Carl Lewis: Beyond Sport

Inspirational Movie for Your Success: The Impossible Dream

A former athlete sent me this video clip. I actually had the chance to meet Roger a few years ago.

As the video discusses, it is all about self belief.

Has a bad day ever disrupted your practice?

Hey we all have bad days which can be due to a number of reasons ranging from problems with a significant other, performed poorly on a test in school, or even forgot to

However, when it is time to go to practice or a game you have to leave all of that behind you before you step onto the field or court. If you are struggling with getting pumped up to practice, just remember that you can always act your way into a feeling!

Even better, ask yourself the folllowing question and watch how quickly you can be more consistent at bringing your best game:

If my teammates match the same level of effort today in practice that I do how much will we actually improve?

What are you saying to yourself when in times of high stress?

Nobody listens to you more than you listen to yourself.

When that moment of truth comes and you have to step up and perform just remember:

You can talk your way out of anything, but you can also talk your way in to anything just as well!

How do you match up to THIS survey?

According to Markus Buckingham:

• 60% of people feel an emotional high once per week
• 70% of people play to their strengths once per week

If you fall into either one of these two catagories then I have some encouraging news for you...

It is 100% possible for you to dramatically affect both of these numbers mentioned above! But how?

Step back and re-evaluate the following:

• your individual strengths and weaknesses
• create a clear description of your present working environment
• list your top three daily stressors- job and personal
• identify your teammates on the job- how do they support you and vice versa?

Once you have gotten clarity around each of these then sit back and ask the last two questions...

1. What is missing here?
2. What is the number one negative that I can immediately eliminate?

5 Key Questions to Jumpstart Your Week

1. What are you most certain about in your job/profession?
2. What percentage of your day do you 'play to your strengths'?
3. How many times per week do you actually feel an emotional high while at work?
4. Do you feel that you can talk about your strengths without sounding arrogant?
5. Do you feel that you can talk about your weaknesses without sounding wimpy or pathetic?

Are you caught in the current?

I just responded to an email from an individual who is starting to feel a bit frustrated because their goals are not being met. I asked her what her daily routine was and she responded with answers that were about her competition.

All too often it is easy to get caught up in other people's situations, events, etc. to the exclusion of focusing on our own needs. In fact, some people use this as a coping strategy just so they don't actually have to face themselves and their own fears.

How about you? Do you ever find yourself struggling to improve?

River of Competition

Are you caught up in other current events, current fears, current player trends etc.. that are keeping you from making yourself better? There is a great life principle that says:

If you go with the flow, the river might take you places where you don't want to go!

Start today and focus on only what you can control....YOURSELF!!

The Truth about making Decisions

Decisions vs Preferences
Getting people to actually make personal decisions is one of the toughest things to do. How many times have you joined up with a group of friends, planning to have a bit of fun on the town only to find out two hours later nobody will just make a decision on where to go!

Why is this? Many people have a mindset of 'Preference' thinking. This type of thinking will lead to being indecisive and unable to ever commit. For example:

Preference Statement- I would really like to lose weight (need to, have to, should).

Instead of this type of mindset challenge yourself to be more proactive in making firm decisions. In doing so you will find out that you will quickly get on the fast track to achieving personal goals! For example:

Decision Statement- I will lose this extra weight starting right now.

Decision statements require comittment and are very powerful.

Challenge yourself today and see how many decision statements you can actually make!

What are YOU waiting for?

Earlier this week during one of my offseason training sessions with the NFL Carolina Panthers, I asked one of the new players to the team what he expected from himself and the organization regarding the upcoming season.

His answer immediately challenged me in my pursuit of my own vision and life purpose:

"J, I've been waiting for my chance now for the past two seasons. I just wasn't ready last year and I knew it so I gave everything I had to developing all of those areas of my game that I felt needed attention...I wanted to make my strengths really stand out in my performance but at the same time wanted to make sure that my weaknesses were only potential weaknesses."

Is that a great personal philosophy or what! While this showed me he had tremendous patience and a strong self-belief, it was what he said next that impacted me the most.

"I am out here training just as hard if not harder than everyone else. Each of these guys are getting theirs, IT'S MY TURN NOW!"

Without a doubt he now has a mindset of taking initiative and is ready to step up to the plate. So how about you? What are you waiting on? Take a few minutes and answer the following:

• What have you really wanted to do lately but have just been overly skeptical , cautious, or hesitant about in your life? You know deep down inside that you have the talent and the desire.
  
  



• What do you feel is missing that is keeping you from taking action? Usually it is either lack of experience, missing a particular skill set, or blaming lack of opportunity.
  
