WESTERN PETROLEUM MARKETERS ASSOCIATION CONVENTION
LAS VEGAS, NEVADA FEBRUARY 20, 1992

It’s hard to say the right thing, even when you want to.

Before I start a season, I take an assessment. I analyzed where I was, where I am, and where I want to be.

The day we become satisfied with who we are, that’s as far as we’re going to go.

How can I get to be where I want to be? Because what I want to be is the best.

Formula for success: you + motivation = success. Ordinary people do extraordinary things. They decide by choice, not by chance, to do something extraordinary.

How do you do great things? Enthusiasm. Have a dream. Work it.

Get excited about the day you have ahead of you. Get up and say thank you and then see how excited you are.

The day you’re not excited about what you’re doing is the day you get kicked out by some young guy who is excited about it.

I used to practice my dreams. We used to practice at North Carolina State cutting the net down. If you don’t dream it, you can’t do it. We used to practice our dreams and they became goals.

The relationship between work and success is not direct. But if you don’t work hard, you can’t be successful. If you do work hard, you may still fail. After you fail, you have two choices. You can be enthusiastic, keep the dream alive and work — or you can let the dream die. If you choose the first path, you have a chance to cut the nets down and be the best in your profession.

It’s very very important to concentrate on the obvious. You look for the complex and forget to deal with the obvious.

Remember: people are unreasonable, illogical and self-centered. Love them anyway.

You’ve got to have awareness and compassion for each other.

I learned more in my family business than I did in college — or anywhere else in my life. I told my players that after you get your degree, give me a year of your life. Spend six months as a cab driver and six months as a bartender. Then you’ll be educated.

Live in the moment. Stretch out each day. I never wanted to be anyone else. I never wanted to be Mickey Mantle or Bart Starr.

In trying to judge what is important, congratulate the temporary. Live in the moment. Do it now.

Whatever you dream, it can happen. Just don’t lie. Everything else is okay.

If you want to talk to someone you’re having a problem with, put them in their environment. If they’re a tennis player, put a tennis racquet in their hand. I never bring an athlete into a restaurant with cloth tablecloths.

The best thing out of Louisiana is an empty bus.

Don’t give an excuse in life and don’t take an excuse in life. Do it and get it done. The idea is to win — because they’re keeping score.

Do it right the first time. Because if you do it right the next time, that’s not the same thing.

Don’t touch vexing people. Leave ’em alone. Get ’em out of your life.

Being a leader most of the time is acting.

Talk to yourself. Ask: - did you forget to KISS (Keep It Simple, Stupid) - are you miss the obvious? - are you communicating? Be a coach, not a spectator.