THE EDGE IS IN THE MIND

    The better you think you are doing, the greater should be your cause of concern; the more self-satisfied you are with your accomplishments, your past achievements, your “right moves,” the less you should be.

    The champion’s true edge exists solely in the mind, and over the years I have observed three attitudinal characteristics which are common to every superstar I have ever known. They are just as applicable in business as they are in the athletic arena. I have, in fact, adapted them to my own business career and they are the source from which I derive most of my drive and determination.

    The first is the champions’ profound sense of dissatisfaction with their own accomplishments. They use any success, any victory, as a spur to greater ambition. Any goal that is attained immediately becomes the next step toward a greater more “unreachable” one.

    The second is an ability to peak their performances, to get themselves up for major tournaments and events. No one can operate consistently at his or her highest level, yet the legends of any sports era always seem to perform at their best when the stakes are the greatest. This is particularly true in tennis and golf, perhaps the most mentally demanding of all the major sports, and why the major tournaments in both have always been dominated by a handful of players.

    Finally it is their ability to put their opponents away. This is referred to as “the killer instinct,” but that tells you more about the result than of what is going on mentally.

    In the champion’s mind he is never ahead. He distorts reality to serve his competitive purpose. He is always coming from behind, even when the score indicates he is destroying his opponents. He never believes he is performing as well as he actually is.

Taken from: Mark McCormack

What they Don’t Teach You at Harvard Business School

The Best Potential of ME is WE!

·        Prejudice is a great time saver, it enables one to form opinions without bothering to get the facts.

·        Society is like the turtle, the only way it can get ahead is to stick its neck out.

·        Nineteen of Twenty-one notable civilizations have died from within and not by conquest from without.

·        The world must learn to work together, or finally it will not work at all. (Eisenhower)

·        When a man is wrapped up in himself the package is usually pretty small.

·        It is the law of human life, as certain as gravity: To live fully, we must learn to use things and love people—not love things and use people.

·        Now this is the Law of the Jungle—as old and as true as the sky;                                 And if the Wolf that shall keep it may prosper,                                                                     but the Wolf that shall break it must die.      For the strength of the Pack is the Wolf,     and the strength of the Wolf is the Pack. (Kipling)

·        If you trust, you will be disappointed occasionally, but if you mistrust, you will be miserable all the time.

·        People can be divided into three groups: Those who make things happen,             Those who watch things happen,                And those who wonder what happened.

·        Times such as ours have always bred defeatism. But there remains, nonetheless, some few among us who believe man has within him the capacity to meet and overcome even the greatest challenges of the time. If we want to avoid defeat, we must wish to know the truth and be courageous enough to act upon it, If we get to know the truth and have the courage, we need not despair. (Einstein)