I responded to one of my buddies, Eric Pagels, on LinkedIn at the beginning of the year with, “Motto for 2026: Stay positive, 2026 is going to be great!” I’m sure I’ve uttered the words “stay positive” too much for the liking of my coworkers, family members, and youth I’ve coached. In fact, for years I’ve been known as the guy who always says, “It’ll be alright.” I figured this is the perfect platform to provide some context to that. That context can probably best be provided by highlighting my son’s basketball team this past year.
In my non-work life, I’ve had the pleasure of coaching a CYO (Catholic Youth Organization) basketball team at St. Susanna in Plainfield. In fact, I’ve coached these kids for the last five years. The little boys have turned into young men as 8th graders. My group of young men is small, really small. They don’t play AAU basketball, are not overly athletic, and don’t necessarily look like basketball players. They’re just really good kids. The last two years, we’ve been working on gaining confidence and being positive. Crazy positive. Body language matters. What you say to or about your teammates (coworkers) matters. That isn’t to say we ignored issues and didn’t address them. No, we talked openly about them and hit them head on. There was plenty of running as punishment for a comment like “I suck” or “we suck,” or a fallen head after missing a shot or pass. We praised little victories over and over. We were laying a foundation.
This year, when our tournament draw came out, we knew who we were going to play. They were really, really good. In fact, we had never beaten them in the previous five years (nine games, lots of blowouts). We were certain we had the talent and skill to win, but what we still lacked was confidence and size. We went to work. Rebounding drills every practice. We brought in high school friends to increase the pressure and intensity at practice. At first, it was really tough. If we didn’t do it right, we did it again. We did this for three weeks leading into the tournament. Every practice, we talked about being positive and doing the little things to help each other. Everyone has a part to play.
The day of the big game came, and we pulled off a last-second victory. Then we won another, then another last-second win. The next thing we knew, we were in the City finals playing for the championship. It was a great experience. We didn’t pull off the victory in the finals, but what I hope the boys learned was a process they can use in life.
Being positive isn’t about being happy all the time or rolling through life without bad things happening. Being positive is a realization that bad things will happen. Our reaction to those things is where truly being positive starts. If we focus too much on the bad thing that has happened, despair seeps into our mindset and deprives us of motivation and clarity. The key is to figure out, “What can I do today to make a difference for my team, family, coworkers, clients, communities, etc.?”
Being positive is about knowing what you individually can control and focusing solely on those things. When done strategically, this focus leads to confidence, growth, and positive momentum for you and those around you. Ultimately, this process, done consistently and with others, leads to hugely successful outcomes. Just like my bunch of 8th graders, I hope everyone can see their value and potential and what they can bring to their team, work, family, and community.
There is a lot of pent-up potential in the world for great things. I see it. I’m hopeful you see it too. Don’t be afraid to do that one small thing right now. Even if no one notices, take pride knowing you are making a positive difference. If it were easy, it would already be done. Then do that next one small thing. Repeated small positive actions lead to huge positive outcomes.
By the way, if you want to watch the championship game, it is on Indiana SRN, Feb 5, 2026, CYO Basketball. Watch her
– Joe Miller