The Slam Dunk Illiteracy Campaign!

I recently had the pleasure of participating in a powerful series of literacy and self-development seminars featuring former NBAer and Toronto Raptor, John Wallace that were designed to make a difference to Toronto/GTA youth!

The campaign ran from October 3-5, 2011 and reached more than 1,000 youth in that time period.

Wallace was drafted 18th overall in the 1996 NBA Draft by the New York Knicks. He went on to play eight seasons in the NBA and and two in Europe. In 1998 he was the runner up of the NBA Sixth Man of the Year Award while with the Toronto Raptors. John was also voted Community Service Man of the Year for his dedication to youth in the city of Toronto.

I've known John for quite some time and he's always had a deep appreciation for the city of Toronto from his playing days and has always wanted to give back to the city in some capacity.

Wallace is the co-founder of a youth mentoring company called, Winning Because I Tried and is joined by his partner, Modie Cox to deliver inspiring talks to young audiences.

Important messages that are taught include:

• The power of hard work and perseverance
• The value of education and literacy
• Learning to develop confidence in your abilities despite obstacles

John and Modie have a true passion to help today's youth reach their full potential. They bot
h came from challenging backgrounds and are committed to sharing their experiences in order to guide audiences on the right path.

The SLAM DUNK ILLITERACY campaign has been receiving rave reviews from Toronto schools and youth organizations:

“Thanks a lot for today. The event was amazing. What you guys were able to do was amazing.”

Lennox Cadore, Arts Program Manager - Urban Arts Toronto

The campaign also featured a book that I co-authored called, "Basketball Talk, The Way It Should Be!" It's an entertaining baller and celebrity quote book that makes reading fun and some of the proceeds are being donated to some of their charities, Epilepsy Halton Peel Hamilton and the ErinoakKids Foundation.

Overall, with poor literacy rates, bullying and lack of motivation rampant among today's youth, John and Modie's presentation aims to connect with young people most as risk and make them accountable and inspired to break through their challenges.

If you're interested in having The SLAM DUNK ILLITERACY campaign come to your school or organization, please feel free to contact:

DaveandAudley@TheBreakdownShow.com

See you on the court!

The 8 Causes of Persistence

Coach Bob Starkey of the LSU Lady Tigers wrote a great piece on his blog Hoop Thoughts about the importance of being persistent and identified 8 causes of it:



1. Definiteness of purpose
Knowing what one wants is the first and, perhaps, the most important step toward the development of persistence. A strong motive forces one to surmount many difficulties.

2. Desire
It is comparatively easy to acquire and to maintain persistence in pursuing the object of intense desire.

3. Self-reliance
Belief in one’s ability to carry out a plan encourages one to follow the plan through with persistence.

4. Definiteness of plan
Organized plans, even though they may be weak and entirely impractical, encourage persistence.
5. Accurate knowledge
Knowing that one’s plans are sound, based upon experience or observation, encourages persistence; “guessing” instead of “knowing” destroys persistence.

6. Cooperation
Sympathy, understanding, and harmonious cooperation with others tend to develop persistence.

7. Will-power
The habit of concentrating one’s thoughts upon the building of plans for the attainment of a definite purpose leads to persistence.

8. Habit
Persistence is the direct result of habit. The mind absorbs and becomes a part of the daily experiences upon which it feeds. Fear, the worst of all enemies, can be effectively cured by forced repetition of acts of courage. Everyone who has seen active service in war knows this.


See you on the court!

There's Only One Way To Finish

When the chips are stacked against us and the situation looks bleak, giving up is not an option - we have to see our goals through to the end.

Life is filled with countless challenges and how we choose to respond when things get difficult is entirely up to us.


Dan Green, the author of the motivational book "Finish Strong" joins the next episode of HCL Radio show to talk about the steps individuals can go through to achieve success in their personal and professional lives.

I asked Dan to provide an overview of what the Finish Strong mindset was all about.

Click here to listen to what he said.

Check out the the next episode of HCL Radio to hear more from Dan and the Finish Strong concept.



See you on the court!

I Got Drafted - So Now What?

The road to becoming a professional basketball player is a long one filled with hard work, sacrifice and commitment.

