I can’t believe I, Ed Tseng was on the Success Hotline today…

I have told many of you about the Success Hotline (973 743 4690) and how great it is. This hotline was created by Dr. Rob Gilbert in 1992. He has a new 3 minute inspirational message every day and he hasn’t missed a day since 1992!!! Dr. Gilbert is one of the country’s top experts on sports psychology and peak performance. He has given thousands of lectures and seminars to many top athletes and business people. He has also been on television, the radio and newspapers/magazines extensively. Dr. Gilbert has the most motivational and inspirational blog on the web (www.gilbertsuccesshotline.blogspot.com). He is professor of Sports Psychology at Montclair State University and a public speaker, motivational coach, sports coach and author. It takes a lot for me to be impressed, and Dr. Gilbert not only impresses me, but he INSPIRES me. I listen to his Success Hotline religiously.

So I called the Success Hotline today and if you could do a double-take listening to an answering machine message, I did just that. He dedicated his message today to “the GREAT Ed Tseng.”

Wow. I had to call it several times to make sure he said “Ed Tseng” and NOT “Ted Fang.”

Now let me tell you how I discovered The Success Hotline…

When I started my company, Tennis Solutions, I began networking with everyone I met, specifically, the top business people in the Princeton area. I found the Princeton Networking Group and attended a few of their meetings. I actually became close with the President, Jason Akers. Jason and I meet regularly to catch each other up on our goals and motivate and inspire each other over a meal. The last time I met with Jason, he mentioned the Success Hotline and how Dr. Gilbert came to speak to Northwestern Mutual a while back. After our “power breakfast” at 7am, he sent me a text message and said that the Success Hotline message was dedicated to me. It actually wasn’t, but it WAS about sports psychology and motivation. So I called the Hotline and I instantly fell in love with it. I actually left Dr. Gilbert a message after the beep and told him how I was starting to get into motivational speaking and would love to take him to lunch and pick his brain. Can you believe he called me back the same day?

We had a great conversation and then met for lunch about a week later. After our 2 hour lunch meeting, we went to Barnes and Noble to check out some books. I bought him one of my favorite books and he bought me one of his…very cool. As expected, he was an amazing guy and by the end of our meeting, he asked me if I wanted to speak at Montclair State the following Wedensday. I quickly replied, “I’d love to.” I didn’t know what I was speaking about or to whom, but when someone like that asks you, it doesn’t really matter. It turned out that I spoke to over 150 people from all over China getting ready to do an internship with Disney! And now, I consider Dr. Gilbert a friend and mentor.

So you might be asking yourself, how does this apply to the mental side of sports and life? Well, I’ll tell you…If I had NOT taken action networking and finding out about Princeton Networking Group, I would not have met Jason Akers. If I had not met Jason Akers, I wouldn’t have found out about the Success Hotline. If I had not found out about Success Hotline, I would not have met Dr. Rob Gilbert. And had I not met Dr. Gilbert, I wouldn’t have learned as much as I have about sports psychology and motivational speaking OR spoken in front of those 150 people at Montclair State. Do you see how life works? Life rewards action. I guess I’m a go-getter. I guess I CREATE my destiny. I guess I predict my future by CREATING it. You can do the same with your life or your sport.

I am still extremely flattered that today’s Success Hotline message was dedicated to me…so in return, I dedicate this post to Dr. Rob Gilbert, not because he dedicated his message to me today, but because of my great respect for him, not only as an authority on sports psychology and speaking, but as a person. He is the real deal and I hope he reads this post so he knows that he is helping me become a better person and inspires me to make a difference in the world. Please go out and buy his new book, “How to have fun without failing out.”

Thanks, Dr. Gilbert.

Homework: Call Success Hotline!