(1) Why I write stuff down.

I've been a volleyball coach for almost 4 years now and have just now started to get the hang of it. I guess I'm a late bloomer. But then again, maybe I'm not...

Whatever the case, I am now at the point in my career where I believe I know a few things about volleyball and I thought I'd begin writing them down. Will anyone ever read these things? Probably not, but I'm doing it for myself as a coach, not for anyone else. If I could help others become better coaches it would certainly be an added bonus, but it's not the real reason I am doing this.

The real reason I am doing this is because none of the other coaches I know (and I know some pretty good coaches) do anything like this.

Why?

I don't know.

What I do know is that writing/blogging/journaling is a.) massively therapeutic b.) an awesome way to clarify your own thoughts and 3.) a huge competitive advantage. Don't believe me? Take a look at history for your proof. Any and all greatness is just an original product of stolen ideas (i.e. influence) from other great thinkers. That is the way we evolve things as humans. If I'm a volleyball coach I can inevitably take things I've read from other coaches and flip them upside down. I can look for holes, I can poke and prod and improve, I can make it my own. I can create off of what has already been created. Not only can I see what others may not, by writing my own thoughts down, I can (in retrospect) see where I could do things better. I think anyone hell bent on getting better at coaching should consider writing their thoughts down. Just think what would have happened if Sun Tzu would have never written The Art of War or if Nicolò Machiavelli would have never written The Prince. Those guys chose to sit down and write every little morsel they could think of about what they loved most in life and because they did, the world was a better place.

Anyway, if you have somehow found my thoughts amongst the biblicaly large heap of garbage that is the world wide web, congratulations- you may be reading something that can actually help you.