Take a moment and ask yourself this question today: Do you set your own standards and live up to them? The values you have for your life are a tremendous source of strength and energy for you. If you don’t have them, create empowering values that you will not compromise for temporary gain. Make it a great day.

“Man is most nearly himself when he achieves the seriousness of a child at play.”
-Heraclitus

What excites you? What do you most enjoy? What are you really good at? If you aren’t sure of the answers, ask your friends. They know you and will be happy to tell you. The answers are your starting place for determining your dream. Remember this is the dream part. There is nothing holding you back. Play.

“To do BIG, You’ve got to think BIG.”
-Mo Lawal aka”King Mo” US Wrestling Champion.

Dreams are not goals. Dreams can be anything you want them to be, free of obligations and limitations. I can’t stress the importance of creating a dream for yourself enough.
Why not think of one right now? What would you be if you could do ANYTHING? Don’t worry about why you can’t be that thing, just go for it. Listen, a dream is not a goal. Goals are the stepping stones, the planned path, the blueprint. We’ll get to those soon. But for now, let your mind be free. Imagine the possibility of being whoever or whatever you want. Make it fun. Make it limitless.

To be the best at what you do you must practice consistently. I learned this from Richard Deschatelets, my college wrestling coach. One other thing I learned from him is that it’s not practice that makes perfect- perfect practice makes perfect. A bad tennis swing practiced regularly produces a bad tennis swing. A perfect tennis swing practiced regularly gets you closer to victory. Disregarding perfect practice sets you up to lose to the competition leading to setbacks, lack of results, frustration, and a sense of complacency. Practice the correct skills on a consistent basis and I guarantee you three energy infusing and belief altering benefits:
1. Improvement. You’ll get better. It’s impossible not to because you’ll be working on your mistakes and making things better. This creates forward progress and forward progress creates momentum.

2. Conviction. That you deserve to win. Hey, you are putting in time and energy, as well as making sacrifices to get what you want. You are telling God and the universe that you really want this thing and you are willing to do what it takes, so give it to me. This will allow you to execute with greater conviction and produce results when called on.

3. Confidence. Champions have a certain thing about them, a sort of swagger. They have practiced and paid the price to be where they are. When you commit to consistent perfect practice, you will begin to win more. Your confidence will increase. The more success you have the more memory of success you create. This creates momentum and you continue to win even more… Do you want to win more, then get at it….

Never forget what made you successful in the past, because those same traits are going to be integral in making you successful in the future. In my own drive to achieve my goals, I sometimes got so focused in wanting to be successful that I forget to do the things that led to the success. I learned this lesson very well in my wrestling career. In my sport I understood that the things I did leading up to a match dictated to a large degree how ready and focused I was for the match… things like the warmup, what I ate before the tournament, what I did between matches, what I did right after a match, the intensity of the conversations I was having, and who I was having those conversations with. I had rituals that led to a peak performance!

What are your rituals that activate your peak performance? One thing I realized is that when I journal daily, exercise, eat well, do yoga, meditate, write down the 6 things that I must get done for the day, I find that I am ready to go. I suddenly feel like I am on automatic towards accomplishing my vision.

Take some time to figure out the things that allow you to perform at a peak level. I suggest start with journaling. Why that will be our topic for the next entry… Till then journal away…

Commitment: Be Willing to Pay the Price
Natural talent only determines the limits of your athletic potential. It’s dedication and a willingness to discipline your life that makes you great.“ Billie Jean King
Woulda, Coulda, Shoulda… I remember some tremendously talented athletes in my highschool. I also remember some talented athletes who everyone said were going to go all the way, become National champions, World Champions and Olympic champions. The reality is that the ones who really went on to succeed were not the most talented. They were really the ones who put in the time and kept working when things weren’t going so well. They were those who went the extra mile and then some. They went through the disappointments, the rejections and the adversity. It may have taken them double or triple the time to understand a concept or develop a skill but when they got it, they got it. These individuals made up for what they didn’t have in talent through hard work. From my experience, it’s worth it. Dream big, put in the time, do the work and then write me a letter with your success story.