Don’t know much about physiology…

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So how many of you played pretend yesterday? How did it feel? What did you learn? It’s all in your physiology. You could be depressed and instantly get out of your funk by just changing your physiology, or body language. When people are depressed, what does their body do? They slump over, head down, and move slowly. Guess what? If they just stood up, put their chin up and breathed deeply, they would instantly get out of their depressed state. Try it…stand up, chest out, head up and breathe deeply. Can you feel depressed? It’s very difficult. Pretty cool, huh?

So you can be tired and STILL increase your energy, THEN your performance will stay high. If you’re tired and you DECREASE your energy, guess what your performance will be like? Might as well be home in bed. Thoughts are one thing, but if you take ACTION, you can CONTROL your emotions.

Have you ever seen me in a bad mood or depressed? … And you NEVER will. It’s not that I don’t feel those emotions, everybody does, I just know how to take different ACTION so it doesn’t paralyze me. Remember, YOU control your destiny. It’s all in your decisions HOW to act.

Homework: Next time you feel tired or depressed, get up and ACT energized and happy and see what happens. Stand straight, chest out, head up, and breathe deeply…

Let’s Play Pretend…

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Just for today, I challenge you to ACT and BE the person that you want to be. If you want to be more confident, WALK and ACT more confidently today. I mean, STRUT around wherever you go. If you want to become a great athlete, PRETEND that you already ARE a great athlete. WALK like one, TALK like one, EAT like one, PRACTICE and PLAY like one. Do this for the next 24 hours. I even want you to DREAM like one. If you want to be smarter, ACT like you already are…FEEL what that would feel like. Do the same things, read the same newspapers, TALK like some smart people you know, HANG OUT with smart people, EAT what they eat. I could go on, but I think you get my point. Some of you want to be better athletes, others want to be healthier, and some would like to have more confidence…whatever you desire to be, you CAN be that person; you just have to take ACTION.

After a whole day of acting like this, see how you feel. If you like it, do it again. The more you do this, the more it will start to become part of you and before you know it, you won’t have to TRY to be that person, you WILL BE that person.

I’d love to hear your stories.

Make it a great one!

This One’s for My Robbinsville Lady Tennis Ravens…

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According to the Harvard professor, Dr. Tal Ben-Shahar, there are four types of people in the world…a “rat racer,” a “hedonist,” a “nihilist,” and people that are just “happy.”

An example of a rat racer is someone who is focused on some future benefit and unable to be happy in the present. Many people say to work hard and get good grades in school so you can get into a good college. Once you are in a good college, you have to do well to get a good job. Once you get a good job, you need to work hard to make more money and work your way up the ladder. The downside to this approach is that you are always chasing the future and think that once you get there, you will be happy. The truth is, that that is only temporary and it is not TRUE happiness. There are many people in the world that go through life like this and are miserable. I’m not saying you SHOULDN’T work hard in school and think about the future, what I AM saying is that you should enjoy the process of learning. You can have good results and not be happy. Wouldn’t you rather have BOTH?

A hedonist is someone that just focuses on present pleasure and tries to avoid pain. He doesn’t worry about the future. The downside to this is it’s easy to avoid difficult situations like working hard and sway towards temorary pleasure, like materialistic things or drugs/alchohol.

The nihilist is someone who, because of repeated negative events, has given up on finding happiness. The obvious downside to this is that if they continue this mindset, they really WON’T be happy.

The final type of person is the one that is HAPPY. This person has meaningful goals for the future, but enjoys the learning process of the present as well as the journey. So if you’re getting ready for your tennis season, instead of focusing on the end result, enjoy the process…the process of learning and improving. It is THEN that you will be happy and as a result, you will improve at a rapid pace and become a success. You can also apply this to your academics and once you begin to be “into school” versus just “in school,” you will achieve greatness. There really is no downside to this, so I challenge you to be happy…happy about your bright future and the bright present. Successful people know that the best is NOT yet to come, it is already here. Don’t think the past was “the good ‘ol days.” TODAY is the “good ‘ol days.”

Homework: Focus on working hard, but ENJOY the process of learning AND improving.
Go Lady Tennis Ravens!

