What if Students Could Ask Vince Lombardi How To Succeed!

Is time travel possible? I had a go at it myself recently with some great results! The following is a script that I wrote for our Student Council to present during a parent assembly. They had asked if I could have the students share any good "brain-based" tips or solid practices from positive psychology. To increase the degree of difficulty, they allotted me about 3-5 minutes. Hrmm...share awesome nuggets of information, convey the value and worth of those "nuggets", and do it all fast!!! CHALLENGE ACCEPTED!!!

What I ended up doing is creating a fun little imaginary conversation that spans across the decades. What if kids in our school could ask Vince Lombardi for advice about school? The guy really knew what he was talking about and has inspired countless people to exceed their own expectations as athletes...why not as learners too? I decided to use many of his most famous quotes and couple them with common questions that many students have. What I ended up with is the following. In the end, the kids LOVED IT and the parents did too! I hope you do as well! =)

INTRO: Vince Lombardi was the head coach of the Green Bay Packers during the 1960s and won the first two Super Bowls ever. His team won five total league championships in seven years, which included winning three in a row! The NFL's Super Bowl trophy is named after him. It is called the Vince Lombardi Trophy in honor of this amazing coach. His words were legendary, and we are going to use many of his most famous quotes to answer some of our own questions.

Question #1: Coach, how can I become successful like you?

Coach Lombardi: “Easy! The dictionary is the only place where “success” comes before “work”. Hard work is the key to success. You can accomplish anything if you're willing to work hard.” 

Question #2: Is being successful the most important thing?

Coach Lombardi: “Winning isn't everything--but WANTING to win is. The desire to succeed makes you a winner.” 

Question #3: When you say “winning”, what do you mean?

Coach Lombardi: “Wanting to succeed is not a sometime thing; it's an all the time thing. You don't try once in a while, you don't do things right once in a while, you do them right all the time. Winning is habit.”

Question #4: Do I need to always be perfect to be a winner like you?

Coach Lombardi: “Perfection is not attainable, but if we chase perfection we can catch excellence.” 

Question #5: I try to do my best to be successful, but it is so hard. I feel like I’ve been knocked down. What should I do?

Coach Lombardi: “It's not whether you get knocked down, it's whether you get up that matters. Great students are made, they are not born. They are made by hard effort, which is the price everyone must pay to achieve any goal that is worthwhile.” 

Question #6: What if I don’t do well on a test like the Benchmark or standardized testing? What if I try something new and don’t succeed?

Coach Lombardi: “Success is never final. Failure is never fatal. It’s the courage to keep going that counts.” 

Question #7: Do you really think I can do better? It seems impossible to me sometimes?

Coach Lombardi: “You can ALL accomplish many more things if you do not think of them as impossible. Sooner or later, the person who wins is always the person who first BELIEVED they could.” 

Question #8: I want to win and I want to succeed! What one thing should I remember to help me?

Coach Lombardi: “Winners never quit and quitters never win!”