I Can FLY

Be Passionate About What You Do

“It’s not how much we do, but how much passion we put into what we do.”

This quote says it all…it doesn’t matter if you’re filling up the water cooler for a sports team or making copies for a work team. You may have to take out the garbage or do busy-work in school. It may be picking up all the balls during a tennis lesson. Whatever it is that you have to do, whether you want to or not, do it with passion. It will not only be more enjoyable, but people will notice and you will feel better about yourself. This is one of the secrets of success. There are no menial jobs, just menial people. You need to enjoy the good and the bad.

Mother Teresa said, “We can do no great things, only little things with great love.”

Homework: For the next 48 hours, do everything with passion and check out the results.

Do You Have Hope?

This message is especially dedicated to someone special, who used my “three frogs on a log” riddle and took action in her own life…she committed herself to exercising and changing her life for the better…Dottie Cook, this one’s for you.

“Men and women are limited not by the place of their birth, not by the color of their skin, but by the size of their hope.” – John Johnson

Do you have hope? The belief that there is someone great inside you? I do. I think that you can become anything and anyone you want to as long as you have the will to do it and the belief that it will happen. Honestly, I believe change is easy, but maintenance of change is difficult. Anyone can say they will start working out as their New Year’s Resolution. That’s why I see all these new faces in the gym in January. But guess what? They’re all gone by February and then I just go back to seeing the regulars. They say you need to do something for 21 days in a row to make it a habit. If you want to quit smoking, do it for 21 days, if you want to go on a diet, do it for 21 days. But you need to BELIEVE you are making a lifestyle change. Part of the problem is that throughout life, people are told all the things they CAN’T do. Nobody knows you well enough to tell you what you CAN’T do. You don’t need to be great to start, but you need to start to be great.

If you want to become a great athlete, train like the pros for 21 days. You should take at least one day off per week, though to prevent over training and injuries. If you want to become a great student, study smart for 21 days. You should take at least one day off per week, though to prevent over training and injuring your brain.

There are many people out there who have given up on attaining greatness. This is what Dr. Martin Seligman, father of positive psychology calls, “learned hopelessness.” This basically happens when several negative events happen to someone and it gets into their subconscious minds and they give up hope. This could be over the course of months or even years. The truth of the matter is that is a conditioned response. It isn’t reality. Well, it is that person’s reality. But they can change it instantly.

If you are an athlete and you played several games that nothing went your way, you might think that you are getting worse, or you can’t buy a win or maybe you should start playing hopscotch. You can’t deny your feelings, but you can understand that this is a “learned” condition and you can change it. You can change it by changing how you act, or your physiology. You can change it by focusing on your technique and strategy. Act and think like a champion for 21 days and guess what? You are on your way to becoming a champion.

Did you know? In 1990, the best selling shirt in Japan was “We’re number 1!” and that same year, the best selling shirt in the US was “Underachiever-and proud of it!”

Homework: Think about something in your life that you have been conditioned to thinking that there is no hope. It could be something great or small. I challenge you to recondition yourself for the next 21 days and I guarantee your life won’t be the same.

Secrets From a World Champion…

Lee Kemp was the first American to win three world wrestling titles (1978-79 & 1982), and hold the distinction of being the youngest American to win a gold medal in the World Championships, at 21 years old at the 1978 World Championships.

When I spoke to Lee yesterday, I asked him what his secret to success was. “The best way to predict future performance is to put yourself in that situation.” Mr. Kemp said that you need to take the time, make it challenging and simulate a pressure situation. “Most people just practice.” He says to put the pressure on and practice with the best.

The beauty of my blog, in my opinion, is that all of my messages can apply to any aspect of life. So how can you learn from Lee Kemp, wrestling legend? Practice a realistic situation, push yourself, and train with the best. This works in tennis, school, work, relationships, and fitness/nutrition.

Homework: Next time you practice, put yourself in a realistic situation and when you actually encounter that, you will be more relaxed and perform better because it will seem familiar to you.

YOU are good…

This message is especially dedicated to the great Ashley Schindewolf…

“It’s amazing what happens when you recognize your good qualities, accept responsibility for your future, and take positive action to make that future even brighter.”

Do you believe that there is greatness inside you? There is…it’s inside all of us. Don’t look where you don’t want to go, don’t do what you don’t want to happen. Remember the law of attraction…negative thoughts equal negative results. If you focus on the positives of every situation, you will get more of that. Focus on the qualities that you like about yourself and you will do more of those things. Believe in yourself…motivate yourself…create your life for yourself. If there are things you would like to change, pretend that you already have those qualities. Fake it til you make it. “The road to success is always under construction.”

