Archive for category: Focus

“Fear less, hope more; Eat less, chew more; Whine less, breathe more; Talk less, say more; Love more, and all good things will be yours.”
-Swedish proverb

I normally sleep pretty well. My routine is to meditate and visualize as soon as I get into bed at night. I take some deep breaths, cultivate gratitude and reflect on my day. I then visualize the things that didn’t go so well and imagine that they went perfectly. I also create positive images for the next day’s events. As a result, I wake up ready to go.

Recently, I made the mistake of watching the news right before bed. They were showing footage in Haiti, and talking about violent crimes in the tri-state area.

Well guess what?

I actually had some bad dreams that night. Coincidence?

I think not.

I once taught a little girl about nine years old and during her first lesson, she kept saying, “I can’t.”

Well, she didn’t.

I pretty quickly said, the rule on my court is that you are not allowed to use the word “can’t.”

She had to stop herself a couple times, but then she started saying, “I can!” with a smile.

She ended up playing exponentially better. She even started walking more confidently.

We, as coaches, players, students, parents, teachers and friends, need to be our own inner coaches, not our own inner critics.

Homework: Tonight, before bed, instead of just crashing or watching the evening news, read a motivational book, do a little meditation, or just visualize that you are already the person you want to be.

Your mind is a powerful thing – feed it properly.