Robert Greene is the best selling author of "Mastery" and the "48 Laws of Power." His "Daily Laws" also has adherents. How can we apply them to coaching? What are our "daily laws?"
Here are ten paraphrased recurring ideas from The Daily Laws:
Extracted and edited
Master your emotions.
Reacting on impulse hands control to other people, so detachment is a source of power. Note: we can't control much of what happens to us, although we control how we respond. Few good things happen when we lose emotional regulation. Books like "Moby Dick" share the destructive power of emotion. What's the first thing you think of about Woody Hayes?
Study people, not just their words.
Motives and insecurities explain behavior better than what people say about themselves. Note: Some say the biggest personalities have the greatest insecurities. Seek contribution not validation. The "never enough" person can lose boundaries when interacting with others.
Deep skill comes from years of patient, deliberate practice, not shortcuts. Note: "Mentoring is the only shortcut to excellence." When we've received mentorship, pay it forward. "10,000 hours" might not be correct, but overnight expertise doesn't happen.
Find your life's task.
Your calling shows up in what you were drawn to early. Note: Confucius said, "Do what you love and you don't work a day in your life." That may be an exaggeration.
Strategy means anticipating moves ahead instead of reacting to each. Note: Most of the time, chess is a poor metaphor for basketball. My high school coach, Ellis Lane, assumed a 3-17 program with poor infrastructure and won a top division sectional title in three years.
However, with experience we may anticipate actions such as backdoor cuts or Iverson action.
Keep a journal or "commonplace book" about what the game has taught.
Guard your image.
Mystery maintains curiosity. Overexposure can dampen influence. Note: Great coaches like Don Meyer, Wooden, and Dean Smith shared lessons freely. Reputation takes years to develop and minutes to destroy. Brand is not the same as character.
Society loves to watch the mighty fall. Deserve success based upon work ethic and how you treat others. Remember Nassim Taleb's Silver Rule, "Do not do to others what you would not want them to do to you." Note: Being an a*hole plays into the desires of others.
Stay adaptable.
Rigid plans break under pressure. Remain flexible and stay open to change tactics. Note: Stay constant with values and standards but open to new ideas.
Win with actions, not arguments.
Demonstration changes minds far more than debating it. Note: for example, a Galton Board shows the spectrum of possibilities from 'random' events.
Confront your own shadow.
Blind spots and self-deception cause the most damage when ignored. Note: "Life is about the management of risk."
What are our daily laws? Consider to making a bigger list and whittling it to something manageable.
1. Learn every day. (Kevin Eastman's advice to read for two hours daily is rational for developing expertise.) Basketball is public domain and only constrained by imagination.
2. Share something great. (Every missive won't be life-changing.)
3. Be a credit giver not a credit taker. (Adam Grant's "Give and Take" provides many examples.)
4. Consider the first order consequences and beyond. "I wonder..."
5. Seek balance. (Extremes create special, unanticipated risks.)
Lagniappe. "Eyes sell lies."
Eyes Sell Lies.
— PGC Basketball - Point Guard College (@PGCbasketball) September 23, 2026
Most guards look right where they're about to pass. That's not court vision — that's a gift to the defense. You don't even have to guess what a guard like that is doing. Just watch his eyes.
Great guards do the opposite. They stare one way and go another. They… pic.twitter.com/bOSlYXYtsE
