I am often asked why I write everything down when I am listening to people give a talk or I am simply just having a conversation with someone. My simple response is that I do not want to forget anything. If it is valuable enough to remember it is valuable enough to write down.

I also read a lot and thoroughly enjoy reading about successful people and what they do. What are their daily routines? What are their habits? What can I pick up form them that either reinforces what I do or provides me a new way to go about doing what I do?

Three things seem to consistently apply to successful people across the board. They (1) read a lot, (2) write things down, and (3) want to learn.

Although these are simple things to state, they take discipline to execute on a daily basis. For all the young coaches and those starting out in any business that are reading this post, I simply encourage you to become a reader and writer. I was always taught that the three R’s would give me a head start on my life and now that I am old enough to understand the importance of this I see how true it is!

Speaking of reading, I just finished Rick Pitino’s Rebound Rules. It is must reading for every assistant coach for sure (and for you head coaches – a nice Christmas present for your assistants) as it talks about his journey through his career. It gives you insight into the little things he does that have brought about his success. (Just to give you an idea — I took 24 pages of notes of over 300 comments from this book.)

Challenge yourself to continuously learn and improve. Spend your spare time reading and thinking. Listen and write down whatever you hear that is important. Just as you ask your players to be committed, make sure you are committed to constant daily improvement. This should become your daily practice session — your daily mental workout, your daily routine that will enable you to improve. As Bill Bradley best put it in his book A Sense of Where You Are, “if you are not practicing, just remember that someone somewhere is, and when you meet, he will win.”

Success and improvement are about getting an edge and continuing to improve. Develop the traits that have been proven to work by successful people before you. Read to learn — and write it down! This applies not only to our players’ preparation but to preparation of our teams and our careers.