 Coach's Corner with Raymond Berry
Raymond Berry
NFL Hall of Fame Wide Receiver
1985 NFL Coach of the Year
Honorary Chairman
HBW Insurance & Financial Services, Inc.
"Success is when preparation meets opportunity." I was only a year or two out of college and in the beginning
years of making a living as a professional athlete when I read that statement. I've seen the truth of those words many times
in the years since then.
If whatever you are trying to accomplish is easy, if your competitor is inferior, if you are satisfied with mediocrity
-- you don't need preparation. If you don't really want to get too serious about your goal, don't bother to prepare.
Why? Because the preparation I'm talking about requires thought,
study, attention to detail, discipline -- in short it takes intense work. If you want something bad enough, part of
the price is preparation.
The more difficult your goal, the better your competition is -- the more important preparation becomes. When you
are facing competition at the highest levels, it becomes necessary to look for every edge and to be very exact. This
takes the ability to be good at preparation. Nobody can "take their game" to
a higher level without it.
What is preparation? I like the quote about Michael Johnson who won
the Olympic Gold, "He leaves nothing to chance." Webster says, "Efforts beforehand for a particular
purpose . . . to make oneself ready . . . undergoing training." It involves deciding on a plan of action to handle
the different situations that could happen. You rehearse and practice.
You anticipate adversity and the unexpected.
What will preparation do for you? I will list just a few things I have learned about it:
- It enables the average, ordinary guy to beat more talented competitors who are often careless or just don't work at it very hard.
- It enables you to get the most out of what you have.
- It is a major factor in developing confidence which is so necessary for maximum performance.
- It helps you "win the close ones". When facing top competition, one small edge gained through preparation can be the margin of vicotry.
- It puts you in the best possible position to succeed.
- You are able to quickly capitalize on an unexpected opportunity.
Coach Raymond Berry: A Super Manager - Paul Solman
Receiver Berry Good in Any Era - Rick Gosselin
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