The Nick Saban Philosophy

“Who you are is who you are everyday – Nick Saban”

Blog World – I’m Back. My time away from the blogosphere was bittersweet; however, it was time I needed for myself. During my two year hiatus from the blogosphere, I spent a lot of quality time doing the following: reading and studying about people I admire, reevaluating my personal goals, taking an honest inventory of my current lifestyle, and truly trying to understand how I can maximize my potential. While I can honestly say, that this self improvement journey has not been the easiest nor has the path been the clearest, during this two year period, there have been times were I have experienced “moments of clarity”.

What I call “The Nick Saban Philosophy” was formed during one of my “ah ha” moments. The Nick Saban Philosophy can be summarized as: taking each day one day at a time – focusing on the things that you need to do daily to be successful. During the 2009 college football season, (the team I hate the most) Alabama won the Bowl Championship Series National Championship title. As much as I hate the Bammers (slang for The University of Alabama) and yes I HATE THE BAMMERS, I have to respect their head football coach. In two years, Nick Saban had taken a poor Southeastern Conference Team and turned them into a National Champion. How did Saban turn this program around in two years? My passion for greatness and thrust for knowledge, forced me to find the answer to that question. Therefore, I studied coach Saban. While studying the coach, during most of his interviews, I learned that he repeated a number of clichés and phrases over and over again – one of which I listed above. In addition, throughout the several interviews, his message remained the same.

I believe that in the game of life, we all want to be “National Champions” – reaching our full potential. However, I believe a number of things prevent us from reaching such goals. I believe we allow distractions created by the media (covering and reporting on gossip); society (us trying to keep up with the Jones) and the internal battle we all face from within - prevent us from concentrating on our goals. As a result, we are unable to focus 100% on who we are and what we want to do. I believe that if we discipline ourselves and practice the “Nick Saban Philosophy” we can reach our full potential.

The video below captures every element of what I call the “Nick Saban Philosophy”. If you plan to watch the video, regardless of how you feel about Nick Saban, Football, or The University of Alabama, please watch it with a keen eye. I ask that you are open to what he has to say –not how he says it. I believe coach Saban has a message we all can learn from. Listen, Learn and apply to your way of life.

I have summarized key points from what I believe the Nick Saban Philosophy to be.

•One game at a time – Focus on the things that you need to do daily to be successful
•Play to a Standard - It’s not about winning a game but playing to a Standard.
•Be accountable to a standard
•Aspire to Be the Best you can be at what you do
•Consistency in Performance
•What happen yesterday does not mean anything to what happen today.
•When Dealing with Adversity
- How do you Respond?
- How do you prepare?