Motivation is one of the keys to mental toughness.
But most people don’t know what motivation is.
Most people think that motivation is a feeling. They wait until they feel motivated to act motivated.
It doesn’t work that way.
The athletes I work with know that motivation is an action.
If you start acting motivated, you will begin feeling motivated.
I know a lot of marathon runners. Do you know what the hardest part of running is?
Putting on your shoes.
Think about it.
One thing we all look for is happiness.
Happiness may be in the form of sports, business, finances, hobbies, spirituality, school or relationships.
But most people have it all wrong–they think that happiness is something to be found.
The truth is, happiness comes from within.
You may not be the athlete you want to be…YET. It is your choice whether you are happy with where you are. My feeling is that regardless of what level you are, if you strive for constant improvement, work hard, set goals and believe that anything is possible, that is success. And that should make you happy.
You don’t have to be satisfied, but you could (and should) be happy right now. It’s a choice.
When I was younger, my cousins brainwashed me into liking the Dallas Cowboys. The truth is, I didn’t really enjoy football but they were passionate Cowboy fans, so it rubbed off. To this day I still do not follow football but I can remember Roger Staubach, Tony Dorsett, Randy White, Ed “Too Tall” Jones, and others.
For some reason, the player I remember the most was #12, Roger Staubach. Recently, I hear an amazing story about Roger.
In 1963, while playing football for Navy, Staubach won the Heisman Trophy for being the most outstanding collegiate football player.
After Roger received the award, he went back to Navy and a team meeting was held. As he spoke to his teammates, Roger said that the trophy wasn’t his, it belonged to all of them. He said he would not have won the trophy without them.
And then Staubach proceeded to smash the Heisman Trophy into pieces.
Everyone in the room was stunned.
Staubach walked over to each teammate and handed them a piece of the trophy.
Now that’s a teammate.
And that’s a leader.
Recently, I was speaking to a friend of mine, Ernie, who played football for Notre Dame in the 1940s. In fact, Ernie spent a whole year eating breakfast at Vince Lombardi’s house.
On November 3, 1945, one of his teammates, Elmer Angsman, a fullback got an elbow right in the mouth. They had leather helmets at the time. Well, after the play, Ernie said that Angsman called time-out, jogged over to the sideline and spit out four teeth (he ended up losing 11 teeth total from the play). Elmer stayed in the game. After the game, the Notre Dame coach walked up to Angsman and said…
“Why did you call a time-out?!?”
That’s being tough.
Many times I work with an athlete on strategy. For example, I will tell a tennis player to come to net so he/she can finish off the point.
As a response, they often say, “But they might lob over my head!”
I tell them not to worry about it until it happens.
I know many business owners that don’t take risks because of the dreaded, “What if?”
Now, I’m not saying that you shouldn’t prepare for these situations. You should.
The bottom line is that you need to get out of your comfort zone.
You need to take risks.
You need to what you’ve never done so you can get the results that you’ve never gotten.
Preparation…YES.
Worry…NO.
Tonight I spoke to the NJ Unemployed group at Mrs. G’s in Lawrenceville.
I did it for free.
Why?
Because I know that helping others and making a difference is more important than financial rewards.
You see, we can’t take our money when we leave this world, but we can take the satisfaction that the world is a better place because we lived.
Money comes and goes, but what we do and how we impact our world stays forever.
You know what the funny thing is?
The more you help others, the more money you will make (and the better your results will be).
Try it just for one day…
Be a great teammate.
Be a great romantic partner.
Be a great employee.
Focus on adding value, being the best unselfish you you can be.
And then leave your comments below.
I have a new hero.
His name is Edison Pena.
Edison Pena was one of the 33 men trapped underground in the Chilean mines for 69 days.
And this Sunday, he will be running in the New York City Marathon.
While trapped, Pena, known as miner No. 12, ran up to 6 miles a day in underground black tunnels with a flashlight and often dragging a wooden pallet behind him. He ran in work boots. He ran in 86 degrees.
Before the miners got trapped, Pena’s daily commute was nearly two hours each way…on bicycle.
And then he became trapped underground. During this time, Pena fought with his own mind.
“I became two people: the weak person who wanted simply to give up, and the person who chose to be strong – to run and to survive,” he said. “Eventually, I chose to live.”
“I ran to forget that I was trapped.”
And even though he has never run more than 10 miles, he will be giving his all this Sunday in the marathon.
“I know it will be very hard, but I have no fear,” Pena said.
Edison Pena said he is an athlete, “not a grand champion.”
He’s wrong.
As for the rest of you reading, the next time you don’t feel like running, going to work, or studying…
THINK OF EDISON PENA.
I’m a big Michael Jordan fan.
Everyone knows that MJ got cut from his high school basketball team.
But here’s something that nobody knows…
Michael was cut from his varsity team but was allowed to play on junior varsity.
Well, on the last day of the season, MJ asked the varsity coach if he could just ride on the bus with the varsity squad.
The coach said yes, as long as he carried the varsity players’ uniforms.
He agreed.
So not only did Michael Jordan get cut from his high school basketball team, Michael Jordan carried the varsity team’s uniforms.
Then, the next school year, he worked harder than anyone else and eventually became the Michael Jordan that we all know.
Be like Mike.
I know something about you.
You want to get better.
You want to get to the next level.
Do you know how I know that?
Because you wouldn’t be reading this blog if you didn’t.
I work with a lot of athletes and a common challenge is motivation.
Many people just can’t get motivated.
But they have it wrong.
They wait until they FEEL motivated.
It doesn’t work this way.
Motivation is an action.
Start acting motivated and then you will start to FEEL motivated.
If you have to practice, study, clean the house or make phone calls…
Don’t wait until you feel motivated, just start doing it!
The other day I decided I was going to wake up, go for a run and do some yoga.
Well, I woke up and wanted to go back to bed for a little while, but I didn’t. I got dressed, put on my running shoes and headed out the door.
As I got out the door I noticed that it was raining and that little voice inside my head asked me, “Should I still run?”
Before I could negotiate with myself to NOT run, I just went.
After I got home, I practiced some yoga and then started the rest of my day.
It was a good one.
It doesn’t take talent to take action, but it does take mental toughness.