MESSAGE #811 RISKY BUSINESS…

“Really it comes down to your philosophy. Do you want to play it safe and be good or do you want to take a chance and be great?”
-JIMMY JOHNSON, former head coach, Dallas Cowboys

Big risk, big reward.

How many home runs did Babe Ruth hit?

714.

Pretty amazing, but what’s even more amazing is that he struck out 1,330 times.

Do you really want to go through life with your bat just sitting on your shoulder?

Swing away!

Get out of your comfort zone and do something today that scares you.

Do something today that you’ve been putting off.

Let me train you. Here’s how you do it…

Don’t think about it, just do it.

It’s as simple as that. Just put your body in motion and your emotions will follow. One of my students, the great Liz Andrews, is also a marathon runner. Liz says that the hardest part of running is putting on your sneakers.

Use the 15-minute rule. Do something for just fifteen minutes and then you can stop…but you won’t. Once you take action, you start to get into it.

This applies for working out, paying your bills, waking up in the morning, practicing or studying.

Thanks for reading

MESSAGE #810 POWER…

“The power to succeed or fail is yours alone.”
-GARY MACK

If you’re reading this blog, you probably want to become better at something. You want to get motivated. But here’s the thing…I can’t create a great person…I can only help bring that person out.

That person is already inside of you.

One of my heroes is Jim Abbott, a baseball player who pitched a no-hitter for the Yankees on September 4, 1993. In fact, I have a signed photo of him in my hallway and it’s one of the first things that I see in the morning.

Jim Abbott was born without a right hand.

If Jim Abbott can, not only play professional baseball, but throw a no-hitter, without a right hand, imagine what you can do?

I use his photograph to inspire me and remind me that greatness is not what we’re born with; greatness is what we do with what we have.

You don’t have to be great at the start, but you need to start to be great.

This morning I woke up thinking about one of my favorite quotes, from Lance Armstrong…

“I’m just a normal guy, and I’m going to show you what a normal guy can do.”

It’s your choice…

if you make the most of today
if you look at the positive in every situation
if you go all out
if you look inside instead of outside
if you procrastinate procrastination

What will you choose today?

Thanks for reading.


GOT MENTAL TOUGHNESS?
Sign up today for the Tseng Performance Academy @ the brand new Monroe Sports Center! (
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Learn the mental secrets of the world’s greatest athletes and get the edge over the competition. Who should attend? Athletes and coaches of all levels and from all sports.

Topics will include: focus, relaxation, motivation, self-confidence, goal setting, performing under pressure and much more!

Email for more information or to register.

MESSAGE #809 THE WORLD’S LONGEST TENNIS RALLY…

“Records are made to be broken. If you have a passion and love for the game, trust in your partner and something driving you, you can accomplish extraordinary things.”
-ANGELO ROSSETTI


When I was younger, I was intrigued by the Guinness Book of World Records. I would sit there for hours just reading about all these amazing people and all of their amazing feats.

Well, recently, I met a world-record holder.

When I spoke at the USTA Tennis Teachers Conference this year during the US Open, I met Angelo Rossetti, who holds the record for the world’s longest tennis rally with his brother, Ettore.

Several years ago I was rallying with one of my students and we were able to get 650 shots in a row – it took twenty minutes and we were pretty happy.

Can you guess how many shots Angelo and Ettore hit?

25,944.

It took them over 14 hours and 31 minutes on September 10, 2008.

Amazing, but what I like most about this record is that they did it for charity. Several charities.

I had a great conversation with Angelo and was intrigued by his story. I asked him if he would answer some questions for my blog, which he kindly did. Here they are…

ET: What did you do/tell yourself during the rally when you didn’t “feel like” continuing?

AR: As far as a strategy, we focused on “under the ball, over the net”. If we did both we would not miss. I thought about my family, all of the supporters who were still there and about the 4 charities and the people who face diseases that they try to eliminate. Others have gone through a lot more sacrifice for a lot less reward, so it they can do it so can we. Our sacrifices of lack of sleep, food and water pale in comparison to what the starving, people with cancer and ALS go through. We didn’t let down our fans, friends and family and, above all, the people who are affected every day with (breast) cancer, hunger, Lou Gehrig’s disease and brain cancer. Sometimes you can push yourself further when doing it for others than for yourself. At the net chord at about 12k strokes I was spent. (Angelo)

ER: I felt exhausted – mentally, physically and emotionally. After the hug, I dropped to my knees and buried my face in my hands, overwhelmed by a confluence of feelings: exhaustion, relief, fatigue, dehydration, hunger, pain, joy and sorrow. In that moment, I thought of my wife Soumia, and my two children, Adam and Jasmine, both under 5 years old – and then began to weep for the children around the world who die every day from preventable or treatable causes before they reach age 5. In the developing world, mothers in many countries do not name their newborns for weeks after birth for fear they will not survive. I thought of those unnamed children. I also thought of the late Scott Wilson and the late Tim Gullikson, our honorees, and all of the victims and survivors of ALS, brain cancer and breast cancer. I hugged our Dad and gave a thumbs-up to our Mom, who was still loyally watching from the observation window. (Ettore)

ET: How did you prepare for breaking the record?

