The 17 Essential Qualities of a Team Player: Becoming the Kind of Person Every Team Wants

by John C. Maxwell

Consistency takes more than talent. It takes a depth of character that enables people to follow through—no matter how tired, distracted, or overwhelmed they are.

you haven’t committed goals to paper before, stop and do it before reading any farther. Now, look at those goals.

“When I say that I intend to do something, how reliable am I? Rate me on a scale of one to ten.”

Discipline is doing what you really don’t want to do so that you can do what you really want to do.

In your family, serve your spouse. Free up time and resources for enriching experiences. On the ball field, find a way to get your teammate the ball. In business, help your colleagues to shine. And whenever possible, give credit to others for the team’s success.

Set aside time this week to plan your activities in a longer block of time than you’re accustomed to doing.

Remember this: courage has no greater ally than preparation, and fear has no greater enemy.

Are you used to winging it? Do you try to fake it till you make it? Or is solid preparation part of your regular routine?

Create a system or list for yourself that will help you mentally walk through any process ahead of time, breaking tasks down into steps.

Before everything else, getting ready is the secret of success. —HENRY FORD

“You can claim to be surprised once; after that, you’re unprepared.”

“To be trusted is a greater compliment than to be loved.”

Learn as if you were to live forever; live as if you were to die tomorrow. —Anonymous

“If you study the lives of the truly great individuals who have influenced the world, you will find that in virtually every case, they spent considerable amounts of time alone—contemplating, meditating, listening.”

If you want to keep getting better, carve out some time to get away and slow down.

Poet W. H. Auden quipped, “We’re here on earth to do good for others. What the others are here for, I don’t know.”