I can’t believe I, Ed Tseng was on the Success Hotline today…

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I have told many of you about the Success Hotline (973 743 4690) and how great it is. This hotline was created by Dr. Rob Gilbert in 1992. He has a new 3 minute inspirational message every day and he hasn’t missed a day since 1992!!! Dr. Gilbert is one of the country’s top experts on sports psychology and peak performance. He has given thousands of lectures and seminars to many top athletes and business people. He has also been on television, the radio and newspapers/magazines extensively. Dr. Gilbert has the most motivational and inspirational blog on the web (www.gilbertsuccesshotline.blogspot.com). He is professor of Sports Psychology at Montclair State University and a public speaker, motivational coach, sports coach and author. It takes a lot for me to be impressed, and Dr. Gilbert not only impresses me, but he INSPIRES me. I listen to his Success Hotline religiously.

So I called the Success Hotline today and if you could do a double-take listening to an answering machine message, I did just that. He dedicated his message today to “the GREAT Ed Tseng.”

Wow. I had to call it several times to make sure he said “Ed Tseng” and NOT “Ted Fang.”

Now let me tell you how I discovered The Success Hotline…

When I started my company, Tennis Solutions, I began networking with everyone I met, specifically, the top business people in the Princeton area. I found the Princeton Networking Group and attended a few of their meetings. I actually became close with the President, Jason Akers. Jason and I meet regularly to catch each other up on our goals and motivate and inspire each other over a meal. The last time I met with Jason, he mentioned the Success Hotline and how Dr. Gilbert came to speak to Northwestern Mutual a while back. After our “power breakfast” at 7am, he sent me a text message and said that the Success Hotline message was dedicated to me. It actually wasn’t, but it WAS about sports psychology and motivation. So I called the Hotline and I instantly fell in love with it. I actually left Dr. Gilbert a message after the beep and told him how I was starting to get into motivational speaking and would love to take him to lunch and pick his brain. Can you believe he called me back the same day?

We had a great conversation and then met for lunch about a week later. After our 2 hour lunch meeting, we went to Barnes and Noble to check out some books. I bought him one of my favorite books and he bought me one of his…very cool. As expected, he was an amazing guy and by the end of our meeting, he asked me if I wanted to speak at Montclair State the following Wedensday. I quickly replied, “I’d love to.” I didn’t know what I was speaking about or to whom, but when someone like that asks you, it doesn’t really matter. It turned out that I spoke to over 150 people from all over China getting ready to do an internship with Disney! And now, I consider Dr. Gilbert a friend and mentor.

So you might be asking yourself, how does this apply to the mental side of sports and life? Well, I’ll tell you…If I had NOT taken action networking and finding out about Princeton Networking Group, I would not have met Jason Akers. If I had not met Jason Akers, I wouldn’t have found out about the Success Hotline. If I had not found out about Success Hotline, I would not have met Dr. Rob Gilbert. And had I not met Dr. Gilbert, I wouldn’t have learned as much as I have about sports psychology and motivational speaking OR spoken in front of those 150 people at Montclair State. Do you see how life works? Life rewards action. I guess I’m a go-getter. I guess I CREATE my destiny. I guess I predict my future by CREATING it. You can do the same with your life or your sport.

I am still extremely flattered that today’s Success Hotline message was dedicated to me…so in return, I dedicate this post to Dr. Rob Gilbert, not because he dedicated his message to me today, but because of my great respect for him, not only as an authority on sports psychology and speaking, but as a person. He is the real deal and I hope he reads this post so he knows that he is helping me become a better person and inspires me to make a difference in the world. Please go out and buy his new book, “How to have fun without failing out.”

Thanks, Dr. Gilbert.

Homework: Call Success Hotline!

Love Means Nothing to a Tennis Player…

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If you are a tennis player, you know that the word “love” is a scoring term that means “zero.” But this couldn’t be further from the truth. Love is NOT “zero,” love is EVERYTHING. Love is why we play our sport; it’s why we do WHAT we do. HOW productive we are, and how WELL we do our jobs. Love dictates whether we do well at school, or anything, for that matter. Love is the most powerful emotion.

My question to you is, what do you love? And DO you LOVE everything that you do? As an athlete, you need to love your sport, you need to love the process of getting better and you need to love just being able to play your sport. As a person, you need to love others, regardless of how they treat you. You need to love your job and your family.

