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MESSAGE #498 G’DAY…

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G’ day from Down Under! How you going?

It was about 80 degrees here in Sydney yesterday…Summer. It is currently December 10 @ 2:08PM in New Jersey and December 11 @ 6:08AM in Sydney. Very strange.

I settled in to the Four Seasons yesterday, walked around the Rocks area, had lunch at one of the top 50 restaurants in the world, and took a tour of the Opera House.

There were many blog messages I could have created from yesterday, but I’m only going to talk about one…

Exceed Expectations…

If you read my book, you know about this one. Do a little bit more than what’s expected. On court, in class, at work, in your relationships.

This is my first time staying at a Four Seasons and I am impressed. How many times have you checked in to a hotel in the morning and your room wasn’t ready? That’s pretty much always the case. Well, our room was all ready for us. The service is top- notch here, from housekeeping and the staff to all 34 sparkling floors. There is a roof-top pool, full-service fitness room and spa and a few restaurants. Anytime you go near a door, someone opens it for you. Everything is the best here and that’s why they are the Four Seasons. That’s why so many people stay here.

Do I need this type of service? No, but that’s not the point.

The point is that you have to be better than everyone else. If you put a certain quality in your work, people will see that. What would you rather drive, a Rolls Royce or a Kia?

If you are the first to get to practice and last to leave, do you think that your coach won’t notice that? If you hustle more than everyone else on your team, do you think that your coach won’t notice that?

If you talk to your teacher after class and talk about the topic of the day, they will notice.

How about applying this to work? Relationships? Playing music?

We live in a society of “good enough to get by” so if you do just a little bit more, you will stand out from the crowd and be one more step closer to peak performance.

Greatness does not lie in doing something once. Greatness lies in doing something consistently.

Today: markets near Chinatown, harbor cruise and show at the Opera House.

Cheers!

Thanks for reading.

MESSAGE #497 WORK HARD, PLAY HARD…

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Today’s message is especially dedicated to all my blog readers in Australia and New Zealand.

One of the key concepts that I teach and live by is balance. It is even a chapter in my new book.

You need to work hard and you need to play hard.

You need to be intense, and you need to be relaxed.

You need to eat healthy foods, and need to have a cheat day once in a while.

You need to be organized, but you need to do nothing once in a while.

So I believe in balance, that is why I am leaving in less than 10 minutes to hop a flight to Australia and New Zealand until December 24th. I will be spending three days and two nights in Sydney, then get on a ship and cruise to Melbourne, Tasmania and a few stops in New Zealand.

Because I will be flying over the international date line, I will never see December 9, 2008…

Next blog message from Down Under…


Thanks for reading.

MESSAGE #496 THIS IS WHAT IS HOLDING YOU BACK…

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Do you want to know what is holding you back?

I’ll tell you.

The thing that is holding you back from getting the results you want is…

Your belief as to what is attainable.

Let me explain. Most of us believe that greatness is reserved for the select few, but this is false. Greatness is waiting for all of us, if we want it badly enough and if we believe it is possible.

We often don’t realize, but we are our own worst critics. We say, “That was a stupid thing to do,” or “I’m not coordinated,” and that becomes part of us. Have you ever been somewhere where a person was singing a song over and over again, and then it became stuck in your head for the rest of the day?

What we tell ourselves and how we see ourselves works the same way. If we keep putting ourselves down, it will stick with us. We need to pick ourselves up instead of beating ourselves down.

How can you fix that?

Easy…repeat the following affirmation every morning and night.

“I am whole, perfect, strong, powerful, loving, successful, happy, healthy and harmonious.”

Better yet, write it on an index card. Keep it on your bathroom mirror so you can read and look at it every day, first thing in the morning and last thing at night.


Thanks for reading.

MESSAGE #495 HERE’S THE SECRET…

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Today’s message is especially dedicated to the great Ian Rubel.

Recently, I have spent quite a bit of time with Bob Ryland, the first black professional tennis player. In our conversations, we talk about playing and teaching tennis, the experiences he’s gone through, and life.

Mr. Ryland has seen it all. He lived through segregation before Rosa Parks, Martin Luther King and Malcolm X. He has coached some of the best players in the world. Earlier this week, Bob and I were sitting at his kitchen table in his apartment overlooking the New York City skyline when he told me the secret.

“You gotta work hard. If you want to become as good as the Williams sisters, you have to train like the Williams sisters. They are not more talented than everyone else, they just work harder. And don’t give up.”

So you have to put in the work. There is no substitute. Hard work beats talent when talent doesn’t work hard. There’s plenty of talented people out there, but it’s the ones that work hard and keep going that succeed.

“Arthur Ashe wasn’t a great player. I wasn’t a great player. Ivan Lendl wasn’t a great player. We just worked hard,” said Mr. Ryland.

Pete Sampras said the accomplishment he is most proud of is finishing number one in the world, six years in a row. He said, “To me, greatness lies in going out there day after day and getting the job done.”

So work hard at practice, at work, at school, but remember something else that Bob Ryland said…

“Have fun!”


Thanks for reading.

MESSAGE #494

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Today’s message is especially dedicated to the great George Henry and all the coaches, student-athletes and parents in the tennis program at the PAL of New York City, Harlem Armory.

Watch the video below and try NOT to be motivated.

MESSAGE #493 LEARNED HELPLESSNESS

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Today’s message is especially dedicated to the great Bob Ryland.

