The San Francisco 49ers played in the NFC title game. If they won, they play in Super Bowl XLVI. Unfortunately, the 49ers lost to the Super Bowl champions New York Giants. Nobody expected the 49ers to make the playoffs. Nobody expected quarterback Alex Smith to comeback and perform his best season ever.
Smith was the 2005 number one draft pick overall. His seven seasons were ups and downs including injuries and losing the starting quarterback position. Fans wanted him gone. He had different head coaches and different offensive coordinators. He persisted. He didn’t give up. Smith’s strengths are intelligence and tenacity.
The 2011 season brought Jim Harbaugh, the 49ers new head coach. Harbaugh brought the best in Smith and used his strengths. Harbaugh raised Smith’s confidence. Smith worked hard and earned high respect from the 49ers fans. The following are life lessons I learned from Alex Smith.
1. Hell before you get to heaven. Everyone starts at the bottom. Nobody becomes a vice president in their first year in a company. Continue reading to understand my point.
2. Consistency is important. Smith started his first 7 seasons with a new offensive coordinator. That’s bad. Smith had to learn something new at the beginning of a new season. He couldn’t continue developing a coordinator’s style into the next year.
3. Support. Nobody becomes successful alone. Smith’s best season included support from Harbaugh and the coaching staff, former 49ers General Manager Scot McCloughan, current 49ers General Manager Trent Baalke who signed him for this season, 49ers owner Jed York (who also signed Jim Harbaugh), teammates including Vernon Davis and Frank Gore, and Smith’s family.
4. Action speaks louder than words. Smith won football games. That was how he did his talking. His modesty is another strength. He was the number one 49er this season.
5. Luck and good fortune. Always factors everywhere we do.
6. Redemption. We all make mistakes big and small. The successful people learn from their mistakes and don’t repeat them. They want a second chance to make up for their mistakes. Smith’s 2011 season was redemption after all those past bad years.
Smith's 2011 season was a season in heaven. Good things come to those who wait.
The Personal Side Of Me Finding Raymond Mar
Wednesday, February 15, 2012
Monday, February 13, 2012
There Are More Jeremy Lin People Out There
Who is Jeremy Lin? What is Lin-sanity? Here he is below:
*Graduated Palo Alto High School in Palo Alto, CA and attended Harvard University.
*Not drafted in the 2010 NBA draft, he played for the Golden State Warriors and Houston Rockets. Both teams released him.
*The New York Knicks signed the 6-foot-3 point guard in December and had been a bench player.
*Lin became the first American born Chinese or Taiwanese descent to start on Saturday February 4.
*The Knicks have won five straight since Lin started. Lin scored a total of 109 points, and 89 in his first three games which is the highest total for any player since the NBA-ABA merger in 1976.
* Lin has over 220,000 Twitter followers, as of this blog post.
We experience moments we overlook greatness and excellent. Sometimes a piece of paper documenting a person’s potential is not telling the entire story. Maybe the story is twisting and distorting the truth. It’s natural we seek people with past experience, high grade point averages in school, and/or knowledge in many skills. We want people who can do it now instead of starting from the beginning and training people. It’s a common catch-22 in life: how can people gain experience, learn from their mistakes, and acquire skills if we aren’t given the opportunity?
Lin’s high school coach was quoted saying, “We know what he can do and other people aren’t seeing it. Nobody game him a chance.” Average people can reach the sky for superior success. It takes hard work, practice, learning from your mistakes, and improving continuously. Timing and luck are important, too. Give that person a start. Give that person an opportunity. There is hidden talent everywhere. Thank you Jeremy Lin for reminding us hidden talent is everywhere.
The Personal Side Of Me Finding Raymond Mar
*Graduated Palo Alto High School in Palo Alto, CA and attended Harvard University.
*Not drafted in the 2010 NBA draft, he played for the Golden State Warriors and Houston Rockets. Both teams released him.
*The New York Knicks signed the 6-foot-3 point guard in December and had been a bench player.
*Lin became the first American born Chinese or Taiwanese descent to start on Saturday February 4.
*The Knicks have won five straight since Lin started. Lin scored a total of 109 points, and 89 in his first three games which is the highest total for any player since the NBA-ABA merger in 1976.
* Lin has over 220,000 Twitter followers, as of this blog post.
We experience moments we overlook greatness and excellent. Sometimes a piece of paper documenting a person’s potential is not telling the entire story. Maybe the story is twisting and distorting the truth. It’s natural we seek people with past experience, high grade point averages in school, and/or knowledge in many skills. We want people who can do it now instead of starting from the beginning and training people. It’s a common catch-22 in life: how can people gain experience, learn from their mistakes, and acquire skills if we aren’t given the opportunity?
Lin’s high school coach was quoted saying, “We know what he can do and other people aren’t seeing it. Nobody game him a chance.” Average people can reach the sky for superior success. It takes hard work, practice, learning from your mistakes, and improving continuously. Timing and luck are important, too. Give that person a start. Give that person an opportunity. There is hidden talent everywhere. Thank you Jeremy Lin for reminding us hidden talent is everywhere.
The Personal Side Of Me Finding Raymond Mar
Thursday, February 02, 2012
Pictures From 2011
I take another break writing blogs because I’ve been spending my time on other activities. I start with January and February 2011. My daily life and observation pictures are from my old cell phone. Enjoy.
The Personal Side Of Me Finding Raymond Mar
The Personal Side Of Me Finding Raymond Mar
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