When competing in sports, and life, trust all the hard work you’ve put in…and remember this quote:
When you come to the edge of all the light you know and are about to step into the darkness of the unknown, faith is knowing that one of two things will happen: there will be something solid to stand on, or you’ll be taught to fly.
-Elisabeth Kubler-Ross
If you ran five miles, lifted weights, and practiced your sport for three hours today, would you REALLY wake up tomorrow morning a better athlete?
Not really.
Here’s what WILL help you become a better athlete almost instantly…
Have the same attitude as a great athlete.
Give the same effort as a great athlete.
Begin right now.
Come visit me at the USTA TennisFest at Veteran’s Park in Hamilton, NJ today at noon for my talk on mental toughness.
Ed Tseng
Director of Mental Conditioning
Monroe Sports Center
609.558.1077
I am sitting here in my office, just a few miles from downtown Princeton, where Albert Einstein used to call home. I often drive by his house and think about his philosophy and work. Here is my Einstein quote of the day:
I must be willing to give up what I am in order to become what I will be.
Do you want to be comfortable, or do you want to be great?
Be comfortable being uncomfortable.
We all want positive outcomes in life, from sports to sales to school. And most of us strongly dislike negative outcomes, but the truth is, there are no negative outcomes. We choose whether we win or we lose. It’s our reactions, and our responses that create our results. Let me put it another way…
E + R = O
Event plus Response equals Outcome.
I recently began working with a young golfer. This golfer has all the talent in the world, but is his own worst enemy. During practice, he performs unbelievably, but under pressure, he unfolds.
Golf is challenging because there is a lot of down-time. A lot of time to think.
The tournament prior to my last session with this golfer, he played poorly. But the next day, he played great…in practice. So during my session with him, I focused on creating a pre-shot routine.
And I told him to focus only on his pre-shot routine during his next tournament.
Guess what?
He won first place.
Everyone works on the physical game, but the ones that succeed are the ones that work on their mental game.
Ed Tseng
Director of Mental Conditioning
Monroe Sports Center
609.558.1077
Phil Hughes is an All-Star and World Series Champion with the New York Yankees. I spoke with Phil on Tuesday at South Street Seaport in New York City for Day 2 of the Yankees’ HOPE Week.
I asked Hughes what he does when he has a bad day.
“I call my dad,” Hughes responded with a laugh.
I followed up with, “Do you ever have a negative voice inside your head?”
“Oh yeah, I do,” said Hughes.
“We ALL do,” chimed in pitcher, Steve Garrison.
“You have to have a short-term memory,” Hughes added.
What does this mean for you?
If an All-Star and World Champion gets negative, it’s okay if YOU get negative.
The key is to be like Phil and let it go and move on. You can certainly LEARN from the past, but you shouldn’t LIVE in the past.
Be like Phil Hughes today!
Ed Tseng
Director of Mental Conditioning
Monroe Sports Center
609.558.1077
On Tuesday, I was honored to be one of the people honored by the New York Yankees as part of HOPE Week. For approximately five years, I have been a mentor for Tuesday’s Children, a wonderful organization which began helping children who lost a parent in 9/11.
I became a volunteer mentor because I wanted to make a difference in a child’s life. It turned out to be the opposite – a child has made a difference in my life. I have a feeling this week, the Yankees have a similar attitude.
This amazing day consisted of mentors and mentees attending a beach party at South Street Seaport…with the New York Yankees. Highlights included lunch, ping pong, a water balloon fight, photos, autographs, a water taxi ride, a private Yankee Stadium tour, on field for batting practice…all with the Yankees.
To the Yankees, HOPE stands for: Helping Others Persevere and Excel. This is their way of giving back, but like the volunteer that I am, the Yankees reap the benefits of their charity. All of the players I spoke to felt that HOPE Week is one of their favorite weeks of the year, and it puts everything into perspective.
Even though I was one of the honorees, I was thinking about you (yes you) and how I could help you persevere and excel.
On the beach, I had a wonderful conversation with Mariano Rivera, the greatest closer in the history of baseball. I asked him what he did when he didn’t feel confident. His answer replayed in my mind the rest of the day…
“You don’t ask a professional what he does when he doesn’t feel confident. A professional should always be confident. A better question is, ‘What do you do when you aren’t at your BEST?'”
Let’s analyze Mo’s answer.
Rivera says that you should always act confident (regardless of how you feel). He focuses on the positives versus the negatives. When he re-phrased my question, he didn’t say, “What do you do when you are at your WORST?” He, instead, chose to use a more powerful word, “BEST.”
Mariano Rivera doesn’t focus on results, he focuses on the process. I asked him what he thinks about when he pitches. His answer?
The catcher’s mitt.
You don’t have to be the best closer in the history of baseball to have the mindset of a champion.
Stay positive, and focus on the process instead of the results and you too can reach peak performance.
Ed Tseng
Director of Mental Conditioning
Monroe Sports Center
609.558.1077
My ambition is not to be just a good fighter. I want to be great, something special.
-Sugar Ray Leonard
HOW GOOD DO YOU WANT TO BE?
Remember this secret equation for peak performance…
E + R = O
Event + Response = Outcome
Much of success comes from our reactions in situations. If you lose a point or miss a shot, much of the time, it’s your reaction that will determine your results. Will you think a negative thought or a productive thought? Will you get frustrated or fascinated?
A friend of mine who plays in the Yankees organization once said that sometimes you may only have 70 percent of your game, but if you use 100 percent of that 70 percent, you can still win. The key is your response, or adjustments towards the event/situation.
We don’t have control over many of the events that occur, but we have total control over our response. As a result, we will have more favorable outcomes.
“It’s not that difficult to run; to give it 100 percent, it’s effort. You don’t have to have talent to give effort.”—Derek Jeter