Today’s message is dedicated to the great Gayle Scroggs, PhD, International Coach and Translator, in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

LOVE is another one of Seligman/Peterson’s Signature Strengths.

LOVE means zero or “nothing” in tennis scoring. This couldn’t be further from the truth.

Love is EVERYTHING in tennis, sports and life.

If you don’t love what you do, find something else to do.

Here’s what I LOVE about tennis:

-It’s a good workout while having fun
-It helps me break a “mental” sweat, as well as a physical one
-It teaches me skills that I can use in other areas of life
-It enables me to help others develop skills, have fun, get exercise
-It has helped me meet some amazing people I otherwise would probably not have met
-I love the “POP” of the ball hitting the sweet spot
-I love the smell of a new can of tennis balls
-I love my opponents for helping me improve
-I love learning about the game and it’s history
-I love using tennis as a metaphor for life

LOVE is one of the most powerful things in the world.

When you take the time to think about and appreciate all the things that you love, you will…

Be happier
Have less stress
Have better relationships
Get better results
Slow down life
Become fulfilled

So the next time someone tells you LOVE means nothing to a tennis player…tell them they’re wrong.

Thanks for reading.

Today’s message is especially dedicated to the great Chris Longo, Detective in Lawrence, NJ and winner of the Meritorious Service Award.

The more I talk with people in different walks of life and industries, the more amazed I am that we are all the same.

The success principles are the same regardless of what you do.

It is usually a detective doing the questioning, but yesterday, when I met with Detective Chris Longo, I was asking the questions.

One of the challenges a detective faces is staying organized and meeting deadlines. There is much paperwork to do and many reports to be written. Like Detective Longo, we all have our assignments and need to get them accomplished in a timely fashion. This helps everything run smoothly for everyone.

A detective also needs to build a rapport with many different people in many different situations. One minute you could be giving a death notification to a mother and then before you know it, you might have to deal with a gang member. Detective Longo said that it is important to be able to establish trust and respect in order to gain insight to a specific case.

Obviously, a detective needs to be physically fit, but they also need to be mentally fit, says Longo. If you do not have the right mindset, you will not succeed. You cannot let your emotions get in the way; you need to take action regardless of your feelings. We all need to be able to do that.

Of course success comes when an case or assignment is solved, but there’s more to it. You need to be persistent and patient because some cases take time. Staying in the present is key, therefore, you need to be focusing on the process instead of the product.

As with any occupation, you need to develop specific skills and maintain, some examples are:

Firearms
Unarmed Defense
PR 24 (Police Baton)
Domestic Violence
CPR

Although detectives have customized programs and skills they need to develop, they still face the same challenges as you and me.

We all need to:
-Be physically AND mentally fit
-Establish good relationships
-Stay on top of assignments
-Take action regardless of feelings
-Be persistent and patient
-Stay in the present
-Focus on the process vs the product

Thank you, Detective Longo.

Thanks for reading.

I met Alex Salzman last month at the Book Bank Foundation’s “Shelter From the Streets” event in NYC. Mr. Salzman began something amazing in 2007, with two other co-founders that you will be hearing a lot about in the near future. Rethos.com is an online community where individuals, non-profit organizations, and socially responsible businesses unite on solutions to social and environmental issues. People are already calling it “MySpace.com with a conscience.”

From the Rethos.com site…

Today, over 27,000 children died around the world

by Anup Shah

Around the world, 27–30,000 children die every day.
That is equivalent to:

1 child dying every 3 seconds
20 children dying every minute
A 2004 Asian Tsunami occurring almost every week
An Iraq-scale death toll every 15–35 days
10–11 million children dying every year
Over 50 million children dying between 2000 and 2005
The silent killers are poverty, hunger, easily preventable diseases and illnesses, and other related causes. In spite of the scale of this daily/ongoing catastrophe, it rarely manages to achieve, much less sustain, prime-time, headline coverage.

Source: The Cause of Poverty

Making a lot of money won’t leave you fulfilled. Winning the US Open won’t leave you fulfilled. Doing your part and leaving the world better than you found it WILL. Please watch the video below.

Thanks for reading.

Ok, now that we’re back at work, school, the gym, the field, the courts, etc…

We need to step it up this year. We need to make ’08, GREAT. Even if you had a good year in ’07, you still need to push yourself. In fact, push yourself even MORE. Most people, after a good year, tend to relax and guess what? We get lazy, rest on our laurels and our competitors creep up on us and sometimes surpass us. So keep it going or get it going. What we’re talking about here is committing to constant improvement. Not with others, but with OURSELVES.

So let’s talk about perspective. Perspective is one of Martin Seligman’s (Father of Positive Psychology) 24 character strengths.

One thing that we need to be aware of in sports and life is that in every situation there are different perspectives.

Ellen Langer (Mindfulness) at Harvard talks in depth about perspectives, as well.

Below are two situations and two different perspectives for each…

Situation #1:

You just lost a tennis match against the top player in the state.

Perspective #1:

This stinks; I stink. I hate losing…why can’t I just win a match? What are my parents going to say? What are my friends going to say? What is my coach going to say? Maybe I should try golf.

Perspective #2:

Wow, I just played the top tennis player in the state; what an experience. Even though I lost, I learned so much and actually had fun. I think I played quite well, considering. I know exactly what I need to work on to give him a better match next time. If I could do this well against him, imagine what I can do against everyone else?

Situation #2:

You just got fired from your job.

Perspective #1:

Are you kidding me? What am I supposed to do NOW? I have no money, the job market out there is tough. Will my girlfriend still love me? Life stinks.

Perspective #2:

Hmm, I wasn’t really happy at that job anyway. This might be a blessing in disguise telling me to follow my dreams and do what I love. Wow, maybe I can pursue writing after all. I’m going to email my friend who is a book publisher first thing in the morning and see what my options are. I can’t wait.

So as you’re going through 2008, try to look at things from other perspectives. Other perspectives may be looking at things in a more positive way or from another person’s point of view.

If you’re a business owner, try looking at things from your customers’ point of view.

If you are a student, look at things from your teacher’s point of view.

If you are a son or daughter, try looking at things from your parents’ point of view.

If you are a parent, try looking at things from your child’s point of view.

The point is, there more you see that there are different perspectives out there in every situation, the more likely you will…

Have better relationships
Master your craft/sport
Learn more strategies
Have more fun/engagement
Be more well-rounded

Thanks for reading.