Chapter 1. Why Sports and Business for Women?

Never stop working, wanting, or dreaming.

Nancy Lieberman

How does a poor girl from Far Rockaway, New York, defy the odds and become a Hall of Fame basketball player, coach, author, television analyst, entrepreneur, and mom? The simple answer is luck, and in many cases, I created my own luck. However, the complete story about how I got from there to here involves love, passion, faith, vision, fearlessness, and a stubborn will to succeed.

I've lived my own Playbook for Success, and it comes naturally to me. Now I'm putting it all down in this book to share what I've learned with you: the secrets and steps that will take you to new levels of success you didn't think were possible. Well, they are! I know this from firsthand experience. My life has been about overachieving and showing people that they, too, could do anything they wanted to do—if they had a plan and were willing to put in the hard work.

The streets of New York gave me a toughness that has helped me to survive and keep moving forward when everything seemed hopeless. If not for the playbook provided to me at a young age by Lavoiser Lamar, one of my coaches in Harlem, you might not be reading my book—or absorbing and utilizing this plan for your own personal growth and success.

My days on the courts proved invaluable in developing my competitive spirit. They taught me not only how to win but also how to use my losses as tools for evaluating myself, zeroing in on my weaknesses, and ...

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