AR: One of our keys to success was a training net that attached on the top of the net that helps players hit the ball with a higher trajectory over the net and thus further in the court. It is just as much of a mental challenge as a physical one, if not more so. Doing anything for 15 hours straight is hard to do. We both were physically and mentally training by teaching 12-hour days for more than nine months. I did not eat or drink much the day or so prior as well. We had a handful of 1-hour practices throughout the year prior.

ET: Do you think that anyone can do it?

AR: Records are made to be broken. If you have a passion and love for the game, trust in your partner and something driving you, you can accomplish extraordinary things. With that said, I find it tough for anyone to rally for a longer time period as previous world records were done in half the time. We welcome anyone to raise money for charity and try for the record as we did this year and will do in future years. We secured $1M this year for anyone who could break the record back on August 15. If someone does break the record we would be committed to do it again.

ET: What motivated you to try to break the record?

AR: We wanted to raise awareness and funds for four charities that hold special meaning for us: the ALS Association, Save the Children, Susan G. Komen for the Cure and the Tim & Tom Gullikson Foundation. The effort was inspired as a way to honor Scott B. ­Wilson, our fellow USPTA Professional, friend and mentor who lost his battle to ALS (Lou Gehrig’s disease) in 2005 at the age of 42, and Tim ­Gullikson, who died of brain cancer in 1996. Early in their careers, the brothers worked with Wilson, who was a head pro at the time. The Rossettis, who collected approximately $20,000 to date, aim to raise $25,944 by December 31 to match the number of strokes from their world record rally. Contributions to all four charities are still being accepted online at www.Rally4Charity.org (click the logo of the charity of your choice).


The Rossettis certainly had a great purpose for their goal.

If you make a goal important enough, anything is possible. The Rossetti brothers are leaving a legacy – and they’re just two regular people…and so are you.

< br />Thanks for reading.

MESSAGE #808 A SPECIAL DAY…

I spent the afternoon with some of my heroes yesterday…

My Special Olympics team.

Every time I work with these athletes, I become inspired all over again.

My time with my Special Olympics team is one of my most enjoyable. I learn so much from them – optimism, hard work, dedication, honesty, and character, to say the least.

And I don’t get paid.

Remember what Einstein said – “Not everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that counts can be counted.”

And remember Message #797.

You couldn’t put a price on how rewarding and enjoyable my practice sessions with my special athletes are.

It’s so organic. They’re the real deal. They’re polite and caring. And we can all learn a lot from them.

The one thing we all have in common is our search for happiness.

But guess what?

It’s not in a bigger house. It’s not in a nicer car. It’s not in a new pair of shoes.

Look around today, and tell me if you see it.

Thanks for reading.

MESSAGE #807 THE BOSS…

Well, it’s that time of year again…



Bruce Springsteen time.



The Boss is touring all over the tri-state area and one of my students went to see him this past Friday.



Whether you like Bruce’s music or not, there’s no denying that he’s a great performer.



My favorite story about Bruce is from about two years ago….



The New York sports radio, WFAN was talking about Bruce and his concerts right around this time of year. And someone called in and said, “I’ve seen Bruce about 14 times and every time it was an amazing concert. And last year, the person I went with knew Bruce, so we hung out back stage afterwards. Well, while we were backstage, someone went up to Bruce and asked him, ‘How do you do it? Every night you give a great performance.’ “



Bruce replied, “Well, that’s easy…2 things – Number 1…Every night I tell myself that this is the most important concert of my career; and Number 2…It’s only rock and roll.”



What does this mean?



Your effort should be all-out.



Your attitude should be a little relaxed.



It’s only rock and roll.



It’s only tennis.



It’s only work.

Be the Boss of your own life today.

Thanks for reading.


MESSAGE #806

“You can will something to happen, with your body, with your mind. The mind is that strong. You can say, ‘I want to get this close to the hole.’ That’s where the mind comes in. The mind has to produce positive thinking. All the great players do that.”
-BYRON NELSON

MESSAGE #805 AUTUMN ADRENALINE…

“If you always put limits on everything you do, physical or anything else, it will spread into your work and into your life. There are no limits. There are only plateaus, and you must not stay there, you must go beyond them.”
-BRUCE LEE

The quote above is from Renita Kalhorn’s In the Flow Coaching website. Kalhorn is a Julliard-trained classical pianist with a martial arts black belt and an MBA from INSEAD, one of the top international business schools.

Last night I attended Renita’s Autumn Adrenaline workshop in New York City.

The purpose of the workshop was to “Kick Your Life Into High Gear.” Many of the attendees were looking to improve in areas such as…

-Focus
-Achieving
-Getting more done
-Getting unstuck
-Balancing time

Athletes have the same challenges. Goals are a critical component to success. Kalhorn says that goals keep her life “buzzing.”

According to Kalhorn, the three keys to success are Desire, Action and Energy.

DESIRE
-Find Your Why: Why are you pursuing this goal?
-Visualize: Vividly imagine in your mind yourself achieving this goal
-Feed Your Mind: Place positive images in your mind
-Ask Better Questions: Instead of asking “Why am I not succeeding,” ask instead, “Why am I so successful?”

