MESSAGE #1070 THE WORLD’S LONGEST BLOG ENTRY
They say a picture is worth a thousand words. Then I guess this is the word’s longest blog entry with 10,000 words. Enjoy!
MESSAGE #1069 YOU ARE A BAMBOO TREE
When you plant bamboo seeds, nothing happens for the first year. Or the second year, the third year, or the fourth. But in the fifth year, the bamboo tree does something amazing – it will grow about two and a half feet every day for six weeks until it is approximately ninety feet tall.
You are a bamboo tree. You are germinating right now.
Keep learning. Keep working hard.
And one day you will shock the world.
MESSAGE #1068 TALKIN’ BASEBALL
Today’s message is especially dedicated to the great Brandon Laird, 3B for the Trenton Thunder (Double-A, New York Yankees).
Brandon Laird currently leads all of professional baseball with 77 Runs Batted In in 72 games.
He was named Eastern League Player of the Week and Player of the Month.
He was only the second Thunder player to hit for the cycle on May 26, including a walk-off home run.
Two nights ago, he hit a grand slam and a three-run home run (for the second time this season).
Did I forget any impressive stats? Probably.
I have been fortunate to spend some time with Laird over the past month. His numbers are amazing and his attitude is even better. He is truly a class-act and is mentally tough beyond his years.
After last night’s game, I spoke with Laird and he was telling me how he was in a bit of a “funk” last week.
I asked him how he got out of it and he said, “At first I thought, ‘What am I doing?’ then I thought about what I was doing well before and tried to focus on that. I just trusted that it would come around because failure is part of baseball.”
Laird was persistent in his approach and stayed optimistic. As most great athletes do, he focused on his effort, not his results.
I had to ask Laird about his streak and having the most RBIs in professional baseball.
“You know, I’m just taking it one day at a time. I have a plan, I try to hit the ball hard and have a good at bat,” commented Laird.
Tonight is exactly one month since I first spoke to Laird, which was the same night he hit for the cycle with a walk-off home run.
I will be talking to #29 again before the game and we’ll see if he can continue to stay hot with his bat. I have a strange feeling he will.
Play ball!
MESSAGE #1067 HOW BAD DO YOU WANT IT?
The difference between a successful person and others is not a lack of strength, not a lack of knowledge, but rather a lack of will.
-VINCE LOMBARDI
I know something about you.
You don’t always get what you want.
Why?
Because you don’t make things important enough.
If something is important, you make time for it.
If you want to quit smoking and you say, “I should quit smoking,” you probably won’t.
What if you smoked a cigarette today and knew you would get lung cancer tomorrow, would you do it?
Of course not.
What if you were a smoker and were diagnosed with lung cancer, could you quit?
Of course.
How great do you want to be?
Success is often determined by desire.
How important is it for you to practice?
How important is it for you to eat healthy?
How important is it to spend time with loved ones?
Choose wisely.
MESSAGE #1066
If you train hard, you’ll not only be hard, you’ll be hard to beat.
-HERSCHEL WALKER
MESSAGE #1065 WHO ARE YOU?
How you respond to the challenge in the second half will determine what you become after the game, whether you are a winner or a loser.
-LOU HOLTZ
Do you play to get a lot of trophies?
Do you work to make a lot of money?
Do you study to get a lot of A’s?
Don’t get me wrong, trophies, money and A’s are desirable things to have, but they should not be the ultimate goal.
I think that what really matters is what kind of person you become.
Trophies, money and A’s will not last forever. But your character will.
Training yourself to go all-out, striving for constant improvement and enjoying the process is success to me.
What do you think?
MESSAGE #1064 THAT LITTLE VOICE INSIDE YOUR HEAD
Today’s message is especially dedicated to the great Shari Koretsky.
Tennis players need to expand on their positive thoughts and cut down on their negative thoughts.
I have worked with some of the top juniors in the country and one thing I have noticed is that they all have good strokes. When they are playing well, they look like future champions. But when things start going wrong, most of these elite athletes get negative, VERY negative. They yell at themselves, smash their racquets against the ground and have terrible body language.
They have this voice inside their head. We all do. And if you’re asking yourself, “Do I have a voice inside my head?”…that’s the voice I’m talking about.
The key is to make that voice positive. Pump yourself up or make adjustments if you’re not getting the results you want.
Focus on what you want to happen. Focus on being your own coach. And focus on attitude and effort.
I am currently working with several high-level athletes on their mental toughness and they are all improving. A few of them have even gotten compliments from other parents, coaches and umpires on their improved attitudes.
For the most part, we create our lives. We choose how we react to certain situations.
But the question is, will we choose to be positive or negative?
Leave your comments below…
MESSAGE #1063 I’m NOT Teaching Tennis Today
Today’s message is especially dedicated to the great Nic Cecan.
Summer Tennis Camp 2010 officially begins today.
Though numbers are down, I am very excited.
I’m sure there will be some new faces, which will bring new opportunities.
I look at every session as a way to positively affect our youth. It’s life lessons through tennis. Sure, the campers will improve their tennis game, but more importantly, they will learn confidence, teamwork, how to perform under pressure, focus and much more.
Honestly, I don’t look at Tennis Camp as a way of making money, or getting a nice tan. I look at it as contribution.
Helping others become healthier, mentally and physically.
Teaching them that effort and attitude are more important than results and materialistic objects.
Making the world a better place.
What if everyone on the planet had this mentality?
MESSAGE #1062 HAPPY FATHER’S DAY!
In this video blog, Ed wishes his father, the great Vincent Tseng a Happy Father’s Day.
And Happy Father’s Day to all the other great fathers out there!
MESSAGE #1061 HOW TO FAIL LESS…
I have a feeling that someone reading this has been disappointed before – unhappy with results in sports, sales or school.
Perhaps you tried to do something but failed, like ask someone out on a date.
Here’s how you can get different results…
Either change your perception of the situation or change your approach.
Let me explain.
Say you are playing tennis and you keep hitting the ball into the net. You may start to think that you stink and are not a good tennis player.
Changing your perception would be: even though you are hitting many balls into the net, you are still a good player, still in control and will make adjustments.
You can also change your approach. This would be aiming higher over the net next time.
When you change your perception and/or change your approach, you get different results.
That’s the bottom-line.