10 Ways to Apply the Mamba Mentality To Your Life

This Monday, February 24th at 10:00 AM PT, thousands of mourners will gather at the Staples to honor Kobe Bryant, daughter Gianna and the others that perished in the helicopter on January 26, 2020.

Are you still feeling the loss about the fact they are gone and how it happened?

We always seem to react strongly to the death of a celebrity especially when someone dies before their time, or when they are about to reach superstardom like Aaliyah for instance.

What was most troubling is that Kobe was on the verge of a budding second career that was about to make him more popular than he was as a basketball player. Kobe was known for applying this “Mamba Mentality which meant despite his success, he was still on a continued quest to be the best version of himself whether it was in business, as a parent, or in life.

Are you struggling in your current job, or how you would like to create your mark in this world and you would like to do whatever it takes to separate yourself from the rest of the pack. Here are 10 Ways to develop that Mamba Mentality.

1. Have a champion mentality. (Be Driven)

Do whatever it takes to succeed in the endeavor you are passionate about. You have to give 100% fully to that thing.

2. Commit Fully

Study, take a course or read up on that thing you are passionate about. If it’s creating a podcast, get as many books, or watch as many videos on podcasting you can get. Talk to someone that has created a podcast in your field so you can hear the pitfalls.

3. Be a better leader

Having empathy and compassion for the people in your life personally and professionally. It will help you become a better communicator when you know the people in your life on a deeper level. People will understand that you are interested in their goals outside work. By acting as their coach or accountability partner, you build lasting relationships and a more loyal tribe.

4. Learn from Failures

In any given area, there are some landmines that you must avoid if you want to succeed. It’s your job to figure it out. If you do fall on one, how quickly do you get back up and go forward?

5. Be a Long Term Thinker.

The process of becoming great at something may not happen in a day, a week, a month or even a year, but if you keep working your passion and being curious about how to get better you will see results.

6. Challenge yourself to grow

Some of us feel we are already great at passion, so we don’t even think about trying to get better. Remember, change is constant. There are always new ideas being developed in your chosen passion. Seek them out in order to get better.

Jordan Strauss/AssociatedPress

 

7. Keep Going

Kobe Bryant learned this quote from one of his HS coaches, “Don’t rest in the middle, rest at the end.” When a thing that we are the most passionate about gets challenging, we quit or put it aside to pick up later. Don’t do that. Figure out how to get going. If you need to talk to a mentor, or a trusted friend, do that. Everyone needs encouragement.

8. Nurture your relationships

Don’t always seek out people that can help you get to where you want to go. There is a point where you will have to reach back and help someone that has the same passion you have but just isn’t as experienced.  Don’t hesitate to help them for fear they will take away your opportunities. There are more than enough clients, but there aren’t enough compassionate people.

9. Focus on One Thing

If you have many passions, decide which one you are going to focus on.  You will have time to go to the next one. It’s hard to have the mamba mentality if you are trying to do several different things all at once.

10. Have Fun

If you don’t enjoy what you are doing, then why are you? When you find that thing you are passionate about, do that.

Even though Kobe Bryant died before his time, we can honestly say he lived his life on his terms applying the Mamba Mentality way. His legacy is leaving his playbook of life so you can do the same. And that is what made Kobe great.

Keith Dent is a certified relationship and leadership coach and the author of In The Paint, how to win at the Game of Love. To contact him for a consultation, email him at info@keithdent.com

6 Step Plan To Get Your Husband Off the Bench and Into The Game.

Ladies! Has your frustration returned now that Valentine’s Day is over and your husband is back to chillin’ on the couch watching countless hours of sports.

Do you ever wonder what is it about sports that men love so much? If you are still befuddled by this question the next time you get in your car and go to the store, turn on your local sports radio station. You will hear grown men so excited and passionate about getting their point across about a sports moment that happened days before sometimes even years. These men will wait up to 30 minutes to make sure they do so.

Men love sports because it’s fun, spontaneous, thrilling and exciting. Isn’t that how you want your marriages to be? Often times it’s the opposite, boring, and predictable.

So what do you have to do to win at the Game of Love? Here is a 6-step game plan to get your marriage back on track.