ACTION
-Think Small: Start small and gain some momentum
-Slip In The Back Way (Virtuous Cycle): Just get started, then you get into it
-Find a Balance Between Challenge and Ability: Hypo stress is when your ability is greater than your challenge. Hyper stress is when your challenge is greater than your ability. And Eustress (Ideal) is when challenge and ability are equal.

ENERGY
-Set Your Intention: Say something like, “Now I am going to…”
-Create Rituals: Develop good habits.
-Rest and Recover: Take a break every 90 minutes.

If this is new to you…Great, take some notes.

I already knew much of what was covered in the workshop, but I still got a lot out of it.

Why?

Because it’s not about doing something once or knowing what to do. It’s doing something consistently. And there are parts of my life that I am working on and last night’s workshop helped inspire me to take different action. Starting today. It was also nice to see someone conduct a workshop and learn new ways to do things.

I conduct similar workshops on my own, but it was still wonderful to participate, learn and stay motivated. I think I just got to another plateau.

Thanks Renita!


Thanks for reading.

MESSAGE #804 BE THE CONDUCTOR OF YOUR OWN LIFE…

Life is a series of problem-solving events.

We cannot avoid problems – we can only choose how we react to them.

The only question I have for you is this…

Are you going to get irritated, or are you going to get intrigued?

The next time you have a challenge on the court, in school, at work, or in a relationship, are you going to get irritated, or are you going to get intrigued?

If you get irritated, you will not perform at a high level, nor will you have satisfaction.

If you get intrigued, you will be curious to figure out ways to overcome the challenge and probably will. Besides, who doesn’t love a challenge?

Recently I attended to a lecture given by Benjamin Zander, conductor of the Boston Symphony Orchestra.

Zander has a similar way of dealing with problems.

When something doesn’t go well, he throws his arms up in the air and yells, “How fascinating!”

I like that.

Here’s your homework…

When you encounter a problem today, instead of getting irritated by it, get intrigued.

Or you can throw your hands up in the air and yell, “How fascinating!”

People may think you’re strange, so tell them you learned it from Benjamin Zander. I’m joking.

Have a super day everyone…


Thanks for reading.

MESSAGE # 803 MEMORIES…

In the current issue of Wisdom magazine, Sarah Cimperman, Doctor of Naturopathic Medicine, talks about improving and protecting memory.

“Experts now understand how sleep, exercise, diet, botanical medicine and stress management can improve and protect memory,” says Cimperman.

Don’t care about improving your memory?

It doesn’t matter. These things will help you improve your performance on the field, in the classroom or in the boardroom, too.

Let’s look at the mental side of sports…

An average tennis match lasts about 90 minutes.

Do you know how many of those minutes you are actually playing?

About 18.

18 minutes.

The rest of the time you are thinking, switching sides, picking up balls, etc.

With that said, how often do you work on the rest of those 72 minutes that you are not playing?

Do you work on your focus, relaxation/stress reduction and motivation/activation?

Great ways to cross-train, and manage stress are yoga (my personal favorite), meditation, breathing exercises, progressive muscle relaxation, and qi gong, according to Cimperman.

We all need focus, but we need to work on it just as much as we work on our bodies, otherwise you will be like the boy in MESSAGE #412 http://edtseng.blogspot.com/search?q=message+%23412


Thanks for reading.

MESSAGE #802 EAT THIS…

I believe in preventive medicine.

Many people wait until they get sick to take care of themselves.

I know that ever since I’ve become about 80% vegetarian, I have more energy, feel stronger and faster, and have less stress and better mental clarity.

“Americans have been among the first people worldwide to have the luxury of bombarding themselves with nutrient-deficient, high-calorie food, often called empty-calorie or junk food…The number one health problem in the United States is obesity, and if the current trend continues, by the year 2030 all adults in the United States will be obese…This is especially discouraging for the dieter because after spending so much money attempting to lose weight, 95 percent of them gain all the weight back and then add on even more pounds within three years.” (Furhman, J. Eat to Live, p. 15)

Animal protein causes diseases. Plant protein prevents them.

Am I saying you should become a vegetarian? No, it’s your choice. Am I recommending it? You bet. (But first consult your doctor)

I could go on with facts and stats, but instead I will give you some tips and sample meals to try from Eat to Live

1. Make a salad your main dish, and eat it first.
2. Eat as much fruit as you like.
3. Beans are good for your heart…eat them every day.
4. Eliminate animal and dairy products (or at least cut back drastically).
5. Eat more mushrooms.

BREAKFAST
Oranges
1 cup oatmeal
1 ounce walnuts
1 ounce raisins

LUNCH
Salad-stuffed whole wheat pita with hummus
Fresh fruit

DINNER
Salad with cracked peppercorn dressing
Vegetarian chili
Green apple slices in lime juice

This just an example of a day of eating vegetarian. These powerful meals will energize you, help prevent diseases, help you lose weight and help you perform at a higher level. Try it and let me know your thoughts. If you need any vegetarian or non-vegetarian recipes, email me at

“The best prescription is knowledge.”
– Dr. C. Everett Koop


Thanks for reading.