Leading Narratives

  The Alchemist is a novel by Brazilian author Paulo Coelho first published in 1988. Originally written in Portuguese, it has been translated into at least 67 languages as of October 2009. An allegorical novel, The Alchemist follows a young Andalusian shepherd named Santiago in his journey to Egypt, after having a recurring dream of finding treasure there. The book is an international bestseller. It has sold more than 65 million copies in 56 different languages, becoming one of the best-selling books in history and setting the Guinness World Record for most translated book by a living author. It is recommended by Will Smith, Julia Roberts, Bill Clinton, Oprah, and many others. Empower yourself to dream.   Above all else, The Alchemist is about the power and importance of following your dreams. Before you can follow a dream, however, you have to actually have a dream. And to have a dream, you must want or desire something – whether it be an object, a place, a person, or something else –

  A recurring theme from elderly people in their last years of life was to follow your dreams. Studies have shown that older people who tried to achieve their dreams were happier with their lives. None of us will ever achieve all of our dreams. If we do, we will just make up new ones! If we go for it, we can at least say at the end, "I tried!" instead of, "Why didn't I at least try?"  --Adapted from marshallgoldsmithlibrary.com A Season In Words: A Coach's Guide To Motivation From The Preseason To The Postseason © ​Contains Over 2000 Quotes For Coaches Of All Sports by Dan Spainhour Product Details Paperback; 154 pages ISBN: 978-1461187592 Dimensions: 10 x 8 x 0.3 inches ​ Buy Now (Print) $19.95 Instant Download (PDF) $11.95 Get Both The Book & The Download $29.95

I got a call from a coach from a neighboring county who wanted to visit to discuss how I got my players to play so hard. I had never met the coach but he had watched our team play and had heard from other coaches how hard our teams played.  According to him, I have a reputation for getting young people to play harder than a lot of other teams. I’m not completely sure it’s justified because there are several times during every season when I don’t think my team is giving everything they have. But I agreed to meet with the coach. He came in with a list of prepared questions such as are there any specific drills that we do, do we punish our team more than others or how many sprints do we make our players run. He was searching for the one thing that would make his players work harder. Throughout the conversation, I explained that I didn’t think there was any one thing we did. I believe that young people have to see themselves as being part of something bigger than themselves. A part of a co

A young couple moved into a new neighborhood. The next morning while they were eating breakfast, the young woman saw her neighbor hanging the washing outside. “That laundry is not very clean; she doesn’t know how to wash correctly. Perhaps she needs better laundry soap.” Her husband looked on, remaining silent. Every time her neighbor hung her washing out to dry, the young woman made the same comments. A month later, the woman was surprised to see a nice clean wash on the line and said to her husband, “Look, she’s finally learned how to wash correctly. I wonder who taught her this?” The husband replied, “I got up early this morning and cleaned our windows.” And so it is with life. What we see when watching others depends on the clarity of the window through which we look. So don’t be too quick to judge others. Leading Narratives:  The perfect collection of stories, jokes, and wits of wisdom for leaders By Dan Spainhour Paperback 6 x 9; 124 pages $24.95 Buy Now