When you have gratitude, you will be happy and when you are happy, you can be fulfilled. Anyone can be happy, but fulfillment is a whole ‘nother story. Fulfillment is when you help others and try to make the world a better place. Some of you may not love your job…about 50% of people don’t. But what if you could LEARN to love your job? Think of it this way…what if you didn’t even have a job? What if you made half as much money as you do now? Trust me, whatever your situation, I’m sure that there are many people in the world that are much worse off.

“Looking for love in all the wrong places.” Some people love money, others love power, many love winning. All of those things are temporary. When those things, go away, those people are miserable. There have been studies where people win the lottery and as early as one month later, they go back to their original state of happiness. In other words, if they were miserable BEFORE they won the lottery, they will become miserable again. If they were happy, before, they will become happy again. Love EVERY day; love your family, your friends, total strangers, the trees…and you will begin to change the world; at the very least, YOUR world.

Fulfillment is deep and meaningful. When you have fulfillment, nobody can take that away. It’s lasting. When teenagers voluteer, they reap the health benefits up to 60 years later. The reason being they appreciate the little things in life and as a result, have less stress and more happiness. So when you wake up in the morning, you can choose to love life or just exist and see what life brings you. Focus on the good things and you will get more of that.

Appreciate all the little things in life, help others out, contribute, and make a difference in the world. Mother Teresa said, “In this world, we can do no great things, only little things with great love.”

Homework: Do something today to make a difference. Enthusiasm is contagious…start an epidemic!

Confidence…

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How confident are you? Have you ever known a really great athlete? How does he or she WALK? How do they TALK? Don’t they WALK confidently? Don’t they ACT confidently? The reason why, is because you NEED to BE confident to achieve that level of success. The good news is that any of you can ACT confident. Even if you aren’t, fake it until you are.

Ty Cobb was one of the greatest baseball players ever. He was interviewed when he was 80 years old and was asked what he thought his batting average would be today if he was playing. He said about .270 or .275. And the interviewer then said, “It’s becuase of the longer schedule, travelling, and night games right?” Cobb replied, “No, it’s because I’m 80!” Now that’s confidence.

So act confidently and your performance will follow. VISUALIZE the person you want to be, and before you know it, you will become that person. Remember, you become your strongest thoughts. Just beware…be confident, NOT cocky. Feel it on the inside and walk like there is an invisible string attached to the top of you head and someone is pulling up on it.

Homework: For the next 24 hours, act incredibly confident and see how you feel and how you perform.

First Complaint…

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I received my first complaint today regarding my blog…Michelle from Los Angeles was upset that I did not write an entry because it was Saturday! So Michelle in LA, this one’s for you…

I was teaching a boy, I’ll call Mikey. Mikey was less than enthusiastic about taking tennis lessons and he was also uncoordinated…not a good combination for a tennis pro. So weeks went by and Mikey improved, but very slowly. One day I sat Mikey down and told him about The Law of Attraction and how negative thoughts equal negative results. I told him that he could only become as good as his self-image. After about 5 minutes or so of telling him about the power of positive thinking, a light went on in Mikey head. He began moving his feet, hitting the ball twice as hard, and even SMILING!!! From that day on, Mikey has played like a champion in EVERY lesson, and guess what? He even walks around more confidently and his grades improved. Did I change anything in Mikey’s technique? No, just his mindset. It’s all about the desire and passion.

The successful people in the world are not passionate because they are great; they are great because they are passionate! If you put passion and love into ALL that you do, from taking out the garbage, to how you perform at work/school, you will achieve greatness. “People won’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.” All will take notice, like friends/family, teachers/bosses, and teammates/opponents. You don’t have to BE the best, but you should always TRY your best. That attitude will make you stand out from the crowd. “It’s never crowed along the extra mile.” The person that wins is not always the smartest, fastest, or most skilled, but the one who never quits and plays with passion.

Homework: Treat the tasks you like the least the same as the ones you like the most. Do a little bit extra and it won’t go unnoticed. I didn’t really feel like writing an entry on a Saturday night after a full day of teaching and errands, but you know what? I’m glad I did. If this blog helps out one person this weekend, then my job is done. Goodnight LA…

TGIF…woo hoo!