1. Have a powerful slogan

Every season, teams that excel have powerful slogans to remind them of the goal of winning. In 2017, the Cleveland Cavaliers slogan for the playoffs was “Defend the Land”. So as a family you should come up with a slogan that defines who you are as a family and reminds each other why you are commitment.

2. Constantly reminding him his importance on the team.

On any given team, there players that don’t get a lot of credit, but are the essential to winning and losing. Your husband may be that guy. He may not be overly flashy, or the life of the party. He just gets the job done. You should remind him that his role is valuable and vital to your success as a couple.

3. To stay at the top takes work.

Your wedding with all the pomp and circumstance is like the ultimate championship game. Staying on top takes work, so you must challenge him not to get complacent. Treat your time together like practice where you learn new things about each other and make it routine.

4. Know when to call a time-out?

In any given game, you can feel the momentum shift to the other side. The coach will call a time-out in order for the team to rest, re-group and reassess the game plan.  You should do that in your marriage, especially if you feel the momentum shifting and it’s inevitable that they will. If you see your husband starts to become disengaged, no energy or just plain angry, or you aren’t happy. Don’t be afraid to call a time-out. If you let things go, you may lose.

5. Treat sex like a game.

Sex to a man is like a conquest. Treat it like one. In the bedroom, men feel great when you enjoy sex just as much as he does. It makes him feel accomplished. Overtime it gets harder and harder to set aside to enjoy this part of marriage. Do things like trash-talking (i.e. flirting), putting on your best outfit and creating a build-up to the main event.

6. Treat the kids like the rookies.

Your kids are just like tiny adults. They are going to need to understand the family slogan in order to thrive and excel. As co-captain of the team it’s the responsibility of both of you to give them the tools they will need to be successful. Make sure you challenge them, give them a voice and most of all have fun.

Working as a team is never easy. It takes commitment to a desired goal, discipline, motivation, trust and a few lucky bounces of the ball. By treating your marriage more like a game, your husband can truly understand the importance of his role and will work to win.

Keith Dent is a relationship, life coach at www.strive2succeedcoaching.com . He has appeared on sites like The Good Men Project, MamMia and The Real Dad’s Network and is the author of the In The Paint – How to Win at the Game of Love.

7 Reasons Why Your Relationship is Like Playing In The Paint!

If you have ever watched, or played a basketball game, there is a place on the court that is called “The Paint.” It’s the rectangular area on the court contained within the key. The key is the area that encompasses the middle of the floor underneath the basket. It is often shaded, which explains the origin of the word, and always has a semi-circle attached on the short side opposite the basket.

In a basketball game this is the area where the big boys play. It’s also one of the most important areas on the basketball court. There is lots of bumping, shoving, and pushing in the paint. It’s also the place where you can get rebounds and score easy baskets. If you can’t master this area in a basketball game, you are less likely to win.

Being in a marriage there is similar to Playing In the Paint. In marriage, there are seven qualities that make it similar to this important part of basketball.

1. When You Play in the Paint, you have to know your strengths. Dennis Rodman knew he was a great rebounder, and he worked on his craft to make sure he was an asset to his team. In marriage, you need to know your strengths as well as the strength of your partner, to ensure you are pushing each other to be their best self.
2. When You Play in the Paint, you have to be able to trust your teammate. The Boston Celtics of the 80’s are considered one of the top frontcourt tandem of all time. They had ferocious grace and skill, but their best characteristic was they had each other’s back on the court. When you are marriage, you are competing against so much; work, the kids, outside pressures, that you have to be able to trust each other no matter what.
3. When You Play in the Paint you will get angry. Some of the biggest fights, visible or not will happen in the painted area. It happens when you are in close proximity to each other. Marriage is no different. You are in close proximity to you spouse for the rest of you life. It’s normal. The most important part is how you handle your anger.
4. When You Play in the Paint you have to be able to talk. It’s the job of the other team to screen and shield you from their player, so they can score. In order to play defense effectively, you will have to be able to communicate. In marriage, communication is the lifeblood to any marriage in order to establish goals and avoid any obstacles that may get in the way of being fulfilled,
5. When You Play in the Paint you create an identity. The Detroit Pistons of the 90’s where also called the BAD BOYS, because they were known for playing hard nosed basketball and inflicting pain on their court to help provide and edge. In marriage, you want to create a set of core beliefs and principles that you will live by. This will clearly help move in the same direction as your marriage progresses. It was also help you establish a set of principles to pass down once the kids arrive.
6. When You Play in the Paint  you have to be able to defend. Akeem Olajuwon and Ralph Sampson, aka The Twin Towers, made it almost impossible for offiensive players to score down low. In marriage you have to have a great defense if you are going to make it. In this instance, defense means the ability to handle your finances. If you struggle in this area, you will struggle in marriage.
7. When You Play in the Paint you develop a special bond. The chemistry among the members that play in the paint can be very fulfilling. This play is taken for granted in a typical basketball game today, since centers are no longer the focal point of the team. In reality, these players are the unsung heroes of any team. In marriage, your sexual bond, is very important, but it is often taken for granted especially when the children, your career and take precedent. By paying attention to this important aspect can help you keep your marriage fresh and interesting.

