KOBE'S COMPETITIVE FIRE

Not that Kobe Bryant never loses, but beat him at your own risk. Decline a rematch and . . . well, that's not an option. "If you scored on him in practice or did something to embarrass him, he would just keep on challenging you and challenging you until you stayed after and played him so he could put his will on you and dominate you," says Shaw, Bryant's teammate from 1999 to 2003. This included not allowing players to leave the court. Literally. "He'd stand in our way and say, 'Nah, nah, we're gonna play. I want you to do that [move] again,' " Shaw says. "And you might be tired and say, 'Nah, I did it in practice.' But he was just relentless and persistent until finally you'd go play, and he'd go at you."

From a Sports Illustrated article by Chris Ballard

THE PERSONAL ATTITUDE OF SUCCESS

Another personal attitude of success is the desire to be a competitor. Surprising as it may seem, many top-level players shy from the desire to be “the man” when the game is on the line. One of the ingredients of becoming a clutch performer is the ability to muster mental toughness in the most tense situations. Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter says, “When I come to bat in a pivotal spot, I want people to say, ‘Uh-oh, here he comes.’” Jeter wants that responsibility of being considered “the man.” In 1941, Ted Williams told Time magazine, “Naw, there ain’t no tension for me hitting in the clutch. I’d like to have the bases loaded every time I come up.” In contrast, Raul Mondesi with the Dodgers in 1999 did not want the challenge of hitting in the cleanup spot, projecting an attitude of “I can’t hit in the fourth spot.” The result was, he didn’t.

From, "Mental Toughness: Baseball’s Winning Edge" by Karl Kuehl, John Kuehl, and Casey Tefertiller

RUSSELL TO GARNETT: IF YOU BUILD IT THEY (CHAMPIONSHIPS) WILL COME

INVISIBLE GROWTH

One of my most favorite inspirational examples about persistence is the story of an Asian Bamboo species that even after five years of watering, weeding, and fertilizing is barely visible. Then, in a span of about six weeks, it grows two and a half feet a day to 90 feet and higher. It grows so fast that you can literally “hear” it growing. The question to ask is did the bamboo grow 90 feet in six weeks or did it grow 90 feet in five years? Obviously it grew 90 feet in five years, for all the time when growth wasn’t visible it was developing a massive root system that would later support its magnificent growth.

Day by Day with James Allen by Vic Johnson

CONFIDENCE

"Confidence doesn't come out

of nowhere. It's a result of

something ... hours and days

and weeks and years of constant

work and dedication."

-Roger Staubach-

SELF-VISUALIZATION

In this post, Brian Tracy talks about how we view ourselves and the utiliziation of that vision in striving for excellence:

Your self-concept is made up of three parts, each of which affects each of the others. Understanding these three parts enables you to put your hands on the keyboard of your own mental computer. When you learn to take charge of the development of a new and positive self-concept of selling, you can then control your sales destiny for the rest of your career.

Determine Your Direction
The first part of the self-concept is the "self-ideal." Your self-ideal largely determines the direction in which you are going with your life. It guides the growth and evolution of your character and personality. Your self-ideal is a combination of all of the qualities and attributes of other people that you most admire. Your self-ideal is a description of the person you would very much like to be if you could embody the qualities that you most aspire to.

Strive Toward Excellence
Throughout your life, you have seen and read about the qualities of courage, confidence, compassion, love, fortitude, perseverance, patience, forgiveness and integrity. Over time, these qualities have instilled in you an ideal to which you aspire. You might not always live up to the very best that you know, but you are constantly striving to be a better person in light of those qualities that you value so highly. In fact, everything that you do on a day-to-day basis is affected by your comparing your activities with these ideal qualities and your striving to behave consistently with them.

Clarity is Essential
Successful salespeople have very clear ideals for themselves and their careers. Unsuccessful salespeople have fuzzy ideals. Successful salespeople are very clear about being excellent in every part of their work and their personal lives. Unsuccessful salespeople don't give the subject very much thought. One of the primary characteristics of successful men and women in every walk of life is that they have very clearly defined ideals and they are very aware of whether or not their current behaviors are consistent with their idealized behaviors.

Set Challenging Goals
Part of your ideals are your goals. As you set higher and more challenging goals, your self-ideal improves and crystallizes. When you set goals for the kind of person you want to be and the kind of life you want to live, your self-ideal rises and becomes a greater guiding and motivating force in your life.

Your Future is Unlimited
Perhaps the most important thing for you to realize is that whatever anyone else has done or become, you can do or become as well. Improvements in your self-ideal begin in your imagination, and in your imagination, there are no limits except the ones that you accept.

What is your ideal vision of the very best person you could possibly become? How would you behave each day if you were already that person? Asking yourself these questions and then living your life consistent with the answers is the first step to creating yourself in your ideal image.

Action Exercises
Here are two things you can do immediately to put these ideas into action.

First, dream big dreams. Set big, exciting, challenging goals and ideals for yourself in every part of your life. Allow yourself to imagine a wonderful life ahead.

