Most successful people are not especially talented, educated, charming or good-looking.
They become successful because they WANT to be successful.
How badly do you want to be a great athlete, musician, student, parent or artist?
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.
Yesterday Alex Rodriguez finally hit his 600th home run. An amazing feat. Or is it?
Admitting to have taken performance enhancing drugs because of “an enormous amount of pressure to perform” is ridiculous.
I don’t know about you, but as much as I love the Yankees, I can’t fully enjoy A-rod’s accomplishment.
That’s like using an aluminum bat in the majors.
Yes, Rodriguez will soon surpass Sammy Sosa and Willie Mays, then approach Babe Ruth, Hank Aaron and Barry Bonds.
But at what expense?
Cheating? Lying?
Professional athletes are role models, whether they want to be or not.
I know Alex is trying to walk the walk and is more focused on teamwork as of late.
That I can respect.
The cheating and lying?
Not so much.
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
Will beats skill any day.
Diligence beats intelligence any day.
Desire wins.
How bad do you want it?
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.
“Set your goals high and don’t stop until you get there.”
-BO JACKSON
I have a confession.
I like taking notes at movies.
The movies I like to watch are inspirational. They have a lot of great quotes. Recently, I went to see The Karate Kid, I knew it would have some good quotes. Here is my favorite…
There is no such thing as bad student only a bad teacher.
The “evil” kung fu instructor’s motto was “No fear, no mercy.”
Mr. Han’s (good kung fu instructor) motto was “Win or lose, it doesn’t matter. Fight hard, earn respect…Kung Fu is about making peace.”
I know coaches that tell their players to call the ball out when it is close. They teach them to be jerks on the court. They think winning is everything.
Is it?
When I work with athletes and business professionals, I ask them, “At the end of your life, what do you want to be known for?”
The answer is never, I want to be #1 in the world, or I want to be a millionaire with five homes and a boat.
The answer is always something like, “I want to have been a role model; someone who made a difference and led by example. I want to be known as someone who went all-out, regardless of the situation.”
We may not all be coaches, but we are all teachers. We may be teaching our children, our friends, our parents, our fans, our employees or a stranger on the street. But what are we teaching them?
Roger Federer said, “It’s nice to be important, but it’s important to be nice.”
People say, nice guys finish last.
I say, nice guys are winners before the game begins.