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MESSAGE #1059 A SELF-FULFILLING PROPHECY

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Today’s message is especially dedicated to the great Eric Tecce.

Goethe once said, “Treat a man as he is and he will remain as he is; treat a man as he can and should be and he will become as he can and should be.”

Think about how you treat yourself.

Think about how you treat others.

Many years ago, at a school in England, there was a computer glitch. It classified a class of gifted students as below average and it classified a class of below average students as gifted.

Five months later, the error was found.

But the most amazing discovery was after they tested the students.

The gifted students (who were classified as below average) had significantly lower IQ scores.

The below average students (who were classified as gifted) had significantly higher IQ scores.

Interesting.

What does this mean?

As an athlete, coach, teacher or parent, we should always assume that greatness is attainable.

Because it is.

Remember Henry Ford…

“Whether you think you can or think you can’t, either way, you’re right.”

MESSAGE #1001 HOW TO WIN MORE

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Today’s message is especially dedicated to the boys tennis team at Bolsa Grande High School in California.

 

Many players and teams go into a match thinking, “that team is really good; we have no chance of winning.”

The problem with this mindset is that it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy.

Henry Ford once said, “Whether you think you can or think you can’t, either way, you’re right.”

The best team doesn’t win.

The team that plays best wins.

The Davids beat the Goliaths all the time.

The fastest horse does not always win the race.

If you go all-out, you’re a winner. If you hold back, you’re not.

Any questions?

MESSAGE #999 LEADERSHIP (and failure)

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Today I’m going back to where I failed out twice, Rider University, while studying computers.

No, I’m not going back to get my degree (I have a degree from Ferris State University’s Marketing/Professional Tennis Management program).

I’m going back to Rider to be the opening speaker for their Team Leadership Challenge. This is my second time speaking at this great event and this year’s theme is  “Navigating Your Way to Success.”

That’s funny to me.

When I started college it was as if I needed a map, but after failing out twice, I CHOSE to follow my passion (sports) and transferred to Ferris State. My grades skyrocketed. I graduated in 1997 and was named Pro of the Year for the USTA in 2005. After that, I started my own business, wrote a book and became a motivational speaker.

So what is leadership?

I think a big part of leadership is being brave enough to follow your passion. It’s about helping others. Leaders do things because it is the right thing to do, regardless of what others may think. That’s when people will follow. But it’s not about having followers…

The function of leadership is to produce more leaders, not more followers. -RALPH NADER

If you look at all of the great leaders in history, they all made everyone else better, whether it is Michael Jordan, Oprah Winfrey, Martin Luther King or Henry Ford. Focusing on yourself is weak. Focusing on others is powerful.

So today I hope to motivate, energize, and inspire the students at Rider, but more importantly, I hope to produce more leaders.

MESSAGE #735 THE NOCEBO EFFECT…

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“Whether you think you can or think you can’t, either way you’re right.”
-HENRY FORD

We all know about the placebo effect – when a treatment or medication with no therapeutic value (i.e., a sugar pill) is administered to a person and their symptoms improve. This person believes and expects the medicine will work, therefore it does. Placebo comes from the Latin “I shall please.”

The opposite is something called the nocebo effect, which is Latin for “I will cause pain.”

“In one study, a group of students was told that a mild electric current would be sent through their brains, and that it might cause a headache in some of them. They were fitted with electrodes, but no electricity was applied. Even so, 70 percent of them suffered headaches.”
-From “Meditation as Medicine” by Khalsa and Stauth

So as stated in my book, “Game. Set. Life. – Peak Performance for Sports and Life,” sports and life are a self-fulfilling prophecy. What you believe is oftentimes what comes true.

What are your beliefs?


Thanks for reading.

MESSAGE #418 ENTHUSIASM

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You can do anything if you have enthusiasm.
Enthusiasm is the yeast that makes your hopes rise to the stars.
Enthusiasm is the sparkle in your eye. It is the swing in your gait,
the irresistible surge of your will and your energy to execute your ideas.
Enthusiasts are fighters.
They have fortitude.
They have staying quality.
Enthusiasm is at the bottom of all progress.
With it there is accomplishment.
Without it there are only abilities.

-Henry Ford


Enthusiasm will help you get more tips as a waiter or waitress.
Enthusiasm will help you make more sales.
Enthusiasm will help you get better grades.
Enthusiasm will help you win more in sports.
If you have enthusiasm, you are a winner.
And the secret is…
You can have enthusiasm, whether you feel like it or not.

-Ed Tseng