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Thank God It’s Friday?!@# What kind of talk is that? Many people talk about having a case of the “Mondays” or Hump Wednesday and of course TGIF. To me, that’s all negative thoughts. That’s how losers feel. Why waste your whole week waiting for the weekend? Life is too short, make the most of it. Sure, there might be days that you don’t feel well, or are tired, but take action anyway! Get energized, enthusiastic about what you are doing. Fake it if you have to.

Meditate and appreciate. I meditate all throughout my day. Anyone can do it. All you really have to do is take a step back, and APPRECIATE all that you have…from your family to your friends…from your car to the paved roads that you drive on…from your home to the food on your plates…from the trees to the flowers. I could go on, but I trust you get my point. You can do it anywhere; while driving, waiting for the bus or during a meal. Life moves pretty fast and if you don’t have gratitude, you will not have true fulfillment. Material things are not happiness. Money is not happiness. The world has never been richer, but it has has also never been so miserable. So what does that say? Money isn’t everything. Make a difference, have gratitude, be the best you can be, appreciate what you have.

My true purpose is to help as many people as I can, worldwide, through being a tennis pro, Special Olympics Coach, mental training expert, life coach and motivational speaker. I don’t want to go to bed at night, and I can’t wait to get up in the morning. People ask me on a daily basis, “Ed, where do you get all your energy?” I say, “I’m high on life. I do what I love, and I appreciate all that I have. Every day is better than the day before.” I set goals, meaningful goals, exciting goals, because success truly is a journey and I am enjoying the process. I know where I want to go in life and what I want to accomplish. I’m not LIVING for the weekend, or DREADING work on Monday; I’m only going to come through this life once, so I want to make the most out of it by helping others, making the world a better place…and leaving a LEGACY.

So enjoy your weekend and when you see me at work on Monday, please pardon my big smile and energy, because I will STILL be enjoying MY weekend.

Homework: Go out this weekend and do something enjoyable…THEN go out and help someone out that is in need. Then email me and tell me how you feel. That reminds me…I want to go read to the blind next week.

It’s All in How You React…

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I always tell people that life is 10% what happens to you, and 90% how you react. You can have the same situation and two different people will look at it in two different ways. Example, Johnny and Derek just lost a match to someone they could have beaten. Johnny said: “I lost. I played terrible. I should have beaten him. Maybe I should try golf!”

Derek, on the other hand, said: “Ok, I didn’t win, but I had my chances. If I just play more consistently next time and make less unforced errors, I KNOW I can beat him. I can’t wait to practice and apply what I learned. He’d better look out next time!”

Guess who’s going to be more successful? Derek.

You can apply this principle to other areas of life, as well. If you do poorly on an exam, instead of thinking how terribly you did, think about what you got wrong, and learn from it for next time. Likewise, if you tried to close a sale at work and weren’t successful, don’t get down on yourself, just think about what you can do differently to close the sale next time. Remember to “fail successfully.” If you continue to do what you’ve always done, you will get what you’ve always gotten.

Homework: Next time something happens that you aren’t so happy about, take a step back and ask yourself how you can react differently, and what you can learn from it. “It’s not what’s happening to you, or around you…it’s what’s happening INSIDE you.”

Fail Successfully…

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All successful people know that failing is part of life. Someone once said, “The granite block in the path of normal people, is a stepping stone for the great.” I don’t believe in failure, just results. You can learn more from a loss, than from a win. As a tennis player, I don’t mind losing, because I know I can improve from what I have learned. Most players/people focus on winning, and when they don’t win, they become depressed. If you learn from your losses, you will not only improve, but you will prevent the negative thoughts. Remember, it’s the journey, not the results.

Colonel Sanders was rejected over 1,000 times before he sold his chicken recipe. Someone asked Thomas Edison how it felt to fail thousands of times before he invented the lightbulb. He said that he DIDN’T fail, he just learned thousands of ways to NOT invent the lightbulb.

“Don’t look where you don’t want to go.” It’s very difficult to think about two opposing thoughts at the same time, so think about the positives and you won’t think about the negatives.

Homework: Next time you fail, look at what you did wrong, make your adjustments the next time you do it and you will succeed. Remember, it’s not how many times you fall down, it’s how quickly you get back up.