This man was at work and it was a holiday weekend, so everyone went home early, and he was about to do the same. But first he had to do one more job. So, he went into this refrigerator car to get something, and he got locked in! He started banging on the door and yelling, his fists starting to bleed. He started thinking that they would find him Monday morning, frozen to death and he started to think, “These could be my last breaths and my last thoughts!” Sure enough, they found him Monday morning and all symptoms showed that he froze to death, but then they checked and the refrigerator unit wasn’t even on! So mentally, he froze himself to death.

The mind is a powerful thing…use it in a positive way. Combine that with taking 100% responsibility of your life and start or continue your goals program and you can achieve ANYTHING you want in life.

Homework: At least 100 times today, tell yourself, “I am GOOD.” And when you do, really feel it and see what kind of results you get.

Calling All Students…

This post is especially dedicated to Kathy Clawson, mother of Joey Clawson, one of my Special Olympics students, who is in the hospital…you are in my thoughts.

So as promised, today I will talk about success in school. College students are back in school and now high school students are back in the classroom, as well.

I asked Melissa Sapio, the only person that got a 4.0 GPA in college, what advice she had for the students that read my blog. This is what she had to offer…

“A set-back is just a set-up for a come-back.
I’ve missed more than 9,000 shots in my career.
I’ve lost almost 3,300 games.
26 times I’ve been trusted to take the game-winning shot and missed.
I’ve failed over and over again in my life and that is why I succeed. “
– Michael Jordan

Mistakes are part of the learning curve. If you’re always getting it right and never make a mistake, there would be no fun or challenge. It would be easy and it would be truly boring. There would also be no learning! In fact, it would mean that you aren’t really trying! The real difference between people who succeed and people who fail in their pursuit of goals is that successful people don’t quit when they encounter obstacles or things get more difficult.
Tom Hanks, playing the manager of a baseball team in the movie A League of Their Own said, it’s supposed to be hard. If it wasn’t hard everyone would do it. The hard is what makes it great.
This is the reality of it. So get used to the process of making mistakes, saying learn from the mistakes, and try again. Making a mistake is not a tragedy. The only lamentable thing would be giving up as soon as you make one.

Well put…Thanks, Melissa.

Homework: Next time things don’t go as planned, think about the lesson you learned and how you can make an adjustment for next time.

Life=Risk–Motivation

Are You Willing to Do Whatever It Takes???

This post is especially dedicated to the great Dan Horowitz…

So I SPRUNG out of bed this morning at 6:20am before my mind could say, “I don’t want to get up. It’s early, I’m tired, it’s still dark out.” Why? Partly because I am crazy, but MAINLY because I am COMMITTED to my daily “power walks,” “power breakfast,” and “power blogging.” I KNOW how motivated it gets me, how fulfilled it makes my life feel and how it positively affects my health. I honestly couldn’t think of a better way of starting my day. Only 1 percent of people know their true purpose in life. 1 percent!!! MY purpose in life is to help as many people as I can whether it’s teaching someone tennis, helping someone with their goals, giving a motivational talk, speaking to an athlete about positive thinking, helping someone with fitness/nutrition or helping a woman on the subway trying to get up the stairs with her stroller. By taking care of my mind/body (power walk & power breakfast), and sending a message (posting on my blog), I start every day by setting the tone. The best way to predict how your day is going to go, is by CREATING it. And whatever you CAN’T control, LEARN from it and REACT to it appropriately.

Now, I could stop there and a good lesson can be learned, but it gets better…

While on my walk, I began to think about what will happen when it gets COLD out and DARK in the morning during my walks. And immediately one phrase popped into my head…”Do whatever it takes.” This is the philosophy of many of the most successful people in the world. Most people make promises, the great ones make COMMITMENTS. Then I started thinking, ok, I’ll get a nice warm hat, some gloves and INSTANTLY, the negative thoughts went away and I knew that there wouldn’t be a problem. (Yes, I DO have negative thoughts sometimes. But see how I changed my thought process right away?) I can’t begin to describe the feeling that came over me after that. When you are overcome by feelings of pure love, fulfillment, gratitude, joy and motivation, you are heading in the right direction. As a result it will be easier to stick to your commitments.

IMPORTANT…watch the video below if you want to know about commitment…

Homework: Figure out your true purpose in life and then make your decisions and set your goals so that they are congruent to that purpose. Do whatever it takes, even if you have to get a little creative. Think OUTSIDE THE BOX.

Tomorrow…for you students – tips on how to make this school year a great one.

Facing the Giants

It’s Never Crowded Along the Extra Mile…

Whether you are an athlete, student, businessman/woman, stay-at-home mom, doctor, or lawyer, you will put yourself on the map if you go the “extra mile.” Do that little bit extra than ordinary people and you will become “extraordinary.” People will notice, you know why?? Because NOBODY else is doing it. So run that extra lap, study that extra hour, make that presentation extra special, be patient and supportive of your kids, call your patient or client and make sure that they are satisfied. Before you know it, not only will you stand out from the crowd…you will become a success.

Homework: Every day this week, go the extra mile at least once a day and see if that changes anything in your life…