Home > Work > How Champions Think: In Sports and in Life
1 " Exceptional people are resilient. Resilient people react to failure by finding something they can cling to, some hope for the future. "
― , How Champions Think: In Sports and in Life
2 " We’ve since learned to the contrary that stress can help people grow, just as stressing a muscle by lifting weights helps it get stronger. I think exceptional people have always intuitively understood this. They’ve understood that they need tough competition to become the best players they can be. "
3 " The exceptional person sees it as a chance to demonstrate, if only to himself, the power of his will. He takes pride in doing things average people will not do. And pride is one of the rewards that reinforces a good habit. "
4 " Perseverance is an essential component of any exceptional person’s talent. And anyone can persevere if he wants to badly enough. "
5 " If someone in that category asks me whether he should keep going, I don’t have an answer. I have questions. The most basic is, “Are you sure you’ve honored your commitment?” By that, I mean to ask whether the client has done what he set out to do, which is to make the strongest possible effort to become as good as he can be by creating and fulfilling performance and preparation processes. "
6 " Performance process goals involve things like staying in the present moment, accepting whatever happens as it happens, underreacting to everything, being unflappable, and totally trusting in your skills during competition. "
7 " We prepared properly and performed well, and it just didn’t go right,” then there’s nothing to regret. You just have to be determined to get ’em the next time. "
8 " They have confirmed my belief that the ideas people choose to have about themselves largely determine the quality of the lives they lead. We can choose to believe in ourselves, and thus to strive, to risk, to persevere, and to achieve. "
9 " Devise an improvement plan and commit yourself to it. Persevere. "
10 " When they encounter a tough problem or a tough course, they plug away at it. They persevere. Their confidence makes a major contribution to their success. "
11 " This confidence may come from their parents. When they encounter a tough problem or a tough course, they plug away at it. They persevere. Their confidence makes a major contribution to their success. "
12 " We can choose to believe in ourselves, and thus to strive, to risk, to persevere, and to achieve. Or we can choose to cling to security and mediocrity. We can choose to set no limits on ourselves, to set high goals and dream big dreams. We can use those dreams to fuel our spirits with passion. "
13 " People who are trying to be the best get used to tough evaluations. They get used to high standards. Sometimes the evaluations come from coaches like Cal. More often they come from within. But it’s important that the evaluations come at the right time and are directed at the right stuff. "
14 " A golfer needs a good swing coach and a spouse, family, and friends who believe in him and encourage him. "
15 " No one gets to the top alone. A golfer needs a good swing coach and a spouse, family, and friends who believe in him and encourage him. "
16 " The cadets wake up each morning and check on the way each group member is feeling. They fire up the ones who are tired or discouraged. They give their units and themselves nicknames as a way of creating unit cohesion. To the outside world, a cadet might be Joe Smith. But within the unit, he’s Badger, and Badger is a tough kid who takes whatever the army can dish out and never quits. "
17 " A coach needs to work with a player to correct flaws. He needs to give the player honest feedback. Sometimes, that means telling the player that his swing isn’t good enough or his work habits aren’t good enough. But he has to know how to do it constructively. "
18 " The girl who questioned me could find examples of women from small cities like Rutland who have risen from modest circumstances to fulfill their dreams. Or she could persuade herself that she’d be the pioneer, that she’d be the first Rutland kid to achieve some wonderful dream and that she’d be a role model for others. "
19 " He respected his own talent, and he set about working very hard to develop it. He had dreams, and he wanted to see how good he could get. "
20 " If a player needs someone to whom he can vent his doubts, complaints, and fears, that’s what sports psychologists are for. "
