Today’s message is especially dedicated to the great Anton K.
Guy Kawasaki is a marketing/business guru who was one of the original brains behind Apple. I recently read a great line from him.
“Eat like a bird. Poop like an elephant.”
What does that mean to you?
I’ll tell you what it means to me…
Take in information slowly and get rid of all the stuff that isn’t working for you.
Do less. Delegate more.
I’d love to hear your interpretations…
Thanks for reading.
Today’s message is especially dedicated to the great Chris Wu.
Caring is good. Worrying is not.
There’s a difference. You could care to do well in a tennis tournament, but if you worry about if you’re going to do well, then you’re in trouble. Look below at the two different mental scenarios that could take place…
Scenario #1: It’s before your first round match in a tennis tournament and you are really excited to compete and do well. You really WANT to win. You can’t wait to test all the strategies that you’ve been working so hard on in practice.
Scenario #2: It’s the same tournament, but you are worried that you will perform poorly. You start to get nervous and worry about what will people think if you lose.
How do you think you will perform in each scenario?
I met a great young lady recently who is worried about taking her LSATs. I hope she reads this blog because…
Caring makes you powerful.
Worrying makes you weak.
Care enough to work hard, but don’t worry about the results. They will come as a by-product of focusing on the process.
Thanks for reading.
In Pete Sampras’ new book, “A Champion’s Mind. Lessons from a Life in Tennis,” he talks about how he used to practice…
“When it came to the x’s and o’s, one of the first things Tim did was get me to shorten my practice sessions. This was something Tim learned from Jimmy Connors, who may have practiced less-in terms of minutes spent-than any other top player. Jimmy was legendary for his short, intense practices. He sometimes practiced for as few as forty-five minutes, but always with total focus and purpose. He ran for every ball, hit his best shots, and kept up the pressure all the way. He could wear out a guy accustomed to two-hour practices in less than half that time. With Jimmy, you didn’t play two points and then stop, drink some Gatorade, and chitchat.”
Sampras, Pete, Bodo, Peter. (2008). A champion’s mind. Lessons from a life in tennis. Crown Publishers: New York.
So practice doesn’t make perfect. PERFECT practice makes perfect. It’s not quantity, it’s quality. You don’t have to spend more time doing homework, paperwork, or working out…
You just have to spend that time more wisely.
Thanks for reading.
“When you’re courting a nice girl an hour seems like a second. When you sit on a red-hot cinder a second seems like an hour. That’s relativity.”
-Albert Einstein
Some things in life may be unavoidably difficult, painful, or scary, but the successful person learns to disregard the temptation to take the easy path. The truth about doing difficult things is that if you keep doing them, in most cases, they eventually become easier…
One person’s difficulty is another’s ease…it’s all relative.
Thanks for reading.
Today’s message is especially dedicated to the great Alissa Goldsmith.
Recently, I gave a talk to the Princeton Regional Chamber of Commerce on the topic of Peak Performance in Business and Life. Relationships are the key, but the challenge is that everyone is different. Our thought processes and perceptions may not be the same, however, there is no right or wrong – only differences.
We tend to think that everyone else is just like us, but the truth is that we all have our own view of things. We think how WE perceive things is the RIGHT way, but in actuality, there is no “right” way. Three different people could read the same book and put it down with three different views of it. Each of their views is equally real.
So the next time you disagree with someone, try to look at it from THEIR point of view and you may have a different opinion about it…you may even like their perception better.
So reality is whatever we think it is.
“We are shaped by our thoughts. We become what we think.”
-The Buddha
Thanks for reading.
Today’s message is especially dedicated to the great Nic Cecan.
I was driving in rush hour traffic the other day and in the lane next to mine, a driver cut another driver off. I heard a honk and some yelling. Then, the person who was cut off continued to yell and proceeded to speed up and tailgate the other driver to get back at them.
Should we take revenge? I think many times that is the natural tendency. But doesn’t that make you just as bad as the person that did you harm?
If you’re playing tennis and someone makes a bad line call, do you do the same to get back at them? I sure hope not. You need to be the better person.
Just because someone treats you poorly, doesn’t mean that you have a right to do the same back.
Don’t be a thermometer…be a thermostat and control your internal temperature.
Thanks for reading.
Today’s message is especially dedicated to the great Scott Kance.
I have a feeling that someone reading this blog has lost.
Perhaps you have lost a tennis match.
Perhaps you have lost a job.
Perhaps you have lost a bet.
There is no way that you can go through life without losing. In fact, all of the successful people in the world have probably lost the most. You can’t change the fact that you have lost, but what you CAN change is…
Your perception. How you react. What you learn from it.
Start getting more comfortable losing, and something amazing will start to happen…
You will start to win more.
Defeat is bitter, only if you swallow it.
Thanks for reading.
Today’s message is especially dedicated to the great Tiger Woods.
Recently, before I gave a motivational talk, I was nervous, but then I remembered Tiger.
I was also a bit nervous before the last tournament I played in, but then I remembered Tiger.
I’m nervous quite often, but I always think of Tiger, and I’m okay.
Tiger Woods gets nervous before every shot.
But Tiger Woods doesn’t ACT nervous.
So if Tiger Woods gets nervous, it’s okay if YOU get nervous.
Remember, winners and losers feel the same feelings, they just ACT differently.
So how are you going to act?
If you act anything long enough, it becomes real. So when you feel nervous, act confident and soon you will become confident.
The great Dr. Gilbert told me last night that Jim Carrey was on Oprah yesterday and Oprah asked him if he could dance. Carrey said he couldn’t dance, but he could fake anything. So he went into the audience and “faked” dancing and looked like he knew what he was doing! Amazing.
Thanks for reading.
“You can multiply happiness by dividing it.”
-author unknown
This quote doesn’t just apply to happiness. It applies to success, money, motivation…EVERYTHING.
Think abundance and you will get abundance.
Help and share with your teammates, co-workers, family members and friends…
It always comes back to you.
Instead of making a living…
Create a life. Make a difference. Be the best you can be.
Thanks for reading.