Every year, a handful of players have their dreams fulfilled when their names are announced on draft day.

In some cases, playing basketball professionally has been a life long goal. So you could just imagine the sense of relief to finally make it.

So you've made it, now what?

The "now what" part is important because while it's really easy to get caught up in the excitement of the moment, it doesn't stop there.

Life doesn't stop and nor should any of us. Being selected is one thing but staying there requires heart, effort and skill.

This could turn out to be just as hard if not harder than your original goal.

This is part of the reason why it's so important to continually set new goals once the old ones have been reached.

Setting new goals helps us to organize ourselves, maintain our focus and motivates us by providing a target to works towards.

So remember the next time you achieve a goal. - It doesn't stop there

Give yourself credit by celebrating but don't pat yourself on the back too long.

When you reach a goal, set a new one and continue to push forward.

Thanks for reading!

Audley

Homecourt Advantage

If you ask any basketball player about home court advantage, they'll probably tell you that the comforting feeling of performing in front of their fans is a definite advantage over their opponents.

An arena filled with 20,000 people making noise and screaming in support of the hometown squad is probably the ultimate psychological advantage.



While it may not guarantee a win it certainly helps swing the pendulum a bit further in your direction. Being at home eliminates the pressure of playing on the road, sleeping in a different bed or getting comfortable in a new enviorment.

But there are times when we have to produce outside of your comfort zone.

Staying within our boundaries of comfort and familiarity generally is the safe thing to do and takes the risk out of life.

However, it also limits us from being able to fulfill our goals and dreams.

Having goals and dreams allows us to think beyond our present circumstance and provides us with a tangible target we can visualize and works towards.




So, choosing not to challenge ourselves means that we've fallen into our old reliable habits and not giving our potential a chance.

There is another significant point to remember when we talk about our comfort zone. This area of familiarity is more than just a place of comfort, it also represents a happy, safe area that can renew recharge and relax us.

Therefore, if we challenge ourselves and expand our boundaries, we're also expanding our opportunities to be happier and safe more often.

What Can You Do?

Here are three things you can do to help you expand yourself:

1) Replace the phrase, "I wish I could" to "I will";

2) Try different ways of doing simple tasks. i.e. take a new route home;

3) Gain new perspectives by sharing with others

It's far easier to play in front of your home town fans but when you don't have the home court advantage, you have no other choice but to come out of your shell and get the road win.

Challenging yourself will help with your personal growth and perhaps get you one step closer to winning a title.


Thanks for reading!

Audley

The Game Plan

The NBA has had some special teams come together to form hardwood magic over the years.

The early Celtic squads of the 60's established a new brand of dominance the league never saw before by winning 11 championship titles in 13 years.

The city of Houston garnered the nickname "Clutch City" after their hometown Rockets delivered clutch performances in '94 & '95 to capture back-to-back NBA titles.

At one stretch, the Chicago Bulls had fans believing that they couldn't lose as they became the only team in NBA history to record 72 wins in a single season.

The accomplishments of these three teams were tremendous but only possible because they shared a common factor. The Celtics, Rockets and Bulls all had an established identity from the start.

This clear vision of who they were allowed them to understand their weaknesses and maximize their strengths. Management, coaches, players and athletic trainers were able to see the direction the team was headed and how they were going to get there.

Everybody knew what the game plan was from the start.



What Can It Do For Us?

This process of figuring out who you are as an individual can produce similar results with the exception of an NBA title. Taking an honest introspective look at ourselves does a few things for us:


1.It gives us the opportunity to evaluate the situations where we could take full advantage of our strengths and helps to better identify areas of improvement;

2. It allows us put our circumstances in better perspective and makes our boundaries and limitations clearer;

3. It assists with managing our personal relationships with others more effectively and specifically helps us to understand what we each can "bring to the table."

The difference between a good team and a great one is that great teams have a clear and established identity from the start. They know who they are, what they want to accomplish and how they plan on doing it.

THE MAIN PO!NT
This sense of clarity helps to put you in a better situation to achieve your goals while building on your strengths and addressing your weaknesses. As well, knowing where you fit in can go a long way towards figuring out the bigger picture.