Mental Toughness

Steve Siebold had a passion for tennis. But, despite having the passion and being convinced he had the talent, he fell short of his goal of being a Top 10 player.

“Deep down, I knew I had the talent to make my dream a reality,

and I knew the missing link was mental.”

Steve Siebold

So he decided to see how others made it to the top. He is now sharing the “Secrets of the World Class” and has written a book “177 Mental Toughness Secrets of the World Class”.

http://store.simpletruths.com/secrets-of-the-world-class-with-free-dvd-p2855.aspx?cm_mmc=Nexternal-_-TU-_-07.30.13-_-SOWC

However, he’s still not a Top 10 tennis player! In fact, he’s not Top 10 in anything. He’s one of dozens – more like hundreds – of people who have spent their lives hovering over fields others have plowed to glean nuggets that they, themselves, could have used – if they had but applied them. In his own words, Steve says:

“After 20 years of studying and teaching mental toughness to people throughout the United States, Canada and 10 other countries, I can honestly tell you that many times I still think like a complete amateur, operating out of the same middle-class consciousness that I ridicule in this book. After all these years, my mental toughness growth is still a work in progress.”

Isn’t that pretty much true for all of us?

I have to admit I haven’t read Steve’s book. I’m not really ready for 177 roads to mental toughness – I’m still working on the first 20! But the following have served me well when I’ve judiciously applied them:

·         Stringently Honest Self-Evaluation

·         Restrained Impulsiveness

·         Delayed or Denied Gratification

·         Due Diligence Duly Exercised

·         Rigorous Time Management

·         Zero Tolerance for sloth

·         Zero Tolerance for Failure

·         Zero Tolerance for “Not Good Enough”

·         Zero Tolerance for small dreams in small ponds

·         Zero Tolerance for Tribal/Cultural/Political Short-Sightedness and “Cocooning”

·         Zero Tolerance for Unworkable Hypotheses, Unwarranted Entitlements, Unrealistic Expectations and Unfounded Assumptions

·         Research … Research … Research

·         Plan … Plan … Plan

·         Draft … Draft … Draft

·         Edit … Edit … Edit

·         Execute … Execute … Execute

·         Evaluate … Evaluate … Evaluate

·         Improve … Improve … Improve

When we are tempted at times to say “I could never do THAT!”or “It really doesn’t seem all that necessary!” – we probably should and it probably is ... if for no other purpose than for holding our feet to the fire.

Finally, nota bene ...

HABIT is the consummate, beneficent servant of mental toughness. What we do without exception and without fret, fuss or fulmination defines how far we will go and how well we will fare in the journey. Quartermaster

The Urgency of NOW

Dateline: Tuesday, July 09, 2013
Reporting on the 2013 International Barbershop Harmony Society convention in Toronto. 

Last Saturday night, Toronto Northern Lights (TNL) chorus brought the Air Canada Centre house down in Toronto with two amazing song sets, taking top honors for GOLD for the first time in their history – in their home town, no less!  (NOTE: In 2008 in Nashville, they had placed 2^nd with an incredible performance of the depression flashback song “Brother Can You Spare a Dime.”  Some of us swore they had won that one.) 

Their first song set for 2013 was a hilarious, parody-suffused medley on the theme of vegetables – with all chorus members dressed in exquisitely fashioned vegetable-like costumes.  The set ended with “This is the dawning of the age of Asparagus”.  

The second song set was based on Elvis Presley’s “If I Can Dream” – echoing Martin Luther King, Jr’s. “I Have a Dream” speech, and had the following introduction written specifically for the TNL presentation: 

“Once there was a time

Our hearts were all misguided,

Our thoughts were all one-sided,

A change was overdue. 

Then there came a time

When all the darkness lifted,

Our attitudes had shifted,

Our world came shining through.

If a bunch of silly plants

Can change their circumstance,

Why can’t everyone?

Why can’t you?”

TNL Director, Steve Armstrong, prefaced the championship redux performance with the summation that the chorus really did have a paradigm shift in attitude and intentionality during their preparation for international competition.  Internalizing and engraving this shift NOW with a sense of urgency seemed to be their collective imperative. 

Core Message: If your Dream is BIG enough, STRONG enough and RIGHT enough … why can’t you begin living it NOW?  What other options are there?  NONE of any consequence … other than to take away the possibility of your Dream ever being fulfilled.   

Summation: Don’t be misguided, one-sided, in the dark and lurking around where change is overdue.  Step outside and rise above your current circumstances, anchor the BIGGEST, STRONGEST and RIGHTIST Dream you can muster, then live it, DO it, and give it everything you’ve got – NOW!  Quartermaster