  



• How do you respond when you hear stories of someone else who has just accomplished the same thing? Deep down you believe that you have a greater ability and are more talented than the other individual.

Whatever it is that you have been putting off, realize that you deserve what it is that you want to achieve. Like the player for the Carolina Panthers, IT'S YOUR TURN NOW!!

The KEY to making clear decisions

If you have not already done so, I would like to challenge you to take the time to identify your values that are important to you.

Why? Because the pattern of taking action looks like the diagram above. Most people start at the Thoughts/Beliefs/Feelings part of the cycle but remain frustrated with the outcome of not achieving their full potential or getting their desired results.

At the end of the day, what we value directly influences what we do and the choices that we make. So how do you identify yourself? What is it that you personally value in life? What are the three or four life changing moments for you that helped to shape your personal values?

Starting to build clarity around your personal values will directly affect your ability to make clear decisions in your life. Most people can intuitively guess what their natural strengths are as they relate to others.

However, take a little more time and dig a little deeper when reflecting on how you value yourself. If you are like me, it is more likely that our self identity is based on what we do in life and the roles that we play rather than just who we are.

The goal is to identify with both of these areas (the DOING and the BEING). The ulitmate outcome for you will be adding more meaning to your life and making key decisions much easier.

Daily Cost or Daily Investment?

It's just way too easy to caught up in the daily grind of life only to look back a few weeks later and ask yourself 'where did that time go'?

We each only have a limited availability of time, money, attention, and energy. Therefore, make sure that the daily choices that you make are worthwhile, productive, and leading you towards your goals.

Below are two simple questions to ask yourself at the end of each day:

Which of my choices that I made today cost me something? (prevented me or slowed me down from reaching my goals)

Which of my choices that I made today were investments towards reaching my goals?

In fact, asking yourself these two question throughout your day will help to ensure that you are being productive and are giving yourself the best chance of success!

Investment vs Expense

I just got back from spending the majority of the day with a very close friend of mine who also happens to be one of the top financial investment leaders in the country (www.smarttaxmoves.com).

Right now his desk is stacked to the ceiling with corporate tax files which got me thinking... the P&L statements of these companies list their employees as an expense and not an investment! However, it is the people that determine the success of a company.

How do you view your P&L Statement? Do you view your team as an expense or as an investment? If your like me, the answer is BOTH!

Certainty

A recurring question that we all ask ourselves is how certain are we that the decisions that we make are the right ones.

Check out the following short film starring Roger Black, a 400m medalist in the Olympics, World Games, and European Championships, as he gives his thoughts on 'certainty and you':

http://tinyurl.com/253jya

Do you want to be an expert?

I have now been coaching for over twelve years and have only been asked about my professional qualifications less than five times. What's even more unbelievable is that each of these five clients were one time meetings or only a few sessions at best.

Whether it has been a professional or college team, individual athletes, or corporate clients, I have never been asked to provide my professional qualifications. Looking back as to why this is, I discovered it all is about clarity.

Knowing how to clearly communicate with potential clients can immediately cause you to be viewed as an expert. It will help to move them from a position of confusion to a state of confidence.

So how can you provide clarity?

1. Make sure that your message is not wrapped around clutter- the shorter the better
2. Present your message in a way that others will hear it and identify with what you are saying- identify an area of struggle, communicate what solution you provide, give a supporting case study/story
3. REMEMBER it is about the other person and not about you!

3 Questions You Must Answer If You Want Change

I came across these three questions today while looking for a specific resource for one of my clients. If you desire change in your life, ask yourself the following questions. If you answer 'no' to any of them, go deeper and ask yourself 'why'?

1. Are you READY to live your best life?
   Everyone WANTS to live their best life but when it comes down to it, most people actually fear living their best life. Why? Because that means something will change which means we get pushed out of our comfort zone. Even if that zone is not always positive!
   
2. Are you WILLING to explore all of your options?
   Most people only think they have actually reviewed all of their options available in order to live the life that they deserve. However, the only real way to do so is to work with another individual. The problem is that most people do not want others to know their personal situation and would rather focus on someone or something else.
   
3. Are you ABLE to accept complete support?
   Life Rule- We all like advice but at the same time do not necessarily want another person telling us what to do. Another way of asking this question is how truly coachable are you right now? If not, why not? What do you not want others to know about you?

Rhythm vs Tempo

In the world of speed development the phrase that is often used is 'develop rhythm before tempo'. In other words, if you want to get faster as an athlete, you must first develop a solid foundation of fundamental skills that will lead to developing more complex skills.

