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MESSAGE #1635 FINAL FOUR, FINAL THOUGHTS…

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Tomorrow, college basketball really heats up…the Final Four of the NCAA tournament. Louisville, Kentucky, Ohio State and Kansas will be competing to see who will get to the final round.

I have have been a consultant for some Final Four teams and if I were to give a talk to the teams right before they played tomorrow night, I would give them this bit of advice…

At some point during the game tomorrow night, you will have a negative thought in your head.

“What if we lose this game?”

“What if I miss this foul shot?”

“I can’t handle this pressure!”

Well, let me explain how your mind works…

Your feelings of nervousness, lack of confidence or anger cannot hurt your performance…unless you let them. Your feelings come from your thoughts, not from an external source like a game, the crowd or even the referees.

Feelings and thoughts are neutral (and random). It’s normal to have negative thoughts pop up in your head, but you have the choice of which ones to focus on.

If you were enjoying a movie at the theater and a random thought about what you were going to eat after the movie popped into your head, wouldn’t you just dismiss that random thought and focus back on the movie? Of course you would.

You can also dismiss any negative thoughts on the court in the same way, even if you’re on national television.

We can’t control what thoughts pop up in our heads, but we can choose which ones to focus on.

If I am in New York City waiting for the C train, but the A train, the B train and the D train keep arriving, I cannot control that. But I can control which train I get on.

Your thoughts are the same way.

In other words…

Don’t take your thoughts so seriously.

It’s not what’s happening around you. It’s not what’s happening to you. What really matters is what’s happening INSIDE you.

Good luck in the Final Four and if you’re an accountant in Boston, Massachusetts or a musician in San Francisco, this applies to you too. We can all improve our performance by mastering the mental game.

Thanks for reading.

Ed Tseng
Peak Performance Coach
Pro of the Year USTA 2005
Author of “Game. Set. Life.”
Keynote Speaker

609.558.1077

MESSAGE #1634 HAPPY PI DAY!

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Today is Pi Day (3.14).

Today is also Albert Einstein’s birthday, so the whole Princeton area is going insane. There are pi fights, pi eating contests, all sorts of mental olympics and even a geekiest geek contest!

Since Princeton is going “insane” on Pi Day, I want you to go through your day thinking about one of my favorite Einstein quotes…I know I will especially if I drive by his house on Mercer Street today.

Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result.

Do you keep doing the same thing?

Are you complaining about your results?

Then change what you’re doing on the field, in the classroom, in your relationships and at the office.

To get what we have never gotten, we must do what we have never done.

Happy Pi Day.

Ed Tseng
Peak Performance Coach
Pro of the Year USTA 2005
Author of “Game. Set. Life.”
Keynote Speaker

609.558.1077

MESSAGE #1633 IT’S NATIONAL PROCRASTINATION WEEK!

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Well, it’s National Procrastination Week, and I’m all for it.

In fact, I want you to make EVERY week, Procrastination Week. Now, don’t get me wrong, I don’t want you to procrastinate practicing, paying your bills, cleaning your house or any of that sort of thing.

Actually, there’s only one thing that I want you to procrastinate.

I want you to procrastinate procrastination.

Put off putting things off.

Do you know the five words why most people fail?

I DON’T FEEL LIKE IT.

Feelings are just feelings, you don’t have to act on every one of them. The most successful people in the world do what they need to do, when they need to do it, whether they feel like it or not.

Don’t train yourself to be lazy or hold back.

Train yourself to give a full effort.

I have lazy feelings all the time, but I rarely have lazy actions.

The other day I was working with a young gymnast and she said to me, “When I walked into the gym today, I felt very tired, but then I just acted like I had high energy and then I became energized!”

Effort was a choice for this young gymnast, and effort is a choice for you.

So as everyone else is celebrating National Procrastination Week, I challenge you to procrastinate procrastination. And when next week rolls around and everyone else is playing catch-up, you will be hitting the ground with your feet running.

Ed Tseng
Mental Conditioning Coach
Pro of the Year USTA 2005
Author of “Game. Set. Life.”

609.558.1077

MESSAGE #1632 LEAP YEAR

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Well, it’s February 29th on this Leap Year, so I feel it only appropriate to tell you one of my favorite riddles…

Three frogs were sitting on a log.
Two frogs decided to leap off.
How many frogs were left?

Answer: Three. Just because the two frogs DECIDED to leap off, doesn’t mean that they actually did.

Just because YOU decide to eat healthier, practice more, or quit smoking, doesn’t mean you actually will.

Can you? Absolutely.

Will you? That’s up to you.

How about this for a Leap Year’s Resolution: Don’t be a frog.

MESSAGE #1631 THE SECRET TO JEREMY LIN’S SUCCESS

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By now, nearly everyone on the planet has heard about Jeremy Lin of the New York Knicks and “Lin-sanity.” If for some reason, you have been living under a rock for the past few weeks, let me recap for you.

After getting cut from the Golden State Warriors, Houston Rockets, and nearly the New York Knicks, Jeremy Lin came off the bench for the Knicks on February 4th and scored 25 points against the New Jersey Nets. He then scored 28 points versus the Utah Jazz, 23 points over the Washington Wizards, 38 points over Kobe Bryant (34 points) and the Los Angeles Lakers and 20 points against the Minnesota Timberwolves. He was named Player of the Week and the floundering Knicks went undefeated with Lin in the starting lineup. And the sports world exploded. What makes the Asian-American Harvard grad from California so special?

Here are my top five keys to Jeremy Lin’s success:

1. He’s a team player. In a league dominated by superstar players who often are like a one-man show, Lin does what most great athletes do…he makes the rest of the team better.

2. He is isn’t affected by external factors. With all the hype and media attention he is getting, Lin still seems down-to-earth and composed regardless of what is going on around him.

3. He goes all-out. One of Jeremy Lin’s goals for every game is to give a full effort. Gandhi said, “Full effort is full victory.”

4. He has faith. In post-game interviews, Lin often thanks God for all that has happened to him. Whether you are religious or spiritual, having faith helps you trust your abilities and focus on the process, not the outcome.

5. He has fun. You can see by how he plays the game that Jeremy Lin loves what he does. Hard work and passion go a long way.

Here are a couple of my favorite Jeremy Lin quotes:

“I’m not playing for other people; if I start thinking in those terms I would put too much pressure on myself. I play basketball because that is what I love to do.”

“I’m not playing to prove anything to anybody.”

How far will Jeremy Lin go in his basketball career? Nobody knows, but one thing is for sure. If he stays healthy and keeps living by these principles, the sky is the limit.

MESSAGE #1630 PERSISTENCE

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Recently, I was watching the press conference for Yankee catcher, Jorge Posada’s retirement from baseball. As Jorge spoke, reflected on his career and answered questions from the media, I couldn’t help but think about a story I once heard about the young Posada in Puerto Rico.

When Jorge was just starting out in baseball, Jorge Sr. insisted that Jorge become a switch-hitter, but Jorge hated batting left-handed.

“He cried and he cried, and he cried, because in the game he would strike out, and strike out, and strike out,” his father said.

In fact, in his first 17 left-handed at-bats, the young Jorge struck out each time.

Then, in his 18th at-bat Jorge hit a home run. After he rounded the bases, the proud young Jorge said, “Oh father, thank you. Thank you, father.”

The greatest athletes in the world know that persistence pays off.

Are you willing to put off what you want now for what you want most?

MESSAGE #1629 ALL YOU NEED…

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Poor people have a big TV. Rich people have a big library. Enlightened people know that all you need is already inside you.

MESSAGE #1621 A NEW YEAR, A NEW YOU

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Have you ever watched kids
On a merry-go-round?

Or listened to the rain
Slapping on the ground?

Ever followed a butterfly’s
Erratic flight?
Or gazed at the sun into the fading
night?

You better slow down.
Don’t dance so fast.

Time is short.
The music won’t last.

Do you run through each day
On the fly?

When you ask: How are you?
Do you hear the reply?

When the day is done,
do you lie in your bed

With the next hundred chores
Running through your head?

You’d better slow down.
Don’t dance so fast.

Time is short.
The music won’t last.

Ever told your child,
We’ll do it tomorrow?

And in your haste,
Not see his sorrow?

Ever lost touch,
Let a good friendship die

Cause you never had time
To call and say, “Hi”?

You’d better slow down.
Don’t dance so fast.

Time is short.
The music won’t last.

When you run so fast to get
somewhere
You miss half the fun of getting
there.

When you worry and hurry
through your day,
It is like an unopened gift thrown
away.

Life is not a race.
Do take it slower.

Hear the music
Before the song is over.

Slow Dance
By David L. Weatherford

MESSAGE #1589 DON’T SAY DON’T

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DON’T THINK ABOUT A PINK ELEPHANT!

Did you just think about a pink elephant?

Of course you did. This happens because the brain doesn’t know the word “don’t.”

All the brain hears is “pink elephant.”

So if you are getting ready to do your gymnastics routine or drive the golf ball, avoid saying “Don’t mess up” or “Don’t hit it into the water” because you will probably mess up and hit it into the water. Instead, say something like “Focus on your routine” or “Aim for the center of the hole.”

Don’t look where you don’t want to go.