MESSAGE #1433 THE TEN MOST POWERFUL TWO-LETTER WORDS…
If it is to be, it is up to me…
MESSAGE #1430
They x-rayed my head and found nothing.
-Dizzy Dean
MESSAGE #1426 A QUOTE FROM JOHNNY MAC
We all choke. WInners know how to handle choking better than losers.
-JOHN McENROE
MESSAGE #1425 HAPPY FATHER’S DAY
Today’s message is especially dedicated to my father, the great Vincent Tseng.
My father is not the most vocal, but he leads by example. Ever since I was young, he has provided unconditional love and support. He is a role model, and an upstanding citizen. He is intelligent, caring, and has a great sense of humor. He has helped me in any way that he could to make me the best son I could be. My father taught me much of what I know through his actions.
Here is John Wooden’s favorite poem:
No written word or spoken plea,
could teach our children how to be.
Nor all the books on all the shelves,
it’s what the teachers are themselves.
This poem applies to coaching, managing and being a great dad.
Thank you, dad, for all that you have given me, visible and invisible.
I love you.
Happy Father’s Day.
MESSAGE #1415 PEAK PERFORMANCE PRINCIPLES
ED TSENG’S
——————
26 PRINCIPLES FOR PEAK PERFORMANCE
1. Focusing on the past and the future is weak; focusing on the present moment is powerful.
2. Focus on things you can control and forget about things you cannot control (controllable: effort; uncontrollable: results).
3. Exceed expectations.
4. Be a team player.
5. Set process or performance goals, instead of outcome goals.
6. The most successful people fail the most—learn from your setbacks.
7. Pressure is created by YOU, don’t worry about external forces.
8. Your only competitor is YOURSELF.
9. Trust your stuff—you can’t think and perform at the same time.
10. BREATHE.
11. Be a teacher and a student—you can learn from all people and situations.
12. Repeat affirmations to yourself, e.g., “I am in total control and perform my best when it means the most.”
13. Accept negative thoughts and then let them go—you can choose what you focus on.
14. Use this relaxation technique anytime you need it—breathe in through your nose for 4 seconds, hold for 7 seconds, exhale for 8 seconds. Repeat up to three times.
15. Cultivate gratitude.
16. Write down any past achievements, big or small, and read them before a performance to pump yourself up.
17. Learn from/ask/interview people who are successful at doing what you want to do.
18. Be yourself. Love yourself. Accept yourself.
19. Strive for constant learning (growth mindset).
20. Use the 15-minute rule when you don’t feel like doing something—do it for 15 minutes, then you can stop (but you won’t).
21. Anybody can perform well on “good” days, the great ones perform well even on “bad” days (You can act differently than how you feel).
22. It’s not the situation, but your reactions that matter.
23. Do what you love, help others, change the world.
24. Work harder than anybody else (Hard work beats talent when talent doesn’t work hard).
25. Act as if it were impossible to fail.
26. If you don’t quit, you can’t fail.
MESSAGE #1408
It’s not what’s happening to you. It’s not what’s happening around you. What really matters is what’s happening INSIDE you.
MESSAGE #1407 NERVES
I was more nervous today than I have been in a long time (since I proposed to Sarah after throwing out the first pitch at the Trenton Thunder game). Today, I was one of the speakers at the TEDxPrincetonLibrary event—the biggest talk of my life (so far). Even though I was extremely nervous, I went out there, psyched myself up, and didn’t ACT nervous. I trusted my preparation, and it went well. Very well.
Lesson: You can act differently than how you feel.
Stay tuned for more from TEDx.