 

Excerpts from this blog is taken from Coach Keith’s upcoming new book In the Paint, How to Win at the Game of Love. If you are interested reserving your copy, e-mail him at info@strive2succeedcoaching.com.

 

 

Four Ways to Treat Your Husband Like His Favorite NBA Player.

Have you ever wondered when you ask your man a question, or ask him to express his opinion on an important family topic, he gives you the deer in head lights look? In fact wives often feel ignored by their husbands. “He just says mm-hmm, as if he’s listening to me while I’m talking and he’s watching sports.”  Why does this occur? This may be due to how the majority of men are raised.

Sports is a place where men begin to experiment true intimacy. According to William Pollack, author of Real Boys: Rescuing Our Sons from the Myths of Boyhood, sports do at least one thing that other activities don’t do. They offer an easily accessible arena in which society’s structures about masculinity are loosened. It is here on the playing field, in the locker room, on the court that boys can show unbounded expression and can be emotionally intimate with other males. They can hug, cry and chest bump without a moment’s worth of self-consciousness.

Sports also give you a clear idea where you stand in the pecking order. You know you are considered one of the best players on the team based on the fact that you are a starter. Their coach, or even their teammates selected them to be captain, which is one of the highest honors you can have as a young man. In shows him he is entrusted with the responsibility of lifting his teammates spirits when the obstacles become challenging.

As he gets older, those actions and feelings lessen as he transitions to manhood and join the ranks of the adult world of work and family. Your man will find other ways to maintain those exuberant feelings by becoming a rabid sports fan. The sports team he began watching as a kid somehow becomes part of his make-up, as if he is part of the team. He will follow every news article, Twitter feed, and sports talk show to keep up with the . When their teams win, they celebrate with them. When their teams lose, they take it harder than the players do.

So if your husband is into sports, you have to treat your marriage like it’s his favorite NBA player and use certain terminology that he will be able to understand.

Treat your man like he is the #1 pick.

When LeBron James was selected as the #1 pick by the Cleveland Cavaliers, he single-handedly transformed the city over night. On the night he was selected, they showered the Gund arena in Cleveland with glitter instead of torn tickets thrown in frustration from the upper deck. People stood and cheered. They hugged. They held up LeBron promotional fliers. Concession workers began selling James” wine- and-gold Cavaliers” jersey at $50 a pop.

It was excited because even though Cleveland hadn’t won a championship yet, LeBron represented Chance. Hope. Faith.

When you choose to say “I Do”, you are in essence telling your husband that he is the #1 pick and together you will be able to create a stable environment for you and your family during good times and bad. It will be essential that you create an All-In mentality, which means establishing mutual goals the two of you will work to achieve.

Know his strengths and weaknesses.

Elite players in any sport understand what they believe to be their strengths and their weaknesses. What they do is  focus on playing to their strengths and improving their short comings. Part of making your husband feel comfortable is understanding his personality. The difference between dating and marriage is the fact that not only will you see his greatness, but also his idiosyncrasies. If some of those negative tendencies don’t mesh with the culture you are trying to establish as a team, there will be conflict. If you don’t address the conflict, you team can become disbanded before it really starts.

Establish a circle of trust.

Michael Jordan didn’t win a championship until his 7th year in the NBA. One of the biggest reasons was because he didn’t trust his teammates.

