North Star Mental Fitness Blog

Soriano and the Slumping Cubs

The Chicago Cubs have become synonymous with "slumping", "choking", and "pressing".  All terms used to describe mental thought processes that create a loser's mindset, loss of momentum and underachievement.

Carrie Muskat /  MLB.com wrote a very relevant post entitled "Slumping Soriano aims to clear his mind".  In this article Carrie interviewed Soriano, who concluded "Sometimes, you can think too much. Alfonso Soriano says that may be what's happening to him lately."

For many people who are "stuck" and have lost their momentum in life, they sometimes think too much.  Usually, however, the problem is not that they are thinking too much.

The problem is that they are thinking "wrong thoughts".  As is the case with Soriano, there is a realistic basis to some of his "wrong thinking".  Thinking is "wrong" when it programs our minds for failure and underachievement.

Let us look at Soriano's hitting this year.  In fact, we can look at most of the Cubs hitters such as M. Bradley, M. Fontenot, K. Fukudome, G. Soto, A. Miles, R. Johnson, A. Blanco, A. Ramirez and K. Hill.  All of these hitters are slumping and have been slumping almost the entire season so far.

According to Soriano, he has never struggled for this long.  In June his batting average was below 200.  Obviously this is not acceptable to him or any major league hitter.  Soriano told Carrie he needs to "clean" his mind.  He is so right!

Soriano admitted that "I worry".  Again a realistic response to hitting below 200 for entire month, but the "wrong" way to think if you want to be successful major league hitter.

Soriano expressed his dilemma.  He believes physically he is playing his game as well as he has in the past. 

Soriano stated "his swing looks the same now as it did last year and two years ago. He isn't changing his bat, or switching routines, or trying to find the right pregame egg salad sandwich. One good thing is that Soriano is healthy physically."

What has gone wrong?  It's how he has been thinking about his abysmal performance!

Two mistakes are evident in his thinking.

1. He has been thinking to avoid being hurt rather than maximizing his functioning. "I've been working hard to not get hurt get hurt this year."  Playing to not get hurt will result in under achievement.
2. Soriano is allowing his "poor hitting performance" to control his mind rather than allowing his "good hitting thinking" to determine his performance. Soriano said. "I'm not hurt physically, but I'm hurt mentally because I'm not hitting well."

From a mental fitness perspective we cannot allow our performance and especially our past blunders in performance to determine how we think about ourselves.  As the case with the Chicago Cubs, their failure to hit results in self-doubt, worry, anxiety, pressing, or choking.  Filling their minds with these thoughts certainly will kill momentum and guarantee under performance.

If you want to break a "slump" or stop "pressing", change how you think!  Don't allow your under performance to determine how you think.  No matter how bad your performance has been, detach your thinking from your poor performances.  Focus your thinking on your identity as a successful person and focus on playing within your ability.

Remember, Professional Baseball Hitters Live within the Environment Created by Their Thinking about Their Hitting.

Remember, We Live within the Environment Created by Our Choices!

 

Dr. Hal

 

Life and Mental Fitness Coach

Successful Teenagers

Michael Jordan was motivated to elevate his performance continually to higher levels.  I want to tell you about three teenagers, who also have had high aspirations and recently achieved great successes.  All three teenagers showed remarkable ability to focus and achieve their goals.

When Chalonda Goodman was six years old, she was enthralled with Michael Johnson's successes in the World Olympics.  She also was mesmerized by the athletes in the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta, Georgia. 

She told her father "I want to do that". 

Stuart Kantor wrote "A passion ensued, fueled by an innate desire to run faster than any girl lined up next to her". As a result of her ability to focus and work towards her dream, she graduated from high school with 8 state titles in track.

High school senior, Bryce Lamb, triple jumped farther than any high schooler in the nation.  He also set a state record in his home state. 

He began his track career at the age of five. "I quit the first practice," Lamb recalled. "It was too hard. I was walking to the car and I told my mom, 'I don't ever want to do this again.'  At the age of six, Bryce began training.

Bryce has set his goal to participate in the 2012 Olympics. "It's always been in my mind, and it's possible now," he said.

Stuart Kantor also wrote about a teenager, Bonnie Richardson, who lives in a small Texas town of less than 600 people.  Her school did not even have a track program.  Twice Bonnie has accomplished the unbelievable.  By herself, she has won two state team track championships in the state of Texas.

All of these teenagers show the importance of good mental fitness as expressed in their persistent motivation to excel in their athletic endeavors.  They courageously remained on target to reach their goals and avoided all distractions that would interfered with achieving their goals.  Undoubtedly, they overcame many obstacles in order to become successful.

We can learn a lot from these teenagers.  We can learn to set our dreams and courageously work toward achieving our dreams even when external circumstances are bleak, limiting and discouraging.

Remember, We Live within the Environment Created by Our Choices!

Dr. Hal

Life and Mental Fitness Coach

Burn the Boats

Queme los barcos," or "Burn the Boats, because defeat is not an option".

Hernando Cortes was a conquistador and explorer who sailed to the New World in attempt to find treasure.  Many great leaders had failed before Hernando came along.  Hernando trained his soldiers during the day and built their morale at night.

When the time came for fighting and accomplishing their goal, Hernando told his men to burn their boats.  He went on to emphasize that defeat and retreat were not options.  He reassured his men and challenged them to be victorious.  Following their victory he reasoned, they would sail back in the enemy's boats.

Recently the University of Michigan's basketball team surprised many by beating Minnesota on their home floor.  This victory was necessary in order to enter the big dance at the end of the season.  Coach Beilein challenged the team by talking about burning the boats, because defeat was not an option.

This quote was mentioned in an article by CJ Lee, senior guard, in an article entitled Court Vision with C.J. Lee: Live Life without Regrets. 

From a mental fitness perspective, C.J. Lee understands what it takes to be victorious.  It takes a total commitment to your goal and the belief that failure and defeat are not options. 

Remember, We Live within the Environment Created by Our Choices!

Dr. Hal

Life and Mental Fitness Coach

 

CURSE OR POOR MENTAL FITNESS

The Chicago Cubs again failed in their pursuit of becoming World Series champions.  Now it is over 100 years of falling short of their goal.  A lot has been written about the curse.

Is the underachieving Cub's failure to perform the result of a curse?  Or is their propensity for losing indicative of poor mental fitness?

I believe that the Cub's failure to achieve is because of poor mental fitness.  How else can you explain nine straight losses in post-season play?  The Chicago Cubs were the best team in the NL in terms of scoring runners in scoring position during the regular season.  How can you explain their failure to score more than two runs on average in six games over a two-year period?  How can you explain the extremely sloppy play from a team that was first in victories during the season?

Poor mental fitness is characterized by loss of momentum.  The Chicago Cubs lost momentum for winning prior to the beginning of the post-season play.  They rested their players and held tryouts for a reliever for post-season play.  There could be many other reasons why they lost their momentum.  For some momentum is created by winning and success. 

For champions momentum is the result of confidence derived by empowered thinking associated with mental fitness training and is not determined by winning and playing well.  Champions learn to maintain their momentum even when they play poorly and loose.

When players have poor mental fitness, momentum can be destroyed by playing poorly or losing.  Teams that have good mental fitness training, can maintain momentum even when they lose or play poorly.  The Chicago Cubs failed to show momentum in the playoffs following their wonderful season.

Poor mental fitness also results in problems with confidence.  False confidence and lack of confidence are symptomatic of players or teams with poor mental fitness.  The Chicago Cubs played with a lack of confidence, emotion and determination.

It is important to realize that momentum and confidence are not determined by our external accomplishments or determined by circumstances like the wind blows a kite.  No matter how bad our circumstances are and no matter how successful we've been in the past, it is important to live in the present.  We need to think about ourselves and our circumstances in a way that will generate momentum and confidence. 

Without momentum and confidence, playing poorly is to be expected.  For all of us, momentum and confidence are necessary for achieving success in the benefits of success in our lives.

Remember, We Live within the Environment Created by Our Circumstances!

Dr. Hal

Life and Mental Fitness Coach

How to Be a Star in Your Relationships

Magic Johnson was a basketball star by any one's standards.  He was a star on his high school and college teams, which were championship teams.  He was selected first in the 1979 NBA by the Los Angeles Lakers.  This was a very wise choice as Magic helped his team win a championship in his first year of professional basketball.  He won the MVP award for the finals that year.  Over his career he was the star on five NBA championship teams.  To read about more of his accomplishments, read the article on Magic from Wikipedia.

Magic valued his team members and team.  He realized that to win, he needed to bring out the best in his teammates.  Being the star, one would expect that he wanted his teammates to do what was ever necessary to make him a bigger star.

Wrong!  Magic did not expect or want his teammates to focus on bringing out Magic's talents and skills.  Instead Magic realized and believed that his goal was to help his teammates reach their potential and refine their skills.

Magic applied Pres. John F. Kennedy's famous lines from President Kennedy's January 20, 1961 Inaugural Address.

Magic's wisdom was expressed in these powerful words as written by Pat Riley's in his book, "The Winner Within".

"Ask not what your teammates can do for you.  Ask what you can do for your teammates."

Let's apply these words to our personal relationships.  After all, Pat Riley emphasized the importance of the family, when he wrote "the first and most important team in anyone's life is their family".

For husbands who want to be a star in their relationship, Ask not what your wife can do for you.  Ask what you can do for your wife.

For wives who want to be a star in their relationship, Ask not what your husband can do for you.  Ask what you can do for your husband.

It is very difficult, but important to step outside of our selfishness.  Too often we limit ourselves to expecting our spouse's job is to make our lives better and help us become more successful.  Too often we expect our spouses to live up to our expectations, satisfy our needs and achieve our goals. We expect our spouses to be our supporting cast.

One of the 50 greatest NBA players, Magic has a lot to teach us about teams and teamwork.  No matter how good or gifted we are in our relationship, our goal is not to be self-centered and demand attention.  Instead Magic gives us the secret of a satisfying, electrifying and victorious team. 

The secret is to encourage and help our partners achieve their goals and potential.  Our focus should be to bring out the best in our partners.  Our goal is to be empathetic and encouraging rather than critical.  Our goal is to be loving and empowering rather than judgmental.  Our goal is to be grateful rather than demanding.

Are you willing to commit to Magic's philosophy regarding successful teams?  Are you willing to enable your spