Category Archives: Sports

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“Good Job” Isn’t Good Enough: What It Means to Praise the Process

Praise can have damaging effects. To a coworker, “Wow, you learned that new software fast. You’re a genius.” To your boss, “Great sales pitch, you’re a natural at working the room.” To your daughter, “Way to go Casey. You’re so smart you got an A on that math test.”  To your wife, “You look beautiful in that dress, all done up.” What is wrong with praise like this?
 
The research of Dr. Carol Dweck, author of Mindsets: The New Psychology of Success, finds that praise centered on a person or his/her ability may actually sabotage performance.
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3 Tactics to Corral Nervousness and ACE Your Next Performance

If you are trying to be great at something, pursue excellence and fulfill your potential, chances are you’ve experienced the feeling of being nervous. Leading up to your big sales pitch, before briefing the board on last quarter’s numbers, before the first game of the season, preparing to give that speech – many of us have been there. The interesting thing about nervousness is that we only experience it when we want to be awesome.
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4 Powerful Lessons About Pursuing Our Potential from America’s Olympians

Over the past two weeks, I have enjoyed the athletic displays of excellence that characterize the Olympics. Sochi 2014 has been no exception. Truly there were so many great moments, performances, once-in-a-lifetime experiences and terrific stories. Among the American delegation, the stories of four athletes caught my attention because they teach us about pursuing our own potential.
 
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Retrain Your Resistance: 3 Steps to More Productive Thinking

Listen. Do you hear that? Do you hear that voice inside your head holding you back, telling you why you will fail and why you don’t have what it takes? Steven Pressfield calls this Resistance. You aren’t in this alone. As it turns out, we all hear voices. Most of the time our inner thoughts simmer in and out of our awareness throughout the day like a spotty radio station.
 
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Mental Rehearsal: From Saving Lives to Winning at Work

While on vacation in Alaska, my wife Laura and I stopped off for a hike at Russian River Falls, a great place to see salmon running upriver. Perfect! At the trail-head, there was a sign warning of wildlife and reminding each passerby of the proper responses – something we had seen nearly everyday during our vacation.  A couple of miles into the hike, we came around a blind curve in the trail. Suddenly, silently, I felt Laura grab my right arm, as she directed my attention down the trail ahead of us. There, 40 yards away, around a slight bend in the trail, were one immense brown bear and two large cubs.