In an 1991 article in the Baltimore Sun, Horace Grant explained why it was so hard for Michael to get over this hurdle. “When we first got here, he didn’t have the confidence in us for us to make the big shots,” Grant said. “But since we’ve grown over the years together, he knows that in order for us to become champions, he’s got to get everybody involved. He has confidence in us, so that’s enabled us to go to the basket a lot stronger and not worry about missing shots and things.”

In a marriage, there are no words more important that trust. In a marriage, trust is one of the most powerful forms of motivation, and inspiration. Your spouse wants to be trusted. He responds to your trust. He thrives on your trust. Whatever your situation, you have to be good at establishing, extending and restoring trust. – not as a means of manipulation, but as the most effective way of relating to and working with each other.

Sometimes during a game you have to call a Time out.

Timeouts are a crucial part of a basketball game and can be the difference between going home with a win or a loss. Every team must learn at what stage of the game their time-out will have the best impact for success. There are several reasons why you may need to call a time out. You might have loss confidence in each other, you might just need to talk about establishing a different strategy as a couple, or you just may need a break from the pressures of marriage and family.

Calling a timeout in your marriage will never show up over the course of your marriage journey, but it will still have an enormous impact.. Of course,not realizing you need a timeout also have an enormous impact as well. Remember it’s your team it’s your call!

Utilizing these simple concepts in your marriage can have an enormous impact on your husband and can be the difference between success and failure. Especially if he is a sports fan.

If you having challenges reaching your husband and need help, inbox me at info@strive2succeedcoaching.com. Some of these concepts are covered in Coach Keith’s upcoming new book In the Paint – How to Win at the Game of Love.

 

 

 

Fun Friday – Mike Rice Treatment!

If you have been listening, or reading the news lately, Mike Rice, former Rutgers basketball coach was fired for a video tape that showed him verbally and physically abusing his players.

On this Fun Friday, imagine husbands if you came home it got the Mike Rice treatment from your spouse? It would look a little bit like this?

How would you handle it?

 

Have a great weekend.

Coach Keith

10 Tips to help you become a better team player!

This past weekend was the annual Jack-N-Jill Teen Summit at SUNY Westbury. It was a nice and I was grateful for the opportunity to present the teens with ways to develop a healthy relationship before they get married.

The main topic of the discussion  was centered around sports. We talked about what makes teams excel and how the acts of one individual can destroy a team.  The teens were a little confused at first, but things soon became clear when I explained that relationships are just a team of 2, instead of 5, 9, or 11.

Do you think of your marriage/relationship as a team?

If you do, and you want to maximize your opportunity to win the Marriage Game, here are some tips to a cohesive team.

1. Demonstrate Reliability – A reliable team member gets work done and does their fair share to work hard and meet commitments. Consistency is key. You can count on him or her to be there for you all the time, not just some of the time.
2. Communicates Constructively -This two-person team need both parties to speak up and express their thoughts and ideas clearly, directly, honestly, and with respect for other person on the team.
3. Listens Actively – Good team players are active participants. They come prepared for team meetings and listen and speak up in discussions. They’re fully engaged in the work of the team and do not sit passively on the sidelines.Team members who function as active participants take the initiative to help make things happen, and they volunteer for assignments. Their whole approach is can-do: “What contribution can I make to help the team achieve success?”
4. Functions as an Active Participant – Good team players are active participants. They come prepared for family meetings and listen and speak up in discussions. They’re fully engaged in the work of the team and do not sit passively on the sidelines.Team members who function as active participants take the initiative to help make things happen, and they volunteer for assignments. Their whole approach is can-do: “What contribution can I make to help the team achieve success?”
5. Shares openly and willingly – Good team players share. They’re willing to share information, knowledge, and experience. They take the initiative to keep other team members informed. Good team players are good at informal sharing. They keep other team members in the loop with information and advice that helps get the job done and prevents surprises.
6. Cooperates and pitches in to help. – Cooperation is the act of working with others and acting together to accomplish a job. Effective team players work this way by second nature. Good team players, despite differences they may have with other team members concerning style and perspective, figure out ways to work together to solve problems and get work done. They respond to requests for assistance and take the initiative to offer help.
7. Exhibits flexibility – Teams often deal with changing conditions — and often create changes themselves. Good team players roll with the punches; they adapt to ever-changing situations. They don’t complain or get stressed out because the other team member wants to train something new is being tried or some new direction is being set.In addition, a flexible team member can consider different points of views and compromise when needed. He or she doesn’t hold rigidly to a point of view and argue it to death, especially when the team needs to move forward to make a decision or get something done. Strong team players are firm in their thoughts yet open to what others have to offer — flexibility at its best.
8. Shows committment to the team – Strong team players care about their work, the team, and the team’s work. They show up every day with this care and commitment up front. They want to give a good effort, and they want other team members to do the same.
9. Works as a problem solver – Good team players are willing to deal with all kinds of problems in a solutions-oriented manner. They’re problem-solvers, not problem-dwellers, problem-blamers, or problem-avoiders. They don’t simply rehash a problem the way problem-dwellers do. They don’t look for others to fault, as the blamers do. And they don’t put off dealing with issues, the way avoiders do.Team players get problems out in the open for discussion and then collaborate with others to find solutions and form action plans.
10. Treat others in a respectful supportive manner -Team players treat fellow team members with courtesy and consideration — not just some of the time but consistently. In addition, they show understanding and the appropriate support of other team members to help get the job done. They don’t place conditions on when they’ll provide assistance, when they’ll choose to listen, and when they’ll share information. Good team players also have a sense of humor and know how to have fun (and all teams can use a bit of both), but they don’t have fun at someone else’s expense. Quite simply, effective team players deal with their other teammates in a loving manner.

