Michael Jordan got cut from his high school basketball team.
Thomas Edison failed over 10,000 times when trying to invent the lightbulb.
Derek Jeter started his professional baseball career so poorly that he called home nearly every night crying.
Did Michael Jordan give up?
No.
Did Thomas Edison give up?
No.
Did Derek Jeter give up?
No.
Did Elmer McAllister give up?
You don’t know who Elmer McAllister is?!?
That’s because he gave up.
My good friend, Bob Ryland (above) was the first black professional tennis player, and Arthur Ashe’s hero. When Arthur Ashe was 14, he said, “I only want to be good enough to be able to beat Bob Ryland.”
Whenever I speak to Bob, he compliments me on all the good work I’m doing, and I say, “I’m just trying to improve every day and make a difference in the world.”
Then he yells at me.
“Stop ‘TRYING,’ just do it! You ARE doing it! Eliminate that word from your vocabulary.”
He’s right.
There’s no such thing as “trying” to do something.
You either do or you don’t.
Thank you, Bob Ryland.
Children and families love the Easter bunny because it brings colored eggs, candy and toys.
I love the Energizer bunny because it brings motivation and inspiration.
The pink Energizer bunny, used in commercials for Energizer batteries is known for its ability to “keep going and going and going.”
You don’t have to have Energizer batteries in you to persist, to do what you need to do. You just have to choose to keep going and going and going.
Is it easy?
Not always, but the pain of persisting goes away and you will always have the pride of accomplishment.
Muhammad Ali said, “Suffer now and live the rest of your life as a champion.”
Let me put it another way…
If you persist in sports, sales and school, you will be one of the few left standing after everyone else gives up.
See you at the top, and Happy Easter to everybody celebrating.
My motto was always to keep swinging. Whether I was in a slump or feeling badly or having trouble off the field, the only thing to do was keep swinging.
-HANK AARON
Think this message is only about baseball?
Think again.
Today on Success Hotline, my friend and mentor, Dr. Rob Gilbert shared a great quote, the eight most powerful words…
“Do the thing and you’ll have the power.”
-RALPH WALDO EMERSON
Today, I also gave a workshop on mental toughness at Nick DiPillo’s basketball skills camp. Afterwards, I spent some time with Nick and Hamady Ndaiye, the 7′ 0″ center for the Washington Wizards (above).
Hamady Ndaiye, or “H” as I now call him, did the thing and now he has the power.
“H” only started playing basketball six years ago and now he’s in the NBA. He admits there are challenges and that he has negative thoughts, but in his mind, there are no limits regarding how far he can go.
According to DiPillo, nobody works harder than “H.” As a matter of fact, DiPillo said, “He’s had nothing handed to him. He’s worked for every minute of playing time, and every spot on every team he’s played on. His work ethic is unmatched, and his enthusiasm is infectious. He’s the epitome of a team player.”
That’s the “thing” and “H” is doing it. And he wasn’t even a starter for Rutgers University until the end of his senior year!
The other thing that impresses me about “H” is that he is determined.
Hamady Ndaiye does not strive to do his best…
Hamady Ndaiye strives to DO WHATEVER IT TAKES.
Everybody knows what to do, but very few people do what they know.
“Do the thing and you’ll have the power.”
Today’s message is especially dedicated to the great Ryan Freeman in Denver, Colorado.
You can’t score without goals.
No, I’m not talking about soccer or hockey.
The most successful people in the world are not necessarily the most talented, best looking, or smartest.
The most successful people are the ones who WANT to become successful.
They know where they want to go and set goals to help them get there.
If you don’t have goals, you are just spinning your wheels.
What good is it if you are the fastest runner in the world if you are running in the wrong direction?
Write down your goals, read them daily, and don’t stop until you reach them.
That’s it.
Nobody’s a natural. You work hard to get good and then work to get better.
-PAUL COFFEY, hockey player
Today’s message is especially dedicated to the great Hollie Holcombe.
Earlier today, I spoke to about 40 young basketball players at Nick DiPillo’s Spring Break Skills Camp. A key point I brought up was that failure was inevitable. Everyone fails. It’s part of the process.
Michael Jordan got cut from his basketball team in high school, but he didn’t give up.
Thomas Edison failed over 10,000 times when trying to invent the lightbulb.
Babe Ruth hit the most home runs, but he also had the most strikeouts. And each time The Babe failed, he said, “Every strike brings me closer to the next home run.”
How does this relate to you? Let me put it to you this way…
A SETBACK IS A SETUP FOR A COMEBACK.
Bounce back today!
Today’s message is especially dedicated to the great Nick DiPillo, former WNBA assistant coach of the New York Liberty.
I had a meeting of the minds today with Nick DiPillo. We were talking about mental toughness in basketball…and life.
I asked him what the biggest challenges were for basketball players.
One common challenge was that some players lacked focus. They were thinking about the wrong things at the wrong time.
Many young basketball think about homework, other sports or other external factors when practicing or competing.
The pro basketball players think about the commercial they need to shoot or other commitments they may need to tend to after practice or the game.
The specific distraction may be different for young and pro basketball players, but the challenge is the same—they have the wrong focus.
The average or below average players are thermometers—they focus on what’s happening on the outside, other than basketball.
The great basketball players are thermostats—they can change their internal temperature, re-focus and kick butt on the task at hand.
Mental Toughness Tip: Before practice or competition, make a list of specific issues that may be concerning you. Write them down. Keep them in your locker and forget about them until the end of your session. Stay focused on the present moment, that’s where the power is.
Recently, I was speaking with a club manager and he mentioned that many parents today are too protective of their children. Parents want their children to be perfect—they don’t want them to fail.
Is this really helpful to the child?
Is this the mindset we want our children to have?
First of all, there’s no such thing as perfect. In fact, successful people fail the most.
If you’re not failing, you’re not taking risks. You’re not working hard enough.
Remember Zeke Bonura back in Message #1268? If not, click here.
Zeke Bonura had one of the highest fielding percentages in pro baseball, but that was because he didn’t try for any balls that he might miss.
Is this how we want to live?
There is a reason why you didn’t recognize the name Zeke Bonura.
Henry Ford went bankrupt five times while trying to develop businesses…eventually the Ford Motor Company was built.
Soichiro Honda applied for a job as an engineer for Toyota Motor Corporation but did not get the job and was unemployed for quite some time…eventually he began making scooters out of his home and started his own company.
Bill Gates failed out of college, and his first business, Traf-O-Data failed as well…eventually he started Microsoft.
Ever heard of the name Walt Disney?…he was fired by a newspaper editor because he “lacked imagination and had no good ideas.”
So all of you parents, future parents, coaches and athletes…
Embrace failure, for it is where we learn the most. In fact, don’t even call it failure, call it feedback.
I hope you fail today.