In Derek Jeter’s professional debut in the minor leagues, he played a doubleheader and went 0 for 7 with five strikeouts.
He doubted himself.
But he didn’t show it. Nobody knew.
He continued to work hard and he persisted.
Challenges can make or break you.
In fact, William Arthur Ward once said, “Adversity causes some men to break, others to break records.”
How do you react in challenging situations?
Don’t wait, take action.
Too many people wait until the right time to train, learn a new skill, or take a chance.
They wait until all the lights are green before they get in their cars and start driving.
It’s not going to happen.
Take action and then make adjustments.
There is no perfect time.
Start today!
I work with athletes but I also work with salespeople to help them increase sales.
When I was interviewed for my forthcoming book, “Success Simplified” with the great Stephen Covey, the interviewer asked, “Do you have experience in sales?”
I said, “No, but I do have the most difficult sales job–I try to sell people on themselves.”
You see, this blog is not just about mental toughness, it’s about believing in yourself.
Believing in your abilities.
Believing in your potential.
When you look at all the successful people in the world, they were not born to be great athletes, salespeople or musicians–they were trained to be.
Anything is possible with the right training.
What do you want to be great at? Who’s already doing it? Why aren’t you copying them?
I asked minor league baseball players, who do you want to be like? Mariano Rivera?
Are you doing what Mariano Rivera is doing right now? Are you training like him?
The answer is usually no.
You don’t have to wait to become successful to do what successful people do.
Believe.
Achieve.
You can perform your best even when you feel your worst.
It’s true.
Many athletes don’t feel “on their game” when they are warming up, but then something happens–they start getting “into” it and start performing at a higher level.
But you don’t have to wait until you “feel” into it to act into it.
The best athletes in the world act “into it” whether they feel like it or not.
Everyone else acts how they feel, so if they are in a bad mood, their body language shows that they are in a bad mood. If they don’t feel like making sales calls or studying, they don’t.
If you are an actor in a movie and the cameraman yells “Action!” can you say, “Wait! I’m not in the part yet!”
Of course not, you have to be in the part whether you feel like it or not.
Sports and life are the same way.
Recently, I was teaching a high-level high school player and we were playing a groundstroke game to 11 points.
I was up 7-1 and he said to me, “Can we play another one after this one?”
In his mind, he had already lost.
And then he really did lose.
When you think about the future, you can’t perform well in the present.
Remember what the great philosopher, Yogi Berra said, “It ain’t over til it’s over.”
I have a feeling someone reading this has been nervous before a competition, test, lecture or asking someone out on a date.
Most people feel that being nervous is bad.
Being nervous is good. It means you are about to do something important.
Winners and losers feel the same feelings.
The greatest athletes in the world get nervous, so it’s okay if you do.
The difference is, you don’t have to ACT nervous.
I have spent time with many professional athletes and I always ask them if they get nervous.
They all say yes.
So what do they do?
They take a deep breath, tell themselves that they’ve been in this situation before and then go and kick butt.
I work one-on-one with athletes, musicians, business professionals and students and I have them do the same thing.
Why?
Because it works.
This is the last year of Mariano Rivera’s contract with the Yankees. Asked if he was worried about what would happen after this year and Rivera said, “Why should I worry about something that I can’t control?”
Many times we worry about winning and losing, the economy, the weather, our opponents, but we can’t control those things. So why worry about them? That’s wasted energy.
Be like Mariano and focus on the things you can control like your effort, attitude, energy and reactions.
You might not be the best closer in major league history, but you can have the same attitude and mindset as him.
I’m not a Phillies phanatic, but I like the recent quote in the Trenton Times by the Fightin’ Phils’ Raul Ibanez.
He said, “You have to keep battling. No one’s gonna feel sorry for you. You have to go out there and you gotta believe, affirming to yourself.”
Push yourself.
Coach yourself.
Believe in yourself.
Thank you Raul and thank you to the Kolbs for bringing the article to my attention.
Jim Abbott threw a no-hitter against the Cleveland Indians on September 4, 1993, and he won the game 4-0.
AND Jim Abbott was born without a right hand.
Imagine what YOU can do…
Your only disability is in your mind.