I would like to hear how you are doing as a team player? What changes do you need to implement so your couple-team will be more effective?

Have a great day everyone and remember to #iLoveStrong

Who is your Jeremy Lin?

Let me tell you right here and now, I am not a New York Knicks fan. I would have to be LINsane if I didn’t know the one individual that has transformed the New York sports landscape, Jeremy Lin. In his brief start as the New York Knicks point guard he has brought not only excitement to New York basketball, but an excitement to the NBA that hasn’t been felt since Michael Jordan retired.

You may be asking yourself is this a relationship blog, or ESPN. Don’t worry there is a correlation.

If you’ve had some challenges in the dating arena, you may have to ask yourself have I overlooked my Jeremy Lin? If you have dated long enough you have had a Jeremy Lin in your life. Even I, Coach Keith, was a Jeremy Lin before I found my beloved PG.

Here are some of the qualities that the Jeremy Lin in your life may have that you might not have considered.

• Perseverance– Jeremy never gave up on his abilities even though he was overlooked many times. So ask yourself, is there a person you have overlooked based solely on external characteristics.?He has been trying to get your attention, but there may be some quality about him that has held you back.

• Patience – You can’t judge your Jeremy Lin based on one or two meetings. The real Jeremy Lin was not recruited by any top flight Division 1 college basketball programs. He went to Harvard. Lin actually stated, “His game is something you had to see more than once.” So who did you write off after one or two dates because it didn’t go the way you thought it should.

• Risk/Reward – The Knicks had lost 11 of 15 games and needed a spark to turn your season around. They expected a player with more experience to help, but that help never came. So out of desperation, they turned to the unproven Lin.  The reward has been tremendous. The team quickly began selling replicas of Lin’s No. 17 jerseys and t-shirts, and the sales and traffic for its online store increased more than 3,000%.  Has your dating life been stagnant, or better yet non-existent? Instead of FB messaging your Jeremy Lin about the basketball game, go to the game, or watch the game together at a sports bar. You just might find that spark you need to bring to turn your love life around.

In relationships, you may have to think outside the box and consider the man/woman you might have overlooked. It might be the most wonderful rewarding relationship you will ever have.

Do you need a project done! Make sure you Speak the “Guy” Language!

I didn’t do a scientific study on this, but I know what would get me to respond. I am also sure there are other’s like me. You might be wondering what I am talking about? I am talking about wives’ wanting their husband to do projects that is long overdue.

Case in point..my wife, PG was telling me a story of a friend of hers that asked her husband to do a major “guy” project. Take care of the car maintenance. That project remains undone, and has no signs of being completed anytime soon. PG, nodded in agreement with her like she understood what she was talking about. Of course my forehead wrinkled up on that as I began to wonder what projects she was talking about.

