Millions of people across the world carry the wisdom of Lou Holtz throughout their daily lives…and that’s forgetting that he was a championship level college football coach, one of the best ever. He is one of the greatest leaders ever and so many of the stories he’s told me over the years have served as motivation that I can carry with me every day.
As part of Steiner Sports’ ongoing speaker series with the New York Yankees at Yankee Stadium, Lou shared some interested stories at a recent Q&A. There were two things in particular that struck me.
- Anything that happens to you in your life happens because of choices you make. Work hard and believe.
Lou wasn’t an obvious choice for football early in life. He grew up during the
Great Depression and no one in his family had ever gone to college…plus, he was a small guy. But, he developed a passion for the game of football and was able to take advantage of opportunities he had to get into coaching after he got one thing done: he had the belief that he could succeed. And, with that came a willingness to work hard to accomplish something.
- It’s crazy how things work out in your life.
You might not believe it today, but the opportunities you dream about are only a “tomorrow” away. Achieving your dreams is incredibly difficult, but putting in the hard work to get to where you want to be lends itself to one thing: luck. Getting those lucky, can’t-miss opportunities in your life means that someone else has taken notice to how you carry yourself and what kind of person you are. Always set yourself up for luck.
Some truly inspiring stuff from Lou:
