They say you can’t steal second by keeping your foot on first.
What does this mean?
You have to get out of your comfort zone.
You have to take a chance.
Here is Luis Nunez of the Trenton Thunder taking a chance on a ball hit in the gap.
Today’s message is especially dedicated to the great Brandon Laird of the New York Yankees.
On Sunday night, Brandon Laird was promoted from Double-A Trenton Thunder to Triple-A Scranton-Wilkes Barre Yankees. He went home, packed his bags and left the next morning to meet his new team in Syracuse for his Triple-A debut Monday night.
He was nervous.
He then proceeded to go 4-for-4 with two home runs.
How did he do it?
He didn’t act how he felt. In the time that I spent with Brandon this season, I figured out one of his secrets.
When he is in a pressure situation, he takes a few deep breaths and tells himself that he’s been in this situation before, then “just does it.”
The first pitch he swung at went over the right-center field wall. Laird then hit two singles and another home run over the left field wall.
“I was just getting pitches to hit and putting good swings on them,” Laird said. “I know my zone. I look for my pitch. I got it a few times tonight. Hitting all over the field, that’s what I wanted to do.”
“I just wanted to put a consistent approach together, learn how they pitch me, how they pitch the players in front of me,” Laird said of trying to transfer that success. “Earlier in the game, I was (nervous). After that first at-bat, I settled down a little bit.”
Notice how many times Laird said the word, “just.”
The first time I spoke with the Yankee prospect, I asked him about his best home run. He gave a similar response, using the word “just.”
I then reached into my pocket and took out a folded piece of paper and showed it to him.
It said, “JUST.”
Am I psychic? No, I just know what it takes.
In peak performances, the athlete has a simple approach (something he can control) and then just trusts his swing.
Yogi Berra once said, “You can’t think and hit at the same time.”
So true.
Congrats, Brandon. Keep up the good work.
Laird next to the clubhouse before his last game in Trenton
Keep doing things that put you out of your comfort zone, until you feel comfortable.
Then find some new things to do that make you uncomfortable.
This is mental cross-training at its best.
Do you want to be comfortable, or do you want to be great?
Keep pushing yourself and you will find yourself in a whole new world.
Have you ever had a fear of something?
Perhaps playing in front of a big crowd? Speaking in front of a group? A piano recital?
Fear is normal. But you don’t have to act like you are fearful. Focus on the process, not the outcome.
As a matter of fact, fear is nature’s way of testing you to see if you are serious about your goals.
Are you?
Today’s message is especially dedicated to the great Jane Atkinson in London, Ontario, Canada.
Have you ever been in a pressure situation?
Of course you have. But the question is, what do you do in those situations?
Most people tense up, stop breathing and pray that it will be over soon.
Next time, try what Michael Jordan did…
When the pressure was on, Jordan called up past successes in his mind. Most of the time he replayed the last-second shot he made in the 1982 NCAA Championship when he was at North Carolina.
And we all know what kind of results Jordan got.
So next time the pressure’s on, go back in time when you were in control, you were in the zone and you could do no wrong.
Or you can focus on the negative stuff.
Your choice.
Today’s message is especially dedicated to the great Justin Shackil.
I thought of this blog entry while I was out running this morning. My ideal start to the day is a visualization/gratitude/meditation run, then some weights and ending with yoga.
As I was doing my interval running (walk/jog/sprint), I found myself wanting to stop when I couldn’t go any further. And in the first round, I did stop. But then I thought, I am going to just go a little longer next time. I did. It wasn’t so bad. Then I did it again. I pushed myself.
The problem with stopping when you “feel like” stopping is that you are training yourself to ease up.
The key is to do a little bit more. Whenever I’m training someone in the gym, I say, do as many repetitions as you can, then do two more.
When you push yourself through the initial uncomfortable state, you end up in a whole new world.
And you get whole new results.
Fight one more round. When your feet are so tired that you have to shuffle back to the center of the ring, fight one more round. When your arms are so tired that you can hardly lift your hands to come on guard, fight one more round. When your nose is bleeding and your eyes are black and you are so tired that you wish that your opponent would crack you one on the jaw and put you to sleep, fight one more round — remembering that the man who always fights one more round is never whipped.
-JAMES CORBETT, heavyweight boxing champion
Supposedly, Babe Ruth was once asked, “What do you think about after you strike out?”
His reply was, “I think about hitting home runs.”
What do you think about when you don’t get the results you want?
What you focus on, you get.
You have only one job today.
Take a risk.
Now, don’t take this the wrong way…I’m not saying you should quit your job and sell coconuts on the beach, but you should get out of your comfort zone — in your sport, in your job and in school.
Eleanor Roosevelt said that you should do one thing a day that scares you. She knew that you have to take risks to get results.
One of the biggest risks I took was starting my own business. I was scared to death, but I did it. And I’m glad.
If I had stayed in my comfort zone, I would still just be a tennis pro.
But now, not only am my own boss, I am a speaker, author and authority on mental toughness.
With big risk comes big reward.
One of my biggest risks became one of the best decisions I ever made.
Someone once said, “Go out on a limb, because that’s where the fruit is.”
What do you aspire to be?
What level is your effort?
If your effort is less than your aspirations, the space in between is just HOPE.
Recently, I had a female student who has been progressing nicely. Unfortunately, she goes to a school that has a strong tennis team, so she did not make the team last year.
But she’s not giving up. In fact, she’s working harder.
I recommended that she play some tournaments to get match-tough and experience some pressure situations.
She did. And played well. She lost, but she learned a lot and gained much confidence by just putting herself out there.
I have another student who, when he started playing tournaments, lost in the first two rounds for the first year. But he persisted, and then started winning. He now consistently gets to the finals of tournaments.
Most people don’t like to lose, so they don’t compete. But those are the people who don’t grow.
My students’ efforts are high.
I like that. And I’m proud of them. With a mindset like that, you can’t lose. The results come as a by-product.
Effort = Aspirations = Success
You cannot control your emotions. They go up and down, like a roller coaster.
That’s normal.
However, most people’s actions are congruent with their emotions.
But that’s not what the peak performers do.
The peak performers maintain a high level in their actions, regardless of how they feel.
You can feel tired, negative, or not into it, but it is your choice what kind of attitude you have and what kind of effort you give.
The greatest athletes in the world can do their best when they feel their worst.
And so can you.
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