I began to ponder when wives’ ask their husband to do a project that make take a little time and effort, why does it take forever to get it done? The reason, they don’t ask in “GUY” language.  You may ask, “What is guy language?”

Most men usually fall in three categories.  They either play or watch sports, play video games, watch action movies or some combination of the three. Why are men so fascinated with these things. Let’s look at the common denominator of these activities. There is a prize at the end. You win something. In sports, you win the championship; in video games, you kill the bad guys, get the most points; in action movies, you kill the bad guy and get THE GIRL.

You know when you have seen your husband in one of these scenarios, he is like a different person. Till this day, PG still doesn’t understand how my behavior transformed from a laid-back, happy guy, to the HULK while I was playing a friendly game of pickup basketball.

As men, we are wired as youth to compete, win at all costs no matter what it takes. We spend most of our childhoods racing the boys on the playground, playing football and competing with our boys trying to get her number. Everything is a competition. We love to win and be a winner. You will see the most mild-mannered man turn into a beast if you put a game in front of their face and start talking “smack.”

When it comes time to doing projects, you as our wife expect us to just do it because you asked us to. Because you know if it was the other way around, you would certainly do it.  Well as we know that doesn’t always work. You may say, he didn’t get away with that when lived with his parents. Of course not because we still believed it was a competition. We would either lose something; money, fringe benefits, or a sore behind. Either way we were losing.

So if you have a project you want your husband to do this weekend, try something new. Make it a competition.

1.  First tell Husband, he is a winner, the franchise player, the go-to guy!
2. Ask them the project you would like done this weekend.
3.  Tease him with the reward he might win, or lose if he doesn’t do it. You might want to give him a deep passionate kiss or send him a picture like the one below on his phone, or in an envelope as a reminder of the trophy that you are.
4. If he doesn’t do it..He might be sitting the bench for a looonnng time.
5. Watch him get to work. If he doesn’t you might need to either contact me, or the doctor because he might not have a pulse.

Hey..We don’t make the Rules..We just like to play games.

Have a Good Weekend.

Coach Keith

If you know the SCORE, you belong!

The NCAA tournament is truly great event, but it’s very harsh. You win or go home. For the past 6 days, you’ve had upsets, last second buzzer beaters and the elite teams exerting their will on the less talented teams. The greatest thing about the tournament is when a cinderalla team gets an opportunity to play into the next weekend. This year’s team is Virginia Commonwealth (VCU). Before the tournament began they were considered barely worthy to be in the tournament over some bigger basketball powers like Virginia Tech and the University of Colorado. They quickly dismantled that myth by being the only team to win 3 games this week rather easily beating USC, my alma mater Georgetown and Purdue.

What made it so special? They believed they could score against those Big 3!

As I stated, this tournament can be harsh, especially if you lose. Our finances can also be harsh. How many of us have been turned down for a credit card, or loan that would have helped us become more independent. Did you know the score, the FICO score that is.

The Fair Isaac Company developed custom software back in the 1980s that helped other companies determine a credit risk based on a number derived from a person’s credit history. This number soon became a standard that was adopted by the three main credit bureaus: Experian, TransUnion, and Equifax. The FICO score ranges between 300 and 850.

Credit Score vs. Credit Report

A credit score and a credit report are two different things, although the credit score ultimately depends on your credit report. Your credit report is simply a detailed account of your credit history. The report will contain information such as:

•Current credit accounts

•Payment history

•Credit inquiries

•Credit utilization

•Bankruptcy

Your credit report itself does not have a FICO number. It is simply a report of your current and past credit history. Most credit history will only go back seven years, although a bankruptcy will stay on your report for ten years. You’re entitled to a free credit report each year and it’s always a good idea to check it annually to make sure it’s correct. Here’s how to get your free credit report.

A FICO credit score is based off of your credit history, but it’s not actually a part of your credit report. Instead, the three major credit bureaus will calculate your FICO based on your credit history they have on file. This means you can have up to three different FICO scores at one time. Your FICO score does not come with your credit report and it isn’t something you’re entitled to annually. You may have to pay a fee to actually receive your score.

