MESSAGE #1492 TODAY I LEARNED FROM A HIGH SCHOOLER
Today, during tryouts, one of my players sprained her ankle. I called and emailed to follow up tonight and she said she is out for about 10 days…but she will still be coming to practice.
I was impressed.
I wasn’t expecting her to come back until she was ready to play, but she chose to come and support her teammates.
There can only be one player who is the best ON the team, but everyone can be the best FOR the team.
I am truly inspired by this high schooler’s unselfish attitude.
We are all teachers and we are all students.
MESSAGE #1491 BE A TEABAG
People are like teabags, you don’t see their true strength until they’re in hot water.
MESSAGE #1489 W.I.N.
Today, I spoke to some of my fellow coaches at Princeton Day School to get ready for the Fall season. One thing I talked about was how to win more. I said that the best way to win more is to not worry about winning. Instead, focus on what W.I.N. stands for: What’s Important Now.
The results are not important…now.
The fact that you lost your last three games is not important…now.
What’s important now is what you’re doing…now. Serving, shooting, running, throwing the ball, shooting the puck, etc.
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Thanks for reading.
Ed Tseng
Director of Mental Conditioning
Monroe Sports Center
609.558.1077
MESSAGE #1488 LEARN FROM MUHAMMAD ALI
As coaches, athletes, students and professionals, one of our greatest challenges is staying in the present moment. For many athletes, the season is a long one. So what do you do to help ensure that you focus on quality, not quantity? That’s easy, remember this quote from Muhammad Ali:
Don’t count the days, make the days count.
Do what you’re doing while you’re doing it.
Thanks for reading.
Ed Tseng
Director of Mental Conditioning
Monroe Sports Center
609.558.1077
MESSAGE #1487 HANG ON ‘TIL YOU CATCH ON
Everyone knows Tony Robbins, the self-help guru who built a peak performance empire.
Did you know when Tony Robbins was younger, he washed his dishes in his bathtub because he didn’t have a working kitchen sink?
See, you don’t need to be great at the start, but you need to start to be great. You may not be washing dishes in your bathtub, but if you’re reading this, I know you want to get better. In sports, we often have a little negative voice inside our heads: “I can’t do this” or “I can’t do that.” When we hear this little negative voice, we should accept it, let it go and continue on our path of hard work and constant improvement.
I don’t care where you are…I care where you want to be.
MESSAGE #1486 CONTROLLABLES
Today’s message is especially dedicated to the great Oliver Winterbone, video coordinator for the University of Florida Gators Men’s Basketball team.
Right about now, high school and college coaches are gearing up for their fall season. Tomorrow, at Princeton Day School, we have a coaches cookout and the Athletic Director asked me to say a few words to all the coaches. Below is an exercise I will recommend they use with their team.
1. With your team, make a list of things you cannot control in sports (referees, opponents, court/field conditions, weather, etc).
2. Then make a list of things you can control (your effort, your focus, your attitude, your reactions, your strategy, your adjustments, etc).
3. Throw out the list of uncontrollables and focus on the controllables.
Not a coach? You can still use this exercise in sales, school and relationships.
Ed Tseng
Director of Mental Conditioning
Monroe Sports Center
609.558.1077
MESSAGE #1485 VISUALIZATION
Visualization is the biggest key, seeing the shot before you hit it and merely letting yourself do it.
—Scott Simpson, golfer
MESSAGE #1484 HOPE
When competing in sports, and life, trust all the hard work you’ve put in…and remember this quote:
When you come to the edge of all the light you know and are about to step into the darkness of the unknown, faith is knowing that one of two things will happen: there will be something solid to stand on, or you’ll be taught to fly.
-Elisabeth Kubler-Ross
MESSAGE #1483 LIMITS
The only limits we have in this world are the ones we put on ourselves.
During my TEDxPrincetonLibrary talk, I mentioned the greatest joke—the one we tell ourselves.
I can’t do this, or I can’t do that.
That’s limiting.
At Billy Donovan’s Coaching Clinic (above), I had all of the NCAA and NBA coaches stand up and promise to do their best. They agreed. I then told them to reach their right arms in the air as high as they could and hold it. After that, I told them to do the impossible…reach a quarter inch higher.
They all did.
They promised to do their best, but each and every one of them did better than their “best.”
What does this mean?
There’s no such thing as trying your best.
DO WHATEVER IT TAKES.
Ed Tseng
Director of Mental Conditioning
Monroe Sports Center
609.558.1077