MESSAGE #1103
Will beats skill any day.
Diligence beats intelligence any day.
Desire wins.
How bad do you want it?
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MESSAGE #1097 THE KARATE KID
I have a confession.
I like taking notes at movies.
The movies I like to watch are inspirational. They have a lot of great quotes. Recently, I went to see The Karate Kid, I knew it would have some good quotes. Here is my favorite…
There is no such thing as bad student only a bad teacher.
The “evil” kung fu instructor’s motto was “No fear, no mercy.”
Mr. Han’s (good kung fu instructor) motto was “Win or lose, it doesn’t matter. Fight hard, earn respect…Kung Fu is about making peace.”
I know coaches that tell their players to call the ball out when it is close. They teach them to be jerks on the court. They think winning is everything.
Is it?
When I work with athletes and business professionals, I ask them, “At the end of your life, what do you want to be known for?”
The answer is never, I want to be #1 in the world, or I want to be a millionaire with five homes and a boat.
The answer is always something like, “I want to have been a role model; someone who made a difference and led by example. I want to be known as someone who went all-out, regardless of the situation.”
We may not all be coaches, but we are all teachers. We may be teaching our children, our friends, our parents, our fans, our employees or a stranger on the street. But what are we teaching them?
Roger Federer said, “It’s nice to be important, but it’s important to be nice.”
People say, nice guys finish last.
I say, nice guys are winners before the game begins.
MESSAGE #1094 I WAS THINKING…
Today’s message is especially dedicated to the great Justin Shackil.
I thought of this blog entry while I was out running this morning. My ideal start to the day is a visualization/gratitude/meditation run, then some weights and ending with yoga.
As I was doing my interval running (walk/jog/sprint), I found myself wanting to stop when I couldn’t go any further. And in the first round, I did stop. But then I thought, I am going to just go a little longer next time. I did. It wasn’t so bad. Then I did it again. I pushed myself.
The problem with stopping when you “feel like” stopping is that you are training yourself to ease up.
The key is to do a little bit more. Whenever I’m training someone in the gym, I say, do as many repetitions as you can, then do two more.
When you push yourself through the initial uncomfortable state, you end up in a whole new world.
And you get whole new results.
Fight one more round. When your feet are so tired that you have to shuffle back to the center of the ring, fight one more round. When your arms are so tired that you can hardly lift your hands to come on guard, fight one more round. When your nose is bleeding and your eyes are black and you are so tired that you wish that your opponent would crack you one on the jaw and put you to sleep, fight one more round — remembering that the man who always fights one more round is never whipped.
-JAMES CORBETT, heavyweight boxing champion
MESSAGE #1077 I HAVE A QUESTION FOR YOU…
Today’s message is especially dedicated to my grandmother, Fung Shee Pan. Happy Belated 104th Birthday!
Whenever I speak to someone trying to reach peak performance at sports, work or school, I always ask them one question.
That question will determine whether they make the big leagues, become CEO or honor student.
And that question also applies to you. Here it is…
Are you going to go all-out or are you going to hold back?
Who do you want to be like?
Are you doing what they’re doing?
Now, don’t get me wrong, if you’re a professional baseball player, it’s a long season. But the secret is, go all out when you are practicing/competing and go all-out when you are resting.
If you want to make the major leagues, you can’t have a minor league approach.
Go all-out today!
Thanks for reading.
MESSAGE #1017 EAT THIS!
Today’s message is especially dedicated to the coolest yoga instructor on the planet, Tara Stiles. Happy Birthday!
As promised, here are the Top 10 Flat Belly Foods to get you ready for beach weather…
1. Guacamole! Try this recipe: mash one ripe avocado and add diced red onion, cilantro, loads of lime juice, a little salt and fresh pepper and a squeeze of a Thai chili sauce called China Blue (you can get it at many big chain grocery stores). A chip is really just a vehicle for guac anyway, so use raw veggies instead to save calories (Try fennel and crisp romaine boats).
2. Salad with real vinaigrette Try experimenting with different vinegars and add a tablespoon of a healthy oil like olive, walnut or canola. Season with salt, pepper, mustard and a minced garlic clove.
3. Lean chicken breast with a “crust” Most crusty coatings have a lot of butter, white flour and breadcrumbs. Try egg whites and crushed almonds.
4. PB & J Just apply the cardinal rule of healthy eating: whole grain bread and natural (read: less sugar) peanut butter and fruit spread rather than jam (make sure it’s free of high-fructose corn syrup). For a healthy Elvis-y twist, spritz with a little non-fat cooking spray and grill.