In India, they tie the leg of a baby elephant to a stake in the ground so that it stays within the length of the rope. This rope is strong enough to keep the baby restrained, so it eventually learns that it cannot go any further and gives up.

As the elephant grows up into a massive creature, it could easily break free from the rope, but doesn’t because it has been previously conditioned.

People are the same way. Psychologists call it “learned helplessness,” which means because of certain past events, we think that we are helpless and do not have the power to change our circumstances.

But this is false. It’s all psychological.

So what’s holding you back?

Do you know what is keeping you from starting your own business?…picking up the guitar?…improving your serve?…or travelling more?

I’ll tell you what, it’s YOU!

Don’t be an elephant, break the rope!

You don’t have to be great at the start, but you need to start to be great.

Thanks for reading.

MESSAGE #492 A DAY WITH A LIVING LEGEND…

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Bob Ryland, the first black professional tennis player.


Bob’s wife Nancy said he couldn’t put the book down!


New friends. Notice the photos of Bob and Arthur Ashe in the background.


A wonderful gift from the great one.

So yesterday I spent the day with Bob Ryland. I don’t know where to begin. It’s amazing enough that he was the first black professional tennis player. But he was also Arthur Ashe’s hero. He coached the Williams sisters, and travelled around the world as Bill Cosby’s personal tennis coach.

I went to Mr. Ryland’s apartment on the Upper West Side of New York City to talk about the book he wants me to help him write. I hit the record button on the brand new bright white digital recorder as the 88 year old tennis legend talked about his life, on and off the court. He brought me back in time to his early days in Alabama around the 1920s. He was called racist names and frequently saw blacks “strung up” in the trees outside his front door while walking to school in the morning. He really had to sit in the back of the bus, and if it was too full, he had to either stand or get off. They had separate bathrooms and water fountains for blacks. And in college, the black players had to wait until night to sneak into the dorms to sleep. The white boys on the tennis team went into the shops to get them food and brought it to them. And yes, he almost got killed several times.

I have read about those days in the history books, but Bob Ryland lived those days. If Bob was a bitter man, I probably wouldn’t blame him, but he says, “I’m just a regular guy. I overcame adversity and became better because of it.”

Bob has coached the Williams sisters and told me a secret. “They weren’t more talented than everyone else, they just worked harder. 6am to 6pm was their workout schedule.” So if you want to become a great tennis player, just train like a great tennis player.

So Bob knows the importance of overcoming adversity and how hard work beats talent, but the thing that really stuck with me is that Bob really is just a regular guy.

I asked him what the most important lessons he has learned in his life and he said: be a good person, listen, and smile.

He didn’t mention anything about tennis…a regular guy?

I don’t think so.

None of my blog readers should ever complain that their life is tough.

” ‘Game. Set. Life.’ can help you accomplish whatever you want in life and teach you how to stay ahead of the game, concentrate, focus, and give you confidence. I wish I had read this book when I was playing.”
-BOB RYLAND, December 2, 2008, New York City


Thanks for reading.

Checkout “Game. Set. Life.” in The Daily Racquet in Hawaii…

http://dailyracquet.typepad.com/my_weblog/2008/12/index.html

MESSAGE #491 CONFIDENCE

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“A lack of confidence is just your body reminding you that you haven’t done the work.”
-RON GRAINGER

Now get to work…



Thanks for reading.

MESSAGE #489 LEARN FROM THE GREATS…

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Do you believe that there’s greatness inside you?

Well, it’s true. So why, then doesn’t everyone achieve greatness?

Here are my top four reasons…

1. People don’t believe that they can be great.

2. They quit too early.

3. They don’t want it badly enough.

4. They try to figure everything out themselves.

One of the quickest ways to become great at whatever you do is to do what the great ones are doing. If you want to become a great tennis player, find out what the great ones are doing, and copy them. Train like they train. Eat what they eat. Think how they think.

Work, school and music are the same way.

“If I wanted to become a tramp,
I would seek information and advice
from the most successful tramp I could find.
If I wanted to become a failure
I would seek advice from men
who have never succeeded.
If I wanted to succeed in all things,
I would look around me
for those who are succeeding,
and do as they have done.”
-JOSEPH MARSHALL WADE

Thanks for reading.

MESSAGE #488 BE HAPPY…INSTANTLY!

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“If you observe a really happy man,
you will find him building a boat,
writing a symphony,
educating his son,
growing double dahlias,
or looking for dinosaur eggs in the Gobi Desert.

He will not be searching for happiness
as if it were a collar button
that had rolled under the radiator,
striving for it as the goal itself.

He will have become aware
that he is happy in the course of living life
twenty-four crowded hours of each day.”
-W. BERAN WOLFE

That’s the secret to happiness in life. Enjoying the process. Every moment. Staying in the present. Immersing yourself in everything you do.

Sports are the same way – once you start enjoying every aspect of your sport, the winning, the losing, the sun, the wind, your opponent, the hard work and performing under pressure, you will become happy and win more.

Now, I know what you’re thinking…WHY would I enjoy the sun, and wind?

Put it this way, most people hate playing in the sun and wind don’t they? Well, if you practice in those conditions, you will not only perform better when the conditions are ideal, but when there is sun and wind, you will be used to it and your opponent won’t. Advantage you.


Thanks for reading.