WIN THE DAY

There are a ton of sayings in the game of football, many of which can be applied to everyday life. I remember playing high school football myself and painting the phrase "Pain is Temporary; Pride is Forever" on my locker as a daily reminder of the reason why I was subjecting myself to the pain of the game everyday, so that I could have just a little bit of immortality in my high schools football lure.
I am sure that no matter what sport you played, or even in the business you chose to be in, your coaches, bosses, etc all has some sort of mantra or catchphrase they use. You yourself may have one that has special meaning to you.
I have a few that I have seen used in various programs, and that now as a coach I preach to my players, hoping that one will stick with them.  I think of Coach Schiano's T. B. A. (Trust Belief Accountability) as one that resonates with me. Another that Rutgers uses, but I believe started somewhere else is F.A.M.I.L.Y. (Forget About Me I Love You). 
My favorite though, that I find myself saying the most, ending every tweet and facebook post with #wintheday or simply #WTD figuring that everyone knows it by now.

As http://storylineblog.com/2011/01/10/win-the-day-inspiring-words-from-an-inspiring-coach/ details:

"Kelly preaches a single message to his team, and it’s this: Win the day. Who cares about tomorrow, who cares about yesterday, all that is demanded of you is that you win the day. That means have an excellent practice, that means have an excellent day of rest, that means every hour of every day, be there, be present. That also means do not think about the National Championship, just think about today, just get up and do your work."

Who can this message not apply to? I can think of twenty ways that it applies to myself on a daily basis, and if I stop when parts of the day become overwhelming, or when an uncertain future become overwhelming, and just take a breath and remember that all I am trying to do is just win this moment, so I can just win this day, everything becomes just a little bit easier to handle.

Hopefully as a coach I can get my players to buy into the same philosophy; to not worry about their grade for the whole semester, but just about getting the best grade or doing the best homework they can on that particular day; to not worry about winning a state championship, but winning the small battles of a daily practice that will eventually lead them to that promised land. And in the end even if they do not reach that lofty peak, they can look back and be proud knowing that they won so many times along the way.

So now I ask, what quotes or mantras guide you? And remember do your best to........................