What Makes Up a Credit Score

A credit score takes into account a lot of different information from your credit report, but it’s not all treated equally. Some aspects of your credit history are more important than others and will weigh more heavily on your overall score. Your FICO score is essentially made up of the following:

•Payment History – 35%

•Total Amounts Owed – 30%

•Length of Credit History – 15%

•New Credit – 10%

•Type of Credit in Use – 10%

As you can see, the bulk of your credit score comes from your payment history and how much debt you actually have. Those two items account for 65% of your score. So, if you’re really looking to improve your credit score, these are the areas you’ll want to tackle first.

 Why Your FICO Credit Score is Important

We’ve determined what makes up a credit score, but why is it so important? Your credit score will follow you for your entire life and if you are ever trying to borrow money, the lender is going to look at your credit score to determine whether or not to lend money to you. Need to buy a car? They will check your credit score. Looking for a mortgage? You can bet they are checking your credit score. In fact, even some employers are checking credit scores when hiring to possibly determine who would make a good employee.

Not only does your credit score determine whether or not you’ll receive financing, it also determines how much it will cost you to borrow that money. People with higher credit scores are deemed to be less of a risk and therefore will typically receive the lowest interest rates. Those with lower scores are viewed as more of a risk so the bank will offset that risk by lending you money at a higher interest rate. And when you’re talking about larger loans such as buying a vehicle or a home, just an extra interest rate point could add up to thousands, and even tens of thousands of dollars wasted on interest.

Improving Your Credit Score

What happens if you have made some mistakes in the past and now your credit score is low? Don’t worry. The good news is that your credit score is constantly updating, so every month as you begin to make improvements to your credit history, your score will be sure to follow. But keep in mind that items on your report will stay there for seven years, so it will take some time for serious negative marks to eventually disappear completely.

 Thankfully, there are a number of things you can do to improve your credit score. Start with the basics and make sure you’re making all of your payments on time. Remember, payment history is the single greatest factor in your credit score. If you make payments over time, you’ll slowly start to raise that score. Second, reduce your total amount of debt. The second largest impact on your score is how much debt you have, so if you can put a dent in your overall debt you’ll also begin to make some serious headway.

Time to lace up the sneakers. We have a game to play!

Yesterday was a tough day for Louisville and St. John’s who lost their tournament games yesterday. Both had aspirations of going far, but didn’t get it done.

Long Island University which is playing in the tournament for the first time in 14 years is really hyped about their game today against North Carolina. As LIU’s players sit in their lockers before the game may look back and reflect on how they got here in the first place. On the road to success there were many people that sacrificed and provided skills that helped them get here.

When it comes to our finances, we were also provided information that gave us our view on how we handle money. Whether it was stated or hidden, our environment shape our view of finances. Taking that all into account we may be hesitant to be transparent, and share our lack of knowledge about finances in fear it will hurt the team. That’s ok, our partner probably feels the same way. If we play our game, and do our best we have a chance to win.

Here are some questions that will help reveal our issues individually that will help us begin to strengthen our team financially.

Step 1. What messages about money did you receive from childhood? Examine these 5 questions.

1. Who in your family had the power and control of the situation when it came you money?
2. What type of fun and happiness came as a result to how money was used in your home?
3. How did your parents talk about money with themselves?
4. What was the relationship between success and money in my childhood home?
5. What were the differences between how your mom and dad handled money?

Step 2. We will look at your individual world view in regards to money and how that shapes your handling of money.

1. How do my friends, my family and surroundings affect my relationship with money?
2. How do advertisements, mass media, affect my relationship with money?
3. What does society tell me about my obligations with money?
4. What’s the first thing I notice when I see my friends or family?
5. What would my two best friends tell me is the most important thing about money? What are their relationships with money, like?

Step 3. We will look now at the family voice? Once you have kids, or if you have kids now, the money pressure increases two-fold. So let’s examine these questions?

1. What does my mate or spouse need financially to have his or her basic needs met?
2. What do my children need financially to have their basic needs met?
3. Why does my mate want what she wants? Is it based on family, society, or general desire?
4. Why do my children want what they want? Is it because of their friends, mass media, or family non-verbal cues? (Only answer if you currently have children)

Take your time, concentrate and be honest. This exercise will go a long way to unlocking your thoughts about money, and how working together as a team will put you in a position of strength.

Time to lace up the Sneakers.WE HAVE A GAME TO PLAY!

Coach Keith

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