MESSAGE #869 WHAT I LEARNED YESTERDAY…
Yesterday I called in to a teleseminar with marketing guru, Seth Godin.
Seth is one of my favorite authors and he has written about 14 books. His blog has well over 500,000 hits a month.
Here’s what I got from Mr. Godin…
“Do something that other people think is stupid.”
“Make a lot of mistakes.”
Carly Simon had stage fright, but she went up and performed anyway.
And my favorite was…
“How much can you make an influence on the world?”
Read the above ideas again and then let them marinate today.
And if you want to get an A+, start taking action.
MESSAGE #868 MAKE A SANDWICH…
“3 out of 4 kids stop playing sports by age 13 because of the pressure from parents and coaches.”
-RICK WOLFF, sports psychologist and host of Sports Edge on WFAN
Last night I attended a lecture at the Princeton Academy given by Rick Wolff.
His talk focused mainly on parenting young athletes, but I figured, if I could learn one thing from his talk, it would be worth it.
Not only did I learn something, but I had a nice chat with him afterwards and gave him a copy of my book.
During his lecture, Wolff talked about the Sandwich Praise Principle when dealing with young athletes.
What you do is wait until a quiet time, just before bed, for instance.
You start with a slice of praise (I really liked your effort today).
Then you add a slice of constructive criticism (If you add more spin to your serve, you will be more consistent).
Then you add another slice of praise (You really are coming together nicely as a player).
That’s the Sandwich Principle. Pretty simple, but effective.
And the beauty is, you can make this type of sandwich in all areas of your life.
MESSAGE #867 JUST ASK…
“If you are not moving closer to what you want in sales (or in life), you probably aren’t doing enough asking.”
-JACK CANFIELD
Are you getting the results you want?
One thing I like about myself is that I ask a lot of questions.
My favorite thing to do is ask someone who is doing what I WANT to do, “What would you do if you were in my shoes?”
That way you save yourself a lot of time.
Ask your coach how you can improve your game.
Ask your teacher how you can improve your grades.
Ask your boss how you can improve your performance.
Ask your significant other, how you can improve your relationship.
Ask your twitter followers how you can improve your business.
Ask, listen, take action. That’s it.
Have a great day, everyone.
Oh, and I almost forgot…
How can I improve this blog?
MESSAGE #864 BELIEFS…
“You can have anything you want if you will give up the belief that you can’t have it.”
-Dr. Robert Anthony
I once taught a very nice, young man, who was an average tennis player. He progressed, but slowly.
If he got to the courts after a bad day at school, it showed in his tennis.
One day, I sat him down and talked to him for a couple minutes on the principle of “Act as If.”
Act how you want to feel, not how you feel.
Act as if it were impossible to fail.
I said that it’s okay to feel tired, or in a bad mood, but just don’t look it.
You don’t have to act how you feel.
It was almost like a light went off in his head. He started dancing around like a boxer, smiling and hitting the fuzz off of the ball.
What changed?
His belief in himself.
I later found out that he was getting bullied in school also.
Not anymore…
MESSAGE #863 HUNGRY???
Determination. Everyone wants to be successful, but those who achieve success are steeled by an unwavering resolve. They are self-motivated – the kind of motivation that fueled and sustained Jack Nicklaus early in his pro career as he beat golf balls for an hour, then another, on the practice range until it was almost dark.
“Let’s go, Jack,” his new wife, Barbara, called out impatiently. “I’m hungry.” With callused hands, Nicklaus hit another ball, then another, then another into the dying light. “So am I,” Jack replied.
(From Mind Gym by Gary Mack with David Casstevens, p. 95)
Are YOU hungry???
MESSAGE #861 CREATE YOUR FUTURE…
“The best way to predict the future is to create it.”
-ABRAHAM LINCOLN
Well, today is the Princeton Sports Symposium at the university. There will be 59 speakers and 11 panels with experts in all areas of the sports world discussing various topics.
This is a HUGE networking event for me. I’ll be sure to get and give business cards, and will be giving away a signed copy of my book.
What’s the lesson today?
Nobody’s going to ring your (or my) doorbell and hand you success. You have to go out and get it. You have to take action.
K-A=O
Knowledge minus Action equals Zero.
The best ideas and the best skills are nothing if nobody knows about them.
Go create your future today…
MESSAGE #859 MINI-MEDITATION…
One area of sports psychology is relaxation/stress reduction.
In sports and life, we reach peak performance by staying in the present moment, using relaxed focus.
Here is a mini-meditation, an ancient technique used by monks that you can use anytime, anywhere to relax, reduce stress and stay in the present moment.
Take a couple deep breaths…in through the nose for four seconds and out through the nose for four seconds, from the stomach (vs the chest).
Now just observe the rise and fall of your abdomen. Don’t force it, just observe it. Thoughts may arise, that’s okay, just accept them and go back to focusing on the rising and falling.
Continue on your own for a few moments….
Notice while you were meditating, you didn’t have many thoughts going on in your head (if you did, that just means that you need to practice)…you weren’t thinking about work. You weren’t thinking about school. You weren’t thinking about getting a goldfish.
Life moves pretty fast, but when you make time for relaxation (meditation), you will have less stress, which is the main cause of disease and sickness. When you have less stress, you will perform at a higher level, slow life down and begin to enjoy the process.
You can use this technique at work, on line at the grocery store or before you perform at Carnegie Hall.
MESSAGE #858 LEARN FROM MY MENTOR…
“At the end of the day, take the pillow test – when you put your head on the pillow, are you going to say, ‘I’m glad I did,’ or are you going to say, ‘I wish I had’?”
-ROB GILBERT, Ph.D., Ed Tseng’s mentor
My only question for you today is…
Are you going to go all out, or are you going to hold back?
My good friend and mentor, Dr. Rob Gilbert, is a college professor and one of the top sports psychologists and motivational speakers on the planet.
After his students graduate, many times they come back and visit.
They never say, “I wish I would have partied more.”
They always say, “If I worked just a little bit harder, I could have been national champion.”
How are YOU doing?
WHAT are you doing?
Here is my challenge to you…
Go all out today, and at the end of the day, take the Pillow Test…and see if you say, “I’m glad I did.”
MESSAGE #857 BEAT THE HOLIDAY STRESS…
“Some people wait so long for their ship to come in that their pier collapses.”
-author unknown
Well, it’s officially the holidays and the game of stress has begun.
The malls are like zoos and the tension is building within all of us. We seem to have less time during the day and we need to constantly check if we are breathing.
And I know something about you – during this holiday season, there will be things that you have to do, but don’t feel like, i.e., paying the bills, working out, or practicing the piano.
Here’s what the winners do…
Use the 15-minute rule: make an agreement with yourself that you will “just do it” for fifteen minutes, then you can stop. Go to the gym for fifteen minutes, clean the house, or make those calls. Here’s the beauty of it – YOU WON’T STOP AFTER FIFTEEN MINUTES. You’ll get into it. Before you know it, you’ll be at the gym for the full hour.
If you’ve read my book, or have been following this blog, you know you should…
1. Procrastinate procrastination.
2. Just do it.
3. Make no exceptions.
4. When things are difficult, relax more and breathe deeper.
5. Enjoy the process…and make sure you exercise.
Now take a few deep diaphragmatic breaths (in through the nose for four seconds, using your stomach, then out through the nose for four seconds). Smile, and go all out!
Thanks for reading.