are doing right.  Still give necessary correction through teaching and training, but acknowledge what they have done correctly. 

TRSS Mentoring

Today was a blessing to see another chapter or KBJ Academy unfold.  This new chapter is called The Right Size Shoe which teaches young girls to trust God in all circumstances.  We are aware that young people are pressured by society to fit in.  We want to empower them to find their identity in Christ where they can find all confidence and reassurance in what God has created them to be.

If you want more information on the #TRSS mentor program developed by KBJ Academy, visit the following link. #TRSS

Rebound To Win

With March Madness in Full Swing and the Final Four Basketball Championship soon approaching, I wanted to put out a post that speaks to my passion for basketball.  My love for the game started over 17 years ago and one skill that always stuck with me is Rebounding.  I was taught by my first coach, that no matter how tall or small you might be, ANYBODY can rebound.  So I set my mind to rebound as a player.

A rebound is what we call a missed shot.  So after every missed shot, there is a rebound that players battle to get to.  I learned quickly, that by keeping my eyes on the ball, I was able to see the rebound quickly and get to it before anyone else.  I was taught by my coach in high school to assume every shot is a miss - so pursue the basketball expecting to get the rebound.  This strategy stuck with me even into coaching.  As a coach, I studied some of the best teams in the country - Tennessee's dynasty with Pat Summit was a great rebounding team.  UConn's dynasty under Geno Auriemma is still a great rebounding team.  These are just two of my favorite programs to study and watch play because they rebound so well.  I began to develop my rebounding philosophy and teach the craft in much greater detail.  These are the steps and techniques that can help any team improve by Rebounding to Win:

1. See the man and the ball at the same time!  
2. Say "SHOT" on every shot to remind your body and your teammates.
3. Box out by putting your body on your opponent's body with two hands high in the air.
4. Pursue the ball with two hands and two feet (Explode up and Land on Balance).
5. Finish it by chinning it strong with elbows out.  

These five basic steps will lead to better rebounding.  We would practice rebounding everyday, during every drill.  As sure as shots are going up, rebounds are coming down.  We need to train our body to get to every rebound first.  Our goal was - no rebounds hit the ground!  If it does, we are not working!

To wrap up, I want to incorporate these same techniques into every day life because I believe that sports are a great way to teach life skills.  Lets say you take a "shot" which will simulate going to work, or maybe start a new job, take a test at school, or practice learning a new instrument.  In every thing we do, we may or may not succeed in it.  Let's say you go to work and get hit with a new project that seems overwhelming and you are off to a rocky start.  So in this situation, you can't just give up, walk away and give it to someone else to do.  You have to "Rebound" the missed assignment.  Let's break it down:

1. See your daily routine and your new project at the same time.
2. Say "I can do this" to remind yourself that you were given the task, because you can do it!
3. Box out any doubt in your mind that could prevent you from getting it right this time.
4. Pursue the project with confidence and commitment that you will succeed.
5. Finish it by reviewing and asking for help if you need it.

We all "MISS" sometimes in life, but don't give up and just walk away from what was meant for you!  Reevaluate your positioning, stance and timing then go back after it with these simple steps.  I hope you all continue to persevere on in life and remember to Rebound to Win!

Revamped - Sold OUT!

KBJ Academy is so humbled and thankful for all our supporters that believed God to do a mighty work through us.  It is with your help that we can move the Kingdom forward!  Our upcoming event Revamped for God's glory is currently sold out and only by the grace of God are we even able to have this event.  We have been chosen by the King of Kings and Revamped for His glory!

 If you want to be added to our mailing list to learn about future events so you do not miss out --- please email kbjacademy@gmail.com so we can connect.

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