Monday, May 14 2012
Integrity – How Your Actions Live On
This past week, the CEO of Yahoo was forced to resign his post after his 4 month tenure after it was learned that he had falsified information on his resume. Scott Thompson had provided inaccurate details regarding his college education and left the company with no alternative but to resign. The simple addition of those facts have turned a company, industry, and family upside down.
Your actions have lasting impact, even if they seem innocent at the outset. Sports and corporate performance have the greatest long-term impact when they are done with integrity. What is integrity? From The MindSide perspective,...
Monday, May 7 2012
Today? Yes, Today!
I come to you TODAY with a desire to be something more than I was yesterday, to be more than I think I can be tomorrow, and to be everything that I want right now. I left you yesterday with the outcome of my efforts, a chance to find out about myself and learn from my winnings and mistakes. I leave yesterday with experience and learnings that can only be understood when I walk the steps of someone willing to take the next step. The lessons of yesterday, the day before that, the week before that, the month before...
Tuesday, May 1 2012
Excellence Begins With You
This past week, I had the great pleasure of attending the LPGA Mobile Bay Classic to watch a player compete. She had a great week and is on the verge of some transformational play through the summer. It is always interesting for me to go to professional events and learn from the best players in the world, to pick up their preparation keys and competition commitment. I probably learn more than they do from me and that is a great scenario for all involved.
On the way down to Mobile, I stopped at a Burger King to grab a...
Monday, April 23 2012
The Search for Perfection
This past Saturday, Chicago White Sox pitcher, Philip Humber, threw a perfect game against the Seattle Mariners. To provide a bit of context, in over 100 years of baseball, Humber's gem was only the 21st in the history of professional baseball. The rarity of the perfect game is quite impressive, especially with the improved training, abilities, and equipment in today's game. It is interesting to note that Saturday's perfect game was Humber's first complete game of his professional career and has only a handful of career wins. Perfect games are not often the goal of a pitcher. How could they...
Monday, April 16 2012
Being the Best
Players ask me all the time how they can improve their performance during competition. They tell me that they watch other players play great when it matters the most and wonder what they are lacking to do the same. It becomes a frustrating cycle of missed opportunities and disappointing finishes that cements itself as the norm instead of the exception.
Performance during competition rises up only when it has been prepared to do so. The break-through point for me at LSU was when I stopped looking at the travel listing for road trips to see if I was going for...
Friday, April 6 2012
Dealing with Criticism
Dealing with Criticism
Performance in every facet of your life comes with a great opportunity and a great responsibility. The opportunity is that we strive to compete and perform to our highest ability because we are normally driven to achieve the goal before us. That opportunity is the carrot at the end of the stick, right? Even more than that, the internal drive to gather our own resources and find the “extra kick” when things get difficult is the greatest opportunity of performance settings because it is the best time to learn about ourselves. Whether it is a trophy, a championship,...
Monday, April 2 2012
It is Masters Week – An Example of True Excellence
The first week of April is what golfers live for - The Masters. The first week of April is what baseball fans live for - opening day for the baseball season. This time of year, great things are blooming and showcasing their beauty for the summer season ahead. What a great week!
[caption id="attachment_313" align="aligncenter" width="500" caption="Augusta National's Amen Corner"][/caption]
I had the pleasure of attending the Masters several years ago and it truly lived up to everything I had ever heard about it. I walked in with such anticipation, much like a 6 year old child walking down Main Street...
Tuesday, March 20 2012
Spring Break Training Tips
Spring Break is finally here! Does that mean that you get a pass on improving yourself? NO Way!!!
Take this week to get a leg up on your competitors. While they’re being lazy, you’re being productive. Try mixing it up with some cross training. If you’re at the beach this week, wake up and go for a beach run. It’s a great way to work on those calf muscles and do some quality people watching. Play some tennis. If the water is safe, take an ocean swim. If not, go for a swim in the pool or better yet play beach...
Tuesday, February 28 2012
Shanking Your Way to Success – a New Recipe for Championships?
There are a few words in sports that have tremendous negative connotations - shank, choke, air-ball, fumble, and error. Of course, there are more, but the media and players throw these words around with such great frequency that it is amazing that players do not walk around scared to death of negative consequences. Or do they?
On Sunday, during the WGC Accenture Match Play Championship in Arizona, Hunter Mahan was in the semifinal match with Mark Wilson when the rare happened on the PGA Tour. On the 4th hole, Mahan hit a shot that terrifies and destroys golfers - a shank....
Wednesday, February 22 2012
The Power of Finishing Strong
[caption id="attachment_279" align="aligncenter" width="276" caption="One of the Best Closers in the Game - San Francisco Giants Brian Wilson"][/caption]
In the past week, I have received numerous requests to help players finish their rounds, games, or matches. It seems that they are playing great for the first 75% of their performance, but as the end approaches, their level of performance suffers. It is an interesting question because it makes me come back to my roots in baseball, but it really applies to every sport or performance situation.
In baseball, the hardest three outs of the game are the final three. That is...
