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MESSAGE #787 A GOOD WEEKEND…

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“A true champion is someone who does their best when they feel their worst.”

Today’s message is especially dedicated to Patricia Koznick.

This weekend I was coaching and speaking to some of the top 10-year old tennis players in the country at the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center for the USTA Northeast Cross-Sectional Training Camp.

Here’s what I noticed on Day 1…

1. They all have great strokes.
2. They all need work on their mental game.

At the end of Day 1, I gave a seminar to the players, coaches and parents on the mental side of sports and life. I talked about effort and attitude and how it’s less about being the best and more about giving your best.

Well guess what?

Here’s what I noticed on Day 2…

1. They all had better attitudes.
2. They were using the techniques that I talk about the day before.

I saw increased energy levels.

I saw positive body language, even when the score was not in their favor.

I saw players taking action and improving.

See, many people learn techniques, but then the go and do what they normally do.

Knowledge is nothing without action.

You can’t just take a class and then assume that it will help you.

You can’t just take a piano lesson and assume that you will become good.

You have to take action. Use what you know.

What are you going to do today?

Thanks for reading.

MESSAGE #785

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“Nothing splendid has ever been achieved except by those who dared believe that something inside of them was superior to circumstance.”
-BRUCE BARTON

I leave in about six minutes to head into New York City for a weekend USTA training camp for the top players in the northeast at the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center.

I will be coaching at this camp, as well as giving a talk to the players, coaches and parents.

Part of my message will have to do with the quote above.

It’s not about your circumstances.

It’s about your perceptions.

How you perceive your situations is directly related to your performance.

All of the ability is already inside of you.

Do the right things, get the right results…

Do what champions do and before you know it…

YOU WILL BE A CHAMPION.

Next blog message from NYC.

Thanks for reading.

MESSAGE #529 READ TODAY…WIN TOMORROW…

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So yesterday I played at the brand new USTA Indoor Training Center at the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center (US Open).

The facility is about 80 percent complete and is already amazing. As you walk up to the building, you see the beautiful glass front and as you step inside, all the past champions are looking at you from above. The courts play beautifully. Currently they have nine indoor courts with a viewing platform above. Three more courts will be soon completed in a different part of the building. The immaculate locker rooms are identical to the ones used by the pros in Arthur Ashe Stadium.

Being on these historical grounds truly motivated me. Now let me try to motivate you…

“The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes, but in having new eyes.”
-MARCEL PROUST

“When a thing is done, it’s done. Don’t look back. Look forward to your next objective.”
-GENERAL GEORGE C. MARSHALL

“I would rather be ashes than dust! I would rather that my spark should burn out in a brilliant blaze, than it should be stifled by dry rot. I would rather be a superb meteor, every atom of me in magnificent glow, than a sleepy and permanent planet. The proper function of man is to live, not to exist. I shall not waste my days in trying to prolong them. I shall use my time.”
-JACK LONDON

“Nothing can work me damage except myself; the harm that I sustain, I carry about with me, and never am a real sufferer but by my own fault.”
-ST. BERNARD

“Happiness comes to those who are moving toward something they want very much to happen. And it almost always involves making someone else happy.”
-EARL NIGHTINGALE

“Purpose channels everything else…Without the sense of purpose, the spirit of adventure can go in many different directions, and the capacity for growth probably would not be realized as completely.”
-JIM NEWTON
“Come to the edge!
(It’s too high!)
Come to the edge!
(We might fall!)
Come to the edge!
And he pushed them…and they flew!”
-CHRISTOPHER LOGUE, poet
Thanks for reading.