MESSAGE #1188 EMBARRASSING

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I once had a student who hated being embarrassed. During lessons and during competition, he would just drive himself crazy thinking about what people thought about how he was playing, and what they would think if he lost, or missed a shot.

Guess how he played?

Poorly!

The reason why this type of focus hurts your performance is because when you focus on external factors, you are not focusing on what is going to help you play your best game.

The way to play your best game is to focus on your strategy, your effort, your attitude. If your strategy isn’t working, make an adjustment.

The key is to NOT let anything external have any influence over you.

Is it hard?

Sure.

Is it a choice?

Definitely.

MESSAGE #1187 A TIP FROM JOHN MCENROE

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There are scores of players who can hit every shot in the book who never make it into a Grand Slam event. Those who make it are there because they are mentally tougher. They wanted it more.
-JOHN MCENROE

MESSAGE #1183 HOW SOFT IS YOUR PILLOW?

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“The softest pillow is a clear conscience.”
-JOHN WOODEN

I want to give you a test. It’s called the pillow test.

Tonight, when you put your head on the pillow, see which of the following you say to yourself…

“I’m glad I did.”

OR

“I wish I had.”

See, one of the mental toughness secrets of the greatest athletes in history is this…

THEY GO ALL OUT.

Or, as I always say, “It’s better to go all-out and lose than it is to hold back and win. Because when you hold back, you are training yourself to hold back.”

As you go through your day, you will have many decisions to make, and the only thing you should consider is this…

“Am I going to go all-out or am I going to hold back?”

Let me know how you do on the test.

Leave your comments below and thanks for reading.

MESSAGE #1180 SKIP TO YOUR LOU

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I was teaching today and as you can imagine, I try to stay on the positive side of things. Well, as part of our warmup, I have my students skip across the court. Without fail, they smile while they are doing it. So I said, “It’s hard to do that without smiling. That means, whenever you are in a bad mood, miss a shot or someone does something mean to you, just start skipping.”

The lesson began and one of my students who made a negative comment while walking on to the court, missed a shot.

Guess what?

She said, “I’ll just skip it off.”

And she did and felt better.

And she performed better.

Can you apply this to your life?

MESSAGE #1175 MINOR THOUGHTS

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I know a minor league baseball player that pretends to get angry at the pitcher when he steps up to the plate.

In my eyes, that this is a minor league mindset.

Here’s what I think…

When you “hate” your opponent, it creates muscle tension and you don’t perform at your peak.

When sprinters train for competition, they run at about 80 percent.

Why?

Because when they run at 100 percent, their muscles constrict and they actually run slower.

Instead of “hating” your opponent, think of them as your teacher–someone who is pushing you to get better.

Have gratitude for your teacher and you will stay loose.

When you stay loose, you perform at a higher level.

Hating your opponent is a minor league attitude, and you can’t make the major leagues with a minor league attitude.

MESSAGE #1171 WHAT DO YOU DO WHEN THE PRESSURE’S ON?

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Well, the Yankees were losing 3-0 in Game 1 of the ALDS versus the Minnesota Twins last night and they came back to win 6-4.

“The switch kind of turns on when the postseason rolls around over here,” says Yankee Nick Swisher.

That’s a winning mindset.

Most people fold when the pressure is on.

But the great ones get turned on by the pressure.

It’s a choice.

What will you choose?

MESSAGE #1170 SELF-FULFILLING PROPHECY

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The other day I was getting ready to teach a young boy. Before we went on the court, I said, “This just might be the best lesson you’ve ever had.”

“I thought EVERY LESSON is the best I’ve ever had?” he responded.

I liked his answer.

So we went on the court and his energy level was exceptionally high, even in the warmup. We started hitting and he was totally focused and high-energy.

It truly was one of the best lessons he ever had.

And he created it in his mind first.

The problem with many people is that either they act how they feel or they think negatively.

And that’s what they get. It’s a self-fulfilling prophecy.

Does your day determine your attitude, or does your attitude determine your day?

MESSAGE #1168 WHEN TO GET SERIOUS

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Dr. Alan Goldberg is one of the top sports psychologists in the world. Goldberg says you have to know when to be serious in sports.

“The time to try hard and get serious should ONLY be WHEN YOU PRACTICE and NEVER, EVER WHEN YOU STEP INTO THE COMPETITIVE ARENA,” says Goldberg.

“When you get ‘serious’ about the outcome of any game, match or race you inadvertently set yourself up for frustration and failure.”

Think about a time when you performed “in the zone” or “in flow.”

Didn’t you “just” do it? Weren’t you focused but relaxed?

That’s peak performance.

How do you do it?

Focus on your strategy, effort and attitude, instead of the outcome.

MESSAGE #1166

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In Derek Jeter’s professional debut in the minor leagues, he played a doubleheader and went 0 for 7 with five strikeouts.

He doubted himself.

But he didn’t show it. Nobody knew.

He continued to work hard and he persisted.

Challenges can make or break you.

In fact, William Arthur Ward once said, “Adversity causes some men to break, others to break records.”

How do you react in challenging situations?

MESSAGE #1163 SALES

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I work with athletes but I also work with salespeople to help them increase sales.

When I was interviewed for my forthcoming book, “Success Simplified” with the great Stephen Covey, the interviewer asked, “Do you have experience in sales?”

I said, “No, but I do have the most difficult sales job–I try to sell people on themselves.”

You see, this blog is not just about mental toughness, it’s about believing in yourself.

Believing in your abilities.

Believing in your potential.

When you look at all the successful people in the world, they were not born to be great athletes, salespeople or musicians–they were trained to be.

Anything is possible with the right training.

What do you want to be great at? Who’s already doing it? Why aren’t you copying them?

I asked minor league baseball players, who do you want to be like? Mariano Rivera?

Are you doing what Mariano Rivera is doing right now? Are you training like him?

The answer is usually no.

You don’t have to wait to become successful to do what successful people do.

Believe.

Achieve.