50 Best Pat Summitt Quotes on Leadership, Discipline, and Winning

Being disciplined doesn’t always feel good.

— Pat Summitt

Confidence is what happens when you’ve done the hard work that entitles you to succeed.

— Pat Summitt

Discipline helps you finish a job, and finishing is what separates excellent work from average work.

— Pat Summitt

Discipline fosters achievement and self-confidence.

— Pat Summitt

Discipline is about belief.

— Pat Summitt

Discipline is supposed to be thoughtful and appropriate, not knee-jerk. Remember, the goal is to train people (and yourself) into good habits and out of bad ones. 

— Pat Summitt

Discipline is the internal mechanism that self-motivates you.

— Pat Summitt

Discipline is the only sure way I know to convince people to believe in themselves.

— Pat Summitt

Disciplined people finish the job

— Pat Summitt

Do not let anyone outwork you. Overcome the challenges and stay the course.

— Pat Summitt

Group discipline produces a unified effort toward a common goal.

— Pat Summitt

Hard work breeds self-respect.

— Pat Summitt

Hard work is about controlling those things that you are capable of controlling.

— Pat Summitt

Hard work isn’t much without intelligence and understanding.

— Pat Summitt

Have a plan and work it.

— Pat Summitt

Here’s how I’m going to beat you… I am going to work you. That’s it. That’s all there is to it.

— Pat Summitt

I sometimes asked myself, could I play basketball for me? Would I enjoy it? So now I ask you, “Could you work for you? Would you enjoy it?”

— Pat Summitt

I’ve learned that the less time I have to work with, the more things I get done.

— Pat Summitt

If we didn’t have the problem, we wouldn’t need the rule. There’s a word for that. It’s called accountability and it is the backbone of discipline. You don’t have one without the other.

— Pat Summitt

It goes fast, so have the right attitude, work ethic, and know-how to take care of yourself.

— Pat Summitt

My 5th definite dozen principle is “discipline yourself so no one else has to.”

— Pat Summitt

My 6th definite dozen principle is “make hard work, your passion.”

— Pat Summitt

My 7th definite dozen principle is “don’t just work hard, work smart.”

— Pat Summitt

Outwork your competition. 

— Pat Summitt

Plan your work, and work your plan.

— Pat Summitt

Recognition of consequences is the sure way to instill discipline.

— Pat Summitt

Self-discipline is entirely up to you. You can make or break your own habits. No excuses.

— Pat Summitt

Self-discipline is not the path to instant gratification. The reward is much farther down the road, and not always obvious. But in the end, it is a much deeper form of gratification.

— Pat Summitt

Self-discipline is what makes you believe in yourself. 

— Pat Summitt

So, you have a choice. You choose to settle for mediocrity, never venturing forth much effort or feeling very much. Or you can commit. If you commit, I guarantee for every pain, you will experience an equal or surpassing pleasure.

— Pat Summitt

Have pride in your work.

— Pat Summitt

Success is simple: Outwork your competition. 

— Pat Summitt

Taking on too much can be a morale breaker, and when the morale breaks down, so does self-discipline.

— Pat Summitt

The most difficult part of self discipline is convincing yourself that it’s in your own best interest.

— Pat Summitt

You are in control of your life. There are four things you can control every day of your life: attitude, work ethic, how you treat others, and how you treat yourself.

— Pat Summitt

You have to discipline yourself to do something the right way until it’s second nature.

— Pat Summitt

Talent alone will not win, teamwork always works!

— Pat Summitt

Teamwork allows common people to obtain uncommon results.

— Pat Summitt

Teamwork doesn’t come naturally. It must be taught.

— Pat Summitt

Teamwork is about recognizing that your personal ambitions and the ambitions of the team are one in the same. That is the incentive.

— Pat Summitt

Teamwork is really a form of trust.

— Pat Summitt

Without an incentive, people simply won’t work together consistently. But if you can grasp the real incentive behind the teamwork, instilling it suddenly becomes a whole lot easier. 

— Pat Summitt

My 11th definite dozen principle is “change is a must.”

— Pat Summitt

My 12th definite dozen principle is “handle success like you handle failure.”

— Pat Summitt

My 1st definite dozen principle is “respect yourself and others.” 

— Pat Summitt

My 3rd definite dozen principle is “develop and demonstrate loyalty.”

— Pat Summitt

My 4th definite dozen principle is “learn to be a great communicator.”

— Pat Summitt

My 9th definite dozen principle is “make winning an attitude.”

— Pat Summitt

No one ever got anywhere by being negative.

— Pat Summitt

Be fair. The fewer rules you have, the fewer rules will be broken. Establishing discipline will be a lot easier if you don’t burden people with a lot of silly minor regulations. All you need is a handful of fair rules that you are prepared to enforce.

— Pat Summitt