Each year we give our team two books to read. We give them one in the summer and another one when basketball season begins. The summer book taps into something away from sport, usually academics or a self-development area. For example, this summer our book was "Up From Slavery," by Booker T. Washington. Our book this year for the basketball season will be "Talent is Never Enough" by John Maxwell. It is the perfect book for our team that has some talent but must continue to learn that indeed there is a lot of responsibility and hard work that goes with talent in order to achieve your potential.Duing the season, we will asign our team a section of the book to read and then give them a worksheet to complete. The thought behind the worksheet is to provoke thought and make sure they are understanding the lessons we want them to learn. Maxwell's book, as all of his are, his extremely well organized in the concepts that make them perfect for teaching our team.
Chapter 1 it titled: "Belief Lifts Your Talent" and the first paragraph reads:
The first and greatest obstacle to success for most people is their belief in themsevles. Once people figure out where their sweet spot is (the area where they are most gifted), what often hinders them isn't lack of talent. It's lack of trust in themselves, which is a self-imposed limitation. lack of belief can act as a ceiling on talent. However, when people believe in themselves, they unleash power in themselves and resources around them that almost immediately take them to a higher level. Your potential is a picture of what you can become. Belief helps you see the picture and reach for it.
