College basketball is over. One of the better Final Fours is complete. Viewed in person by an average of 77,000 per night. The North Carolina Tarheels leave Arizona with the Championship Trophy. All three games in the Final Four went down to the wire. And, North Carolina was the only team with experience. In fact, they were finalists last year.

Experience is a tricky thing. It is our perception of what happened. In other words, our interpretation of what happened. It is a huge opportunity to learn but only if we are responsible in our view of what happened.

It needs to be free of blame or fault. That the result was what it was and doesn’t mean anything about us or them or life itself. I am not saying that we don’t care. I am saying that in the final contest no individual won or lost the game. North Carolina put more points on the board than Gonzaga just as they had done with the Univ. of Oregon and Gonzaga had done with the University of South Carolina.

The two teams that lost in the semi-finals, University of Oregon and University of South Carolina had not been in the finals in eons. The last time for Oregon was in the first final ever in 1939 and South Carolina some 40 years ago. There is something to be said for how hard they both played despite their lack of experience. Gonzaga had never been there before either.

The trick for all the Final Four teams is to do the following:

Complete this year’s experience. It’s now a done deal.

Take what they learned and act on it.

Create next year from scratch and fully engage in the season they are in.

The past stays in the past. The future we create points us in the direction we are committed to going. Present time, one day at a time, gets us there.

If you are interested in getting very unique support in pursuing your dream, check out the Coaching Bookstore today! Have a great day and hopefully a wonderful spring.