Getting faster is more than simply running as fast as you can (focusing on tempo). Instead, it is first knowing all the components of what it takes to get faster. Then over time, along with a sequential and methodical plan, mastering each of these skills will result in improved speed (rhythm).

Isn't life like that as well? We all too often get easily caught up in the daily grind and just being able to keep up with everything becomes the focus. Then, if we are lucky, we might have time to ourselves once every few weeks.

Like me, if you want to truly improve your life and focus on personal and professional growth, start to focus on your 'daily life rhythm'. Below are a few questions to ask yourself to get rhythm focused:

1. Are you naturally a morning person, afternoon person, or evening person?
2. When do your energy levels peak and drop throughout the day?
3. When are you most productive and when are you least productive?
4. What if you were to slow down during your day to spend some 'you' time? Even if it was only 10 min. each day to write in a personal journal?
5. What are some key areas in your life where you feel like you need to improve upon?
6. What would your life look like if you took the time to improve them?
7. What is the cost of not improving them?

Problems and Solutions

"The problems we face today cannot be solved on the same level of thinking we were at when we created them."- Albert Einstein

Yesterday I came across this fantastic quote that I believe to be a Life Principle. How many times do we experience a problem in our daily lives only to find ourselves in the same mindset as when the problem first occurred?

When we are challenged to find solutions to situations or events, it is important to be aware of all of the factors that contributed to the problem itself. However, a solution mindset involves one of the following:

1. Doing different things
2. Doing things differently

The first is always the easy way out while the second option requires creativity and ingenuity. So, take a litte extra time when trying to come up with a creative solution. Remember, the goal to problem solving is to not to have to revisit the same problem again and again!

How BIG (or little) do you value yourself?

A very good friend of mine has been given the opportunity to speak in front of one of the largest financial companies in the United States for their leadership program. The speaking engagement is for half a day and this will without a doubt launch his career to a new level.

In the past he has received a few thousand dollars for his presentations and so in his mind this was to be no different. BUT...just the other day the company sent him a copy of the PO for his services and the total was signifcantly more than a few thousand dollars!

He immediately called me and said, "Surely this must be a mistake!" I immiediately replied back and asked "why would it be a mistake?"

My good friend could just not accept the fact that a company would be willing to pay well over $18,000 for his services! After a few hours of letting it all settle in I got him to reframe his thinking. How? Well instead of that figure being a top end number, I encouraged him to think of the fee as a stepping stone. In fact, the next time he can charge even more!

Take Home Message:

• Whatever you think that your services are presently worth...double that number! Why? People all too often undervalue themselves.
  
• What would happen if tomorrow a nationally known potential client wanted your services and offered to pay you more than you ever imagined? Would you be confident and willing? Or would you be hesitant and uncomfortable?

A Lesson from a Pro Baseball Player

I recently spent an entire week with Chad Tracy, third baseman for the Arizona Diamondbacks. The focus of our time together was to get him sharp and ready to start Spring Training here in the next two weeks. Each day we laid out our training plan for the week incorporating everything from movement training, taking ground balls, hitting, and strength training. Some days, we would workout out twice per day but everything was centered around his ability to recover, or what I call Energy Management.

Just spend a few minutes with Chad and you will quickly discover he takes a very dedicated approach to Energy Managment, especially with regards to his ability to recover and his nutrition. Yet while our focus was on executing a solid plan for the week, I also was reminded of the importance of another type of management.

The TOUR I Will Never Forget

Wednesday, we took as an off day and I got a first hand tour of the Diamondbacks stadium. Standing there at home plate and looking into the stands I heard some great stories of where some pretty incredible home runs were hit. It was at this exact moment I felt the importance of 'Mental Management'!

As Chad was sharing with me his wonderful home run stories, I could see in his eyes even then the unbelievable level of focus he had as he replayed those memories in his mind. His ability to focus on only what matters at that specific time, what he can control, and what he wants the outcome to be all contribute to his success.

Another way to define 'Mental Management' is your ability to turn it on when you need to- turn it off when you don't- and stay away from all the clutter in between!

So how is your mental managment? Here is a short self-audit:

• Nobody will ever listen to you more than you! Is your self-talk more negative or more positive?
• In your Moment of Truth do you find that you have a tendancy to focus more on intuition, on choosing the best option to get the best result, or what process should happen so that you can get the result that you want?
• Do you spend time focusing on those things that you cannot control? Or more on only what you CAN control?
• What happens if you still don't get the result that you want? How do you react? What is your self-talk now?

Answering these questions will help you to get a clearer picture of your present Mental Management strategies and identify what areas that you need to work on to sharpen your mindset for success!

What to do when life throws you a curve ball

At any time life can throw us a curve ball that can really put us in a bind both professionally and personally. The question is how do you respond to these types of events? Get a mindset that the event can serve as a growth opportunity for you.

Below are a few lessons I have learned along the way that can hopefully serve as a source of inspiration:

• Focusing on things you cannot control serves little purpose; Focus on only those things that you can control right now and that depend on you!
• Keep your eye on all of the amazing things that the very near future has in store for you!
• Be aware that focusing on what all has happened to you (a victim perspective) can temporarily stop all of your forward progress
  This mindset will open doors for procrastination

Things to keep in mind:

• Motivation just isn't going to strike you like lightening right now and is not something that anyone else can force on you
• It's a whole lot easier to act your way into a feeling than to wait for positive emotions to lift your spirits and carry you forward
• Most of all... BELIEVE IN YOURSELF!

'Ode to the Champions'

I was just on my way back to Charlotte, having spent the past week in Arizona when I can across the following poem and wanted to share it:

Ode to the Champions

Who are these people-
These doers of deeds,
These dreamers of dreams
Who make us believe?

Who are these people
Who still win the day-
When the odds are against them
And strength fades away?

These people are champions,
For they never give in.
A heart beats within them
That is destined to win

They follow their dreams
Though the journey seems far,
From the top of a mountain
They reach out to a star

And when they have touched it-
When their journey is done-
They give to us hope
From the victories they won.

So here's to the champions-
To all their great deeds.
They follow their hearts
And become winners indeed.

Tom Krause

Build Your Team- Part 1

In the Everyday Champion Steps to Succes model, I talk about how important it is to build your own team. Having the right people in your corner to support you and provide advice and feedback is critical for your success.

In part 1 of 'Build Your Team' we will take a look at your financial teammates. Your team should include a creative CPA, an expert investment advisor, an insurance professional for risk management, and attorney’s. No I do not mean having a slick CPA help with your taxes at the end of the year, but a team of experts who take a proactive approach to your business and personal life.

We all want to make more money. However, instead of adding more work hours in our day to do so, doesn't it make more sense to first figure out how to keep more of what you are already making?

A client of mine just recently discovered that they can put almost six figures back in their pocket each year without even having to add any additional income! How? It ultimately all comes down to the business structure that is right for you. Taking the time to assemble a talented team like this can be very time consuming and expensive, but, I have a solution! I have a team available to work with you on your unique plan to hit your financial suite spot.

Another important area that individual's tend to take for granted is their investment portfolio. In other words, what strategies and methods are you using to make your money work for you. Stocks, bonds, mutual funds, 401K's, etc. are all important to be aware of. However, wouldn't it be mentally comforting if you knew that your hard earned money would not be lost if the stock market were to suddenly crash? Or another terrorist attack shut down the markets? Or if more Enron’s were discovered?

You can invest in the markets with protection from all these events. Have you ever thought about getting insurance on your portfolio to protect you from losses? You have insurance on your car and home, so why not on your largest asset?

So as you can see, you will give yourself the winning edge by including a financial team on your side. The team I put together for myself and all of my professional clients is headed by Dan Venegoni. You can find out more about Dan and his team at www.SmartTaxMoves.com.

While many of you right now are thinking "I already have a guy who does that stuff for me", TRUST ME and do yourself a favor by at least contacting Dan. You will not regret it!

The bottom line is that building your financial team (whoever that may be) is a HUGE factor in your success! In part 2 of this series I will discuss how to build the rest of your team to help you become an Everday Champion!

What price would you pay to change your life?

I just saw the movie 'Pursuit of Happiness' last night. 'The story's based on the life of Chris Gardner, who started a successful career as a San Francisco stockbroker 25 years ago after risking everything on a six-month, unpaid internship while struggling to care for his son.'

This is a great motivator for individuals who are stuggling and working hard to breakout of their present situation. The price Gardner is willing pay in order to live the life he feels he derves is encouraging to say the least.

There are many wonderful character qualities throughout the movie that most of us can indentify with including:

• hard work
• persistance
• faith
• determination
• relationships
• and many others

While each of these qualities helped contribute to Chris Gardner's success, it is his values that ultimately influenced his mindset and therefore turned his ability into achievement.

If you haven't seen this movie, take the night off and check it out!

Ask yourself what price are you willing to pay to live the life that you deserve?