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Archive for February, 2009

Will You?

  “Small deeds done are better than great deeds planned.” — Peter Marshall   So many people say they can’t. The truth is that they just won’t. The following is a true story. Ed Agresta is a motivational speaker in New Jersey, and one day he was invited to speak to a sports psychology class at […]

Practicing Day and Night

Ted Williams, a Hall of Fame baseball player, liked to dream big. In his book “My Turn at Bat,” he said, “A man has to have goals – for a day, for a lifetime – and that was mine, to have people say, ‘There goes Ted Williams, the greatest hitter who ever lived.’” Baseball historians […]

Finding Ways to Motivate

Why do some coaches win ? The other night over dinner, we considered the ingredients: Is it X’s and O’s? Or is it relationships? And since successful coaches probably offer a mixture of strategy and psychology, what is the ratio? Yesterday’s New York Times carried a story on Jim Steen, legendary swimming coach at Kenyon […]

Where Change Begins

“Change the changeable, accept the unchangeable, and remove yourself from the unacceptable.” –– Denis Waitley   Today is Ash Wednesday, a day when million of people reflect on their lives and attempt fundamental change in the way they live. But you don’t have to be a member of any particular religion in order to pursue change. […]

The Company You Keep

You probably remember a parent or a teacher saying, “You are known by the company you keep.” Taking that old quote, business philosopher Jim Rohn makes it a little more specific: “You are the average of the five people you send the most time with.” Note the subtle but real difference between the two quotes. The […]

Becoming Somebody

“You’re a doer, because you’re prepared to make the necessary  effort to translate your dream into action.” — Paul McCabe,  from “Feed the Good Dog”  Are you everybody or somebody? Vikas Swarup is a somebody today because his novel Q & A turned into Oscar-winning film “SlumDog Millionaire.” “I got an idea and I thought, ‘Let me […]

Planning for Miracles

Sherlock Holmes: “You think, sir, that unless this document is recovered there will be war?” Client: “I think it is very probable.” Sherlock Holmes: “Then, sir, prepare for war.” On this date in 1980, the U.S. Olympic hockey team defeated the Soviet Union 4-3 at Lake Placid, N.Y. Two days later, the Americans beat Finland to […]

The Power of Great Goals

“Don’t bunt. Aim out of the ballpark. Aim for the company of immortals.” — David Ogilvy Within the next week or so, college basketball teams will be entering tournament season and facing enormous odds. Win or lose, this difficulty can lead to greatness.  Think of one of the greatest challenges mankind has ever faced: putting […]

Winning With Communication

“The single biggest problem in communication is the illusion that it has taken place.” — George Bernard Shaw   For a wonderful book on success, try “Ship of Gold in the Deep Blue Sea,” by Gary Kinder. Though far from the athletic arena, it contains so many elements of being a champion: hard work, vision, […]

The Game of Production

 “Goals are what you want. Actions are what you get.” — Sports psychologist Dr. Rob Gilbert As baseball spring training gets underway in earnest, predictions for the coming season will soon follow. Who will finish in first place? Who will hit the most home runs? Here’s something important to understand about statistics: At the end […]