5. Mixed Olives Nicoise, Picholine, even the kind with pimento inside.
6. Vietnamese Beef Salad Great takeout; better homemade
7. Light and hearty pasta Capellini, pine nuts, sun-dried tomato, plus chicken and basil make a meal somehow both summery and satisfying.
8. Macadamia nuts These are high in fat and calories so use sparingly, but crushing a few and sprinkling on fat-free yogurt or fruit tastes really decadent.
9. Pesto, Pesto, Pesto Try roasting sweet grape tomatoes and mix in a teaspoon of basil pesto – a little goes a long way, and roasting transforms tomatoes from a garnish to meal (or at least a very tasty side dish).
10. Chocolate pudding with bananas and graham crackers. ‘Nuff said.
Thanks to Liz Vaccariello, Editor-in-Chief, PREVENTION magazine!
MESSAGE #1007 LET IT FLOW
Have you ever been in the zone?
Didn’t the tennis ball look like a beach ball?
EXERCISE
Part One: Look around you and find a nearby object, like a pen or piece of paper. Now slowly reach for it tightening every muscle in your body. Move as slow as you can. Now slowly bring it to your chest and slowly place it down back where you found it.
Part Two: Now reach for the same object normally and bring it to your chest and back.
Didn’t it feel effortless the second time? When you’re in the zone (or as I like to say, “the state of ‘ON'”) you are just flowing; you are just doing.
When we think too much, especially about negative things, we mentally tighten up just like when you were physically reaching for that object a moment ago.
When you mentally tighten up, your mind is not clear and therefore your body won’t function at peak performance.
Your effort should be ALL-OUT…
But your attitude should be A LITTLE RELAXED.
Empty your mind, be formless. Shapeless, like water. If you put water into a cup, it becomes the cup. You put water into a bottle and it becomes the bottle. You put it in a teapot it becomes the teapot. Now, water can flow or it can crash. Be water my friend. -BRUCE LEE
MESSAGE #400 YA MON…
Well, here I am the Sandals, Montego Bay, Jamaica, as the visiting tennis pro for the week. It’s not a bad deal – room, food, drinks, tips, taxes, water sports, land sports…all for free. I only have two lessons a day and the rest of the time I will have to decide where to eat, what to read, and whether to go to the beach or pool/jacuzzi.
I know what you’re thinking…”Ed, don’t work so hard,” but someone has to do it. But seriously, folks, the reason why I have access to many tropical islands to be a visiting tennis pro is a by-product of years of hard work. But those years of hard work weren’t so hard because I was enjoying what I was doing. See, winners win because they have the right attitude.
“Our attitude determines our altitude.”
So think like a winner and you will become a winner.
More from Jamaica tomorrow…
1-love, Tseng.
Thanks for reading.
MESSAGE #396 DO THIS AND YOU’LL BE BETTER THAN EVERYONE ELSE…
Today’s message is especially dedicated to the great Amy Pertetua.
How are you doing?
Wait, let me explain – I don’t want to know how you’re feeling…
I want to know how you are doing…
in your sport
in your job
in your musical instrument
in your relationships.
You see, if you don’t know where you are, you can’t get to where you want to be. Most people in the world just go through the motions and see what life brings them. The successful people in the world create the life they want.
So how are you doing? Let me explain what I mean by way of a story.
There was once a little boy in a small town. One day the boy walked into the local grocery store and asked to use the phone. The manager let him, so he dialed a number and then spoke into the phone, “Hello, may I speak to Dr. Smith?”
“This is Dr. Smith,” the person on the other line responded.
“Dr. Smith, do you have someone to cut your lawn and tend to your flower bed?”
“Oh, yes, I already have someone doing those things for me.”
The boy said, “May I ask what kind of job that person is doing?”
“An excellent job, thank you,” was the reply.
“Okay, thank you for your time.”
So the little boy hung up the phone and began walking out the door when the manager of the store approached him.
“Young man, I like how you presented yourself on the phone and am impressed by your attitude. Let me offer you a job.”
“Thank you so very much, but I already have a job. I’m Dr. Smith’s boy – I was just checking in to see how I was doing.”
When was the last time you asked how you were doing?
Ask your coach.
Ask your boss.
Ask your romantic partner.
Don’t refrain from asking just because you might get an undesirable response. That’s the whole point! Getting feedback so you can get to the next level.
“If you don’t know where you’re going, you could wind up someplace else.”
-Yogi Berra
Thanks for reading.