Age is no criterion when it comes to changing your life.
In fact, it might be just the opposite.
The older we get, the more we must change.
Change is what keeps us fresh and innovative.
Change is what keeps us from getting stale and stuck in a rut.
Change is what keeps us young.
This is not easy.
When we are young its easy to change and experiment with different things.
The older we get the more set in our ways we become.
Weve found out what our comfort level is, and we all want to stay in it.
We dont want to be risk takers anymore, because risk frightens us,
and simply not changing seems so easy.
We must fight through this.
We must look fear straight in the eye and take it on.
We must tell ourselves that we have too much talent, too much wisdom,
too much value not to change.
I believe that Jim, who is on my staff,
is one of the best assistant coaches in the country.
But I almost didnt hire him three years ago
because I thought that psychologically he was too old,
that he had lost the drive and passion that an assistant coach needs.
Three years ago he was forty, and I thought
he might have spent too many Saturday afternoons at the country club,
that he wasnt going to get in the trenches anymore,
like the younger assistant coaches do.
But Jim told me that he couldnt wait to get down in the trenches again.
So I hired him, and hes been an integral part of our success.
There is a conventional wisdom in coaching that once youve been a head coach
you cant enthusiastically go back to being an assistant again
and still have the same passion as before.
Jim didnt buy into that.
He didnt let his old age get in his way.
He was ready when opportunity came calling.
He reestablished a work ethic second to none with the eagerness of a person right out of college.
And Im thankful for what he did,
because he played such an essential role in our championship season.
This is what we all must do.
We must realize that its never too late to begin making changes
that can transform our life.