One of my favorite things about John Wooden’s coaching was that he taught his players each year to put on their socks and tie their shoes properly. You’d think college-aged athletes could already do this, but Wooden took nothing for granted. He paid attention to the little things, which made the big things come more easily for his teams over the years.

Of course, Coach Wooden wanted to teach his players a lesson: If they were going to play in his program, they had to put aside what they wanted to do and follow his plans for the team. That discipline in the small things gave his teams great results, as they won 10 national championships and set an example for the rest of us how the little things make the biggest difference.

Almost every Christian coach I know wants to have a philosophy of coaching that is positive. But in the battle of competition, sometimes we get caught up in the heat of the moment and lose our focus. We may stay positive on the outside, but inside we are feeling the tension—tension that causes us to lose that positive edge.

I have found that what we tell our athletes to think about is exactly what they will think about. We may say, “Don’t ever miss a serve on game point.” What are they thinking when they come to the line? They are thinking about not missing the serve. What do they see? Missing the serve, which is exactly what we told them to think about!

Trouble often seems to be waiting around every corner of daily life, especially for coaches. Whether it is a troubled player, an unfair referee, a nagging parent or an unreasonable principal, coaches can count on difficulties. They come with the territory!

Thankfully, Jesus never pretended that life would be a luxury cruise. “You will have trouble,” He told His disciples. In fact, difficulties are guaranteed, an inevitable part of living in a fallen world. Jesus didn’t deliver the trouble; He just knew it was coming.

We’ve all said it: The secret to success is practice, practice, practice. Sometimes we’ll put the word “perfect” in front of all of those “practices” to nail down an even more effective plan. We all know that without practice we’ll never reach the level of play that we desire.

When I was in high school, I trusted my coaches completely, so I practiced whatever they told me to. I desired success, which helped me to listen to them and heed their advice. In the same way, when we read that Paul urges us to “do what you have learned and received and heard and seen in me,” we would be wise to heed his advice. A quick scan of the context reveals some of what Paul would want us to put into practice:

Sometimes I wonder why it is so difficult for coaches to be still and listen. We have no problem knowing how to lead, direct others or give commands. But to whom do we look when we need direction? Who helps us make tough decisions?

We don’t have to look far in Scripture to find a leader with similar challenges. Joshua was a brilliant military leader and had a strong spiritual influence, but his success came because he had learned whom to go to when he faced difficult choices. Joshua knew that unless he first submitted to God, he would never accomplish what he’d been given to do. So when God spoke, Joshua listened and obeyed.

Many of us learned the “Jesus Loves Me” song as children, but the last part always bothered me: ”Jesus loves me! This I know, for the Bible tells me so. Little ones to Him belong; They are weak but He is strong.” To me, displaying weakness seemed to contradict the very goal of competition.

As I was learning to compete in athletics, the idea of embracing weakness seemed ridiculous. I thought that I had to renounce all that I had learned in the gym in order to become weak. I mean, who has ever been chosen for a team for being the weakest player? Who breaks into a starting lineup because she is weaker than her teammates? I wanted to be strong and display that power for anyone who cared to watch.