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Attitude is Everything

Attitude.

We've all heard about it since we were young. We've heard it from parents, family, friends, teachers, and/or coaches who preached the importance of attitude.

Sometimes it takes a certain individual to have an impact in ways others cannot. Likely you have had someone in your life tell you the same thing you've heard countless times before, but for some reason it sticks. It sinks in. These people capture our respect. We feel they are deserving of our attention and we finally listen.

When it came to the importance of attitude, my Uncle Gene was just one person who made a big impact on my views. My uncle served in WWII and when he talked attitude, I listened.

Why?

It had everything to do with that fact that he embodied the message of "Attitude".

During his time serving in WWII, he was on a test flight near Foggia, Italy when a parachute flare bomb failed to release from his B-25. The bomb was hung near the rear hook on the shackle. With the safety wire pulled, the vane was able to spin freely. Realizing the danger of the situation, he climbed down into the bomb bay and, supporting himself with his elbows, he freed the bomb with his feet. For his actions he was awarded the Soldier's Medal for heroism. I have this medal in my bedroom to this day.

Now while his actions were awarded, it was his attitude in that moment that was the clear defining factor.

He was no more physically capable than any others aboard that plane. As a member of the Air Force, these men all had to be in top physical condition to serve our country. It wasn't that he was any bigger or stronger than the next guy. Simply put, in that moment he displayed resourcefulness and selfless courage to step into that situation. His attitude dictated his actions. Because of his attitude and actions, he received recognition for what he accomplished.

In a world where accomplishments matter, attitude matters most.

So what are some key characteristics of the attitudes or mindsets which promote success, be it in sport or in life?

JoAnn Dahlkoetter, Ph.D., author of Your Performing Edge and an internationally recognized sports psychologist, has identified characteristics that make a champion athlete that are able to be developed by anyone who wants to excel in sport:

  • Enthusiasm and Desire – Top athletes have a hunger, a fire inside which fuels their passion to achieve an important goal, regardless of their level of talent or ability.
  • Courage to Succeed - It takes courage to sacrifice, to work out when you’re tired, to seek out tough competition, to stick to your program, to test your limits, and to overcome obstacles.
  • Internal motivation and self-direction – Direction and drive need to come from within. The goals must be ones that you have chosen because that’s exactly what you want to be doing.
  • Commitment to Excellence – Elite athletes know that to excel at their sport, they must decide to make it a priority in their life. They make an honest effort each day to be the best at what they do. At some point you must say, I want to be really good at this; I want this to work.
  • Discipline, Consistency, Organization – Elite athletes love what they do and it is easier for them to maintain consistency in training and in competing. Regardless of personal problems, fatigue, or difficult circumstances, they can generate the optimal amount of excitement and energy to do their best.
  • Being focused and yet relaxed – Champions have the ability to maintain concentration for long periods of time. They can easily let go of distractions and take control of their attention. They don’t let emotions get the best of them and cause poor performance.
  • Ability to handle adversity – Top athletes know how to deal with difficult situations. Adversity builds character, but adversity also reveals character. When elite athletes know the odds are against them they embrace the chance to explore the outer limits of their potential. Rather than avoiding pressure, they feel challenged by it. They are calm and relaxed under fire. Setbacks become an opportunity for learning.
Many of the points simply brings the message back to attitude and the attitude one activity decides to embrace. Attitude is everything and I feel that Charles Swindoll puts this into perspective very nicely:
The longer I live, the more I realize the impact of attitude on life. Attitude, to me, is more important than facts. It is more important than the past, than education, than money, than circumstances, than failures, than successes, than what other people think or say or do. It is more important than appearance, giftedness, or skill. It will make or break a company, a church, a home. The remarkable thing is we have a choice every day regarding the attitudes we will embrace for that day. We cannot change our past...we cannot change the fact that people will act in a certain way. We cannot change the inevitable. The only thing we can do is play on the one string we have, and that is our attitude. I am convinced that life is 10% what happens to me and 90% how I react to it. And so it is with you...we are in charge of our Attitudes.
 
More related reading:

https://gallagherperformance.com/sports-training-and-life-after/

The Greatest Lesson of Competition

 

"I have failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed."
- Michael Jordan

Sport and competition have a way of teaching lessons that are not only valuable in athletics, but often times crossover into life as well. Those that compete do so with simple objectives: to improve and to succeed. Who doesn’t love trophies, awards, and acknowledgements? The pursuit and achievement of a goal is a tremendous feeling. However, while success has its perks, there is something truly special that can come from failure.

But there is an interesting dynamic that is occurring nowadays when it comes to failure. Somewhere along the way, failure developed negative connotations. Many seem to want to shelter themselves or their children from failure, as if failure should be avoid. Failure cannot be associated with one’s name, right?

One can only speculate as to where this mindset has grown from, but it is pervasive in our culture. I came across an interesting discussion on this very topic while listening to the Dan Patrick Radio Show last week. The discussion centered on Kobe Bryant setting the NBA record for most missed field goals and the notion that somehow this record is a blemish on his career. You could see the point, I mean who wants a record like that? However, as Dan Patrick pointed out, you have to be a pretty great player to miss that many shots. To make his point, he went on to list the names of quarterbacks who have thrown the most interceptions in NFL history. The list included some of the greatest quarterbacks of all-time, including names like Farve, Tarkenton, Elway, Manning, Unitas, Namath, and Bradshaw. Despite the amount of interceptions, these are championship caliber players, many of them current or future Hall of Famers.

The message was clear, even the great athletes endure their fair share of failure.

But what makes them so great despite how often they seemed to ‘fail’? What allows them to rebound from failure, daring to take the same risks?

There are some that respond to failure by going into a shell. They can’t cope with failure and allow it to get the best of them, while others embrace failure. They understand why they failed; they accept responsibility, take action and work toward improving. They don’t cower in the face of failure; rather they use it as a driving force to fuel improvement. They learn from their mistakes and work on their weaknesses. They continually take risks, not afraid of failure.

Arnold Schwarzenegger has a terrific speech on the “6 Rules of Success”. In this speech, he identifies his third rule as “Don’t be Afraid to Fail”. Here are his words:
“Anything I’ve attempted in life, I was always willing to fail. You can’t always win, but don’t be afraid of making decisions. You can’t be paralyzed by fear of failure or you will never push yourself. You keep pushing because you believe in yourself and in your vision and you know it is the right thing to do and success will come. So don’t be afraid to fail.”
This is well stated and everybody could benefit from reading these words. Like many who have participated in competition, I learned this lesson over and over again. However, nothing more clearly demonstrated the concept of pushing yourself and not being afraid of failure than when I was playing college hockey. My sophomore year at Ohio University, we were the hosts of the ACHA DI National Championship Tournament. Playing in front of our home crowd, our fans, we lost the National Championship game to Penn State 5-0. Penn State dominated us in every aspect of the game. It was the most disappointing sporting failure I had every experienced.

However, something came from the failure that was unlike anything else we had experienced before as a team and as individuals. By the time my junior year rolled around, the group of guys who returned had a drive and a determination to get back what we failed to accomplish the previous year. There was a hunger and a desire born that could only come from that type of failure. We acknowledged our weaknesses and short comings, determined to make them strengths. This mindset fueled our work ethic all the way from training camp through the regular season and into tournament play as we went unbeaten in our final 24 games, setting the stage for a rematch against Penn State in the National Championship game. Again, we fell behind early in that game. We could have cowered, fearful we would experience another lose to arguably a more talented Penn State team. But, that was not the case. Despite the early deficit, we battled back to win 5-4. That moment was the greatest sporting memory I have. Nothing felt better than realizing you were National Champions, thanks in large part to the taste of failure and the lessons learned from defeat.

That became a powerful illustration of what one can accomplish from failure. To me, this is why the greatest lesson one can earn from competing is experiencing failure and defeat. Failure not only builds character, it reveals character. Failure develops a quality of mental toughness and resilience that success will not. I forces you to be honest with yourself about your efforts and about the many areas in need of improvement. I feel these traits are tremendously valuable in sport and life. As a coach of young athletes, you realize that developing these qualities is a valuable part of the coaching process. We want our athletes and clients to embrace failure when it occurs. We want to educate them on why they may have fallen short of their goal, involve them in the corrective process, and allow this to bring about the drive needed to pursue and accomplish their goals.

There is nothing better than seeing one who takes ownership of their outcomes, who isn’t afraid to take risks or fail, and endures despite previous defeat.

More related reading:

https://gallagherperformance.com/sports-training-and-life-after/

https://gallagherperformance.com/why-we-arent-popular/