In his great book, Above the Line, Coach Urban Meyer describes an equation he shared with the 2014 Ohio State football team. E + R = O.  Event + Response = Outcome. He had this equation place on bracelets and made for every member of the team prior to the 2014 football season. This served as a reminder for them to choose their own response and not let outside factors influence their goals for the season. With a 3^rd string quarterback they went on to win the first ever college football playoff. Do not let the opinions of others, bad calls, weather, or any other excuse you could come up with determine your result. Choose to respond appropriately and directly influence your outcome.

SELF-CONFIDENCE: TRUST IN YOUR PREPARATION

The word confidence comes from the Latin term confidere, which means an intense or deep trust. Trust comes from knowing that you are fully equipped and have taken the steps necessary to prepare for the challenge ahead. Champions have the ability to push themselves beyond what a normal person would deem necessary in pursuit of what they want. They aren’t willing to accept average and will do everything in their power to make sure they achieve their vision for themselves. Because of this they can step on to the field or court confident, knowing that they have fully prepared.

In his book Wooden, legendary coach John Wooden described how to prepare and have masterpiece days. “When I was teaching basketball, I urged my players to try their hardest to improve on that very day, to make that practice a masterpiece. Too often we get distracted by what is outside our control. You can’t do anything about yesterday. The door to the past has been shut and the key thrown away. You can do nothing about tomorrow. It is yet to come. However, tomorrow is in large part determined by what you do today. So make today a masterpiece. You have control over that. This rule is even more important in life than basketball. You have to apply yourself each day to become a little better. By applying yourself to the task of becoming a little better each and every day over a period of time, you will become a lot better. Only then will you will be able to approach being the best you can be. It begins by trying to make each day count and knowing you can never make up for a lost day.” Work on your masterpiece every day and you will be prepared for anything life throws at you.

+: POSITIVE SELF-TALK

Do not become a critic of yourself. You will have enough detractors (haters) along your path to success, you must not fall victim to your own self-doubt. All athletes will have doubts about what they are doing and even the greatest in the world fail more times than they succeed. Use failure as feedback and avoid the red assassin on your shoulder who tells you, “you can’t”, or “you should quit.” Michael Jordan who (in my opinion) is the greatest basketball player of all-time said, “I've missed more than 9000 shots in my career. I've lost almost 300 games. 26 times, I've been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed. I've failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed.” Thomas Edison failed over a thousand times while trying to invent the light bulb.  When asked about the ‘failure” Edison replied, "I didn’t fail 1,000 times. The light bulb was an invention with 1,000 steps."

Jon Gordon’s book, The Positive Dog, was summarized by him in a few short sentences. “We all have two dogs inside of us. One dog is positive, happy, optimistic, and hopeful. The other dog is negative, mad, sad, pessimistic, and fearful. These two dogs often fight inside us, but guess who wins the fight? The one you feed the most.” Find a way to feed the positive dog!

Use mental preparation to enhance the physical groundwork you have already laid through your training, practice, and studies. Download the PLUS+ PDF to keep as a reminder as you start plussing your own experiences.