What do you want to be when you grow up? Want to be different than your classmates, teammates, brother or sister, and even your friends! We are to accustomed to conforming to those around us. By practicing daily habits, training your mind, body, and spirit to be different, your actions will become reality!
Dare to Be Different
Dream Big. Believe Big. Become Big
Run the race you want to run! If you give 100%, 100% of the time, big things will happen. One percent better each and every day by believing big, being deliberate, and being intentional about the work required. Demand yourself to believe big, and allow your mind to dream big beyond your wildest dreams! Become big.
Believe in Me
I can. I will. I am strong. I am confident
"If you don't believe in yourself, why should anyone else believe in you?"
Trust In God
“I just trusted in the Lord. I looked up and said, Jesus, whatever your will is for my life I trust it 100 percent.” - Riley Leonard, Notre Dame Quarterback
Serenity Prayer
Dear God, Please take this moment in my life and use me to give you glory and praise. Take my passion for this sport, may it light up with your love. Take the hours of training and my commitment to excellence. Please use it to bring joy and inspiration to others. Take my desire to be the best in sport I can be. May you speak your truth and hope through me. In Jesus name, Amen.
Prayer For Athletes
A Leaders Prayer
Prayer in sports can help athletes feel supported, motivated, and connected to something greater than themselves, through God. It can also help athletes develop a sense of purpose and unity, and can take the focus away from wins and losses.
As you become more connected to God, athletes can find strength and feel empowered. Some athletes believe prayer can ensure they feel strength, courage, and wisdom to perform their best. There are many challenges athletes face throughout sports, and being connected to a higher power helps athletes feel supported and gives direction through the ups and downs.
Why Prayer?
A Victorious Life
Many athletes associate victory with success; not falling and making mistakes. As an athlete, you often times feel the only time for Jesus is through problems and failure, weakness and neediness. It is during those times many learn they need to rely on God and trust in his plan.
True dependence and understanding is coming to Jesus with an open mind and heart, allowing him to guide his desires within you. He will infuse you with dreams beyond your reach. Trusting in God is knowing that you yourself without his support cannot get you to your goal.
This is a faith walk. Lean on Jesus as much as you need. Each failure is followed by a growth spurt. You will then enjoy the blended version of victory in life through a deepening dependence on Jesus himself.
"But those who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint" Isaiah 40:31
#godisgreat
#trustingod
God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.
Leadership is hard to define. Lord, let us be the ones to define it with justice. Leadership is like a handful of water. Lord, let us be the people to share it with those who thirst.
Leadership is not about watching and correcting. Lord, Let us remember it is about listening and connecting. Leadership is not about telling people what to do.
Lord, let us find out what people want. Leadership is less about the love of power, and more about the power of love.
Lord, as we continue to undertake the role of leader let us be affirmed by the servant leadership we witness in your son Jesus. Let us walk in the path He has set and let those who will, follow.
Let our greatest passion be compassion.
Our greatest strength love.
Our greatest victory the reward of peace.
In leading let us never fail to follow. In loving let us never fail.
Control the Controllables
The mind is a magnet – Be intentional with your thoughts. Your coach can't put pressure on you. He doesn’t have that power. You’re the only one that can put pressure on yourself. If you put focus on failure, what do you think is going to follow? Let it go. Let it all go. And just play. You can control your attitude and how you deal with it.
It’s about being intentionally confident, intentionally positive, intentionally grateful, intentional self‐talk, and over time it will become subconscious – Brain chemistry will actually change. The mind is powerful. You literally love something more, when you remind yourself how much you love it each day. Same applies to getting better, same thing with skill development, same thing with confidence…it is literally ALL MENTAL.
Life presents so many challenges out of our personal control. Actions of others, how the world wants you to feel, how to talk to others. What you can control, is your own actions, reactions, and feelings. We want you to own the controllables! #controlthecontrollables
When you play with tension and let the actions of others control the way you think, the game will speed up. Anxiety and pressure creates an unhealthy reaction to the game. When an athlete plays with calmness, toughness, and focus, the game slows down.
Never forget, you are the only one who has control over your mind.
Challenges Outside Our Control
The Mind is a Magnet
“Playing sports teaches you mental discipline. You have to be able to control your emotions and stay focused under pressure."
Playing Free: A Confident Swagger
“Are you excited to play or are you afraid you’re going to fail? There’s a difference. Play free. It’s all mental.”
Athletes need to be so confident in our abilities that when we do make a mistake, have a tough day, fall into a slump, we trust that it’s temporary. How quickly can you have 'mental recovery'? We know without a doubt that we will work through it and come out better because of that adversity.
Playing free with a confident swagger is not caring who is watching because you know you’re giving your best but that doesn’t always mean you’re going to be your best. Your level of focus, purpose and intent will allow you to keep getting better.
Playing free means you don’t panic or lose yourself when things become uncomfortable and don’t go your way. You stay the course and keep moving forward with the situation at hand. Whether you strike out, turn the basketball over, miss a dig, how quickly you can recover will determine how successful you are!
Playing free is playing with a level of confidence that no one can beat you. In reality, you know in the back of your mind that doesn’t always happen. But the confidence allows you to get back up with the same level of belief. Are you playing with a sense of cat woman out on the floor? Batman? Or are you Eeyore?
Playing free is knowing yourself, your body, your mechanics so well that when somethings off, you feel it instantly and know how to fix it. You’re careful to not over think and be too analytical though.
Playing free is what we want athletes to play like. We want you to trust themselves, be aggressive and play like no one can beat YOU. For this to happen they need to know we believe in them and that we want them to play like they are unbeatable!
Mental Recovery
Playing With Confidence
Until YOU give 100 percent, for 100 percent of the time, you will never know how big of a mountain you can climb.
How do YOU define success? How does it sound out loud? How does it feel? How does it taste?
A successful you= meeting your own personal goals set forth by YOU, and having the drive and self belief from within your soul to achieve.
Go 100%, 100% of the Time
“I've got this theory, if you give 100% all of the time, somehow things will work out in the end.” - Larry Bird
Giving 100% effort means putting in all of your energy, focus, and resources towards achieving your goal. It means not holding anything back, and doing everything within your power to make your goal a reality. This level of effort requires discipline, commitment, and a willingness to go above and beyond what is expected.
What does 100% Mean?
There are several reasons why giving 100% effort is critical for achieving your goals:
100% attitude and effort increases the likelihood of success: When you give 100% effort, you are maximizing your chances of success. By doing everything in your power to achieve your goal, you are eliminating any potential obstacles or barriers that may prevent you from achieving success.
100% attitude and effort builds Character: Giving 100% effort requires discipline, commitment, and perseverance. These qualities are critical for personal and professional growth, and will help you to become a better, more resilient person.
100% attitude and effort helps you to learn and grow: When you give 100% effort, you are constantly pushing yourself to be better. This means that you are learning and growing as a person, which will help you to achieve even greater success in the future.
100% attitude and effort sets an example: When you give 100% effort, you set an example for others to follow. Your commitment and dedication to your goal will inspire others to do the same, and will create a culture of excellence and achievement.
Giving 100% effort is not always easy, but it is always worth it in the end and everything usually works out for the better. Here are a few tips to help you give your best effort towards your goals:
Set Realistic Goals: Setting realistic goals will help you to avoid feeling overwhelmed or discouraged. When you set achievable but high impact goals, you will be likely to give 100% effort towards achieving them.
Create a Plan: Creating a plan for achieving your goals will help you to stay organized and focused. Break your goal down into smaller, manageable steps, and create a timeline for completing each step to hold yourself accountable.
Stay Focused: Stay focused on your goals. Remind yourself why you started, and keep pushing forward.
Practice Self-Discipline: Giving 100% effort requires self-discipline. Stay committed to your goal, even when it is difficult or uncomfortable.
Seek Support: Surround yourself with people who will support and encourage you. Whether it be a teammate, coach, parent or guardian, sister or brother, having a support system will help you to stay motivated and focused on your goal.
Why is 100% Effort Important?
How Can I Give 100%?
100% Effort = Success
"Has anyone asked you to be perfect? Nobody is. Sports are hard. If anyone could do it, everyone would play."
No one person that cares for their athlete, whether it be a parent, coach, or friend should put unrealistic expectations on you guys. If you make a mistake, learn from it. Move on and get the next one. Who are we playing against. That’s right, ourselves. You know what to do. We all believe in you. Play for your teammates. Play free and have fun!”
One of the biggest reasons talented players never reach their full potential is because they are not equipped for failure. The crumble mentally when things get tough. Their mind goes to a place of doubt, fear and uncertainty causing them to lose mental clarity for the moment.
Making Mistakes
It takes a village of parents, coaches, and trainers to prepare for failure. Embrace those individuals. It is just as important spending time talking about the game of failure, making mistakes, and mental recovery, just as it is learning to hit, shoot, swing, and train the body. Be prepared for these moments BEFORE THEY HAPPEN.
Find time to talk about this vital topic when the mind is clear, the heart rate is slow and their breathing is calm. Prepare to be a competitor by being some of the best at handling failure – You don’t have to like failure but you have to embrace and learn from it.
Embrace the Village
The Game Of Failure