Second, think about how you would act if you were an outstanding person in every way. Then, practice being this person, as though you were acting a role in a play. You'll immediately notice a difference in your behavior.

THE BULL DOESN'T CARE WHAT YOU DID LAST WEEK

There's a rodeo bull rider I know, a fellow named Tuff Hedeman. He's won three world championships in his sport, which is very difficult to do; he's the Joe Montana of bull riders. After he won his third one, Tuff didn't rest his bull rope to party or go to Disney World or hit the talk-show circuit. He just moved his gear on to Denver where the title hunt would start all over again...and as Tuff said:

"The bull won't care what I did last week."

From "Finding A Way To Win" by Bill Parcells

USING DEFEAT FOR MOTIVATION

"Only a man who knows what it is like to be defeated can reach down to the bottom of his soul and come up with the extra ounce of power it takes to win when the match is even."

- Muhammad Ali

FORWARD MOTION MOTIVATION

THE KEY TO SUCCESS

The following comes from "Success Is A Journey" by Brian Tracy:

The key to success is for you to set one great, challenging goal and then to pay any price, overcome any obstacle and persist through any difficulty until you finally achieve it.

By achieving one important goal, you create a pattern, a template for success in your subconscious mind. Ever after you will be automatically directed and driven toward repeating that success in other things that you attempt. By overcoming adversity and achieving one great objective, you will program yourself for success in life.

In other words, you learn to succeed by succeeding. The more you achieve, the more you can achieve.

You can accomplish almost any goal that you set for yourself if you persist long enough and work hard enough. The only one who can stop you is yourself. And you learn to persist by persisting in the face of great adversity when everyone around you is quitting and ever fiber of your being screams at you to quit as well.

THE GREAT ONES HAVE GREAT WORK ETHIC (PART II)

Written by Mike Wells at Indy.com:

Tyler Hansbrough works hard. Maybe you’ve heard.

His game days began with an early morning visit to Whole Foods to load up on organic meals. There was also the protein shake.

Hansbrough had a Reggie Miller-like pregame shooting routine. Five hundred shots, from various positions on the court. Mid-range jumpers. Three-pointers. Turnaround jumpers. Various low-post moves. Five straight makes in some spots, eight in others. Miss, start over.

He usually followed 20 points, 10 rebounds and a victory with an assortment of stretching exercises and an ice bath to help quicken his body’s recovery time before calling it a night.

“I’ve had a routine I’ve done for four years,” Hansbrough said. “I’m kind of superstitious.”

Read the entire article: http://bit.ly/ckgHEm

"SEE" THE SHOT

“I never hit a shot, not even in practice, without having a very sharp, in-focus picture of it in my head. It’s like a color movie. First I ‘see’ where I want it to finish, nice and white and sitting high on the bright green grass. Then the scene quickly changes, and I ‘see’ the ball going there: its path, trajectory, and shape, even its behavior on landing. Then there’s sort of a fade-out, and the next scene shows me making the kind of swing that will turn the previous images into reality.”

-Jack Nicklaus

THE BENEFITS OF A POSITIVE ATTITUDE

The benefits of positive attitudes are:
· Enhanced optimism and positive expectation.
· High positive energy.
· Higher levels of confidence: you are likely to trust yourself, not thinking too much or giving too much effort.
· Better concentration.
· Better decisions: viewing possibilities instead of obstacles.
· Better learning.
· Greater determination and commitment, with a “can-do attitude” and a refusal to give up easily.
· Greater happiness and peace of mind.
· Enhanced perseverance.
· A greater willingness to accept challenges.

From "Mental Toughness: Baseball’s Winning Edge" by Karl Kuehl, John Kuehl, and Casey Tefertiller

DEFINITION OF A WINNER

“A winner is someone who

recognizes his God-given talents,

works his tail off to develop

them into skills,

and uses these skills

to accomplish his goals.”

-Larry Bird-

CAN YOU BE COUNTED ON?

A great post by Rick Warren on serving faithfully and continually -- can you always be counted on -- by your coach, your teammates, you family!

"Well done, my good and faithful servant. You have been faithful in handling this small amount, so now I will give you many more responsibilities. Let's celebrate together!"

-Matthew 25:23

Faithfulness has always been a rare quality (Psalm 12:1; Proverbs 20:6; Philippians 2:19-22).

Most people don't know the meaning of commitment. They make commitments casually, then break them for the slightest reason without any hesitation, remorse, or regret. Every week, churches and other organizations must improvise because volunteers didn't prepare, didn't show up, or didn't even call to say they weren't coming.

Can you be counted on by others? Are there promises you need to keep, vows you need to fulfill, or commitments you need to honor?

This is a test. God is testing your faithfulness. If you pass the test, you're in good company: Abraham, Moses, Samuel, David, Daniel, Timothy, and Paul were all called faithful servants of God.

Even better, God has promised to reward your faithfulness in eternity. Imagine what it will feel like one day to have God say to you, "Well done, my good and faithful servant. You have been faithful in handling this small amount, so now I will give you many more responsibilities. Let's celebrate together!" (Matthew 25:23).By the way, faithful servants never retire. They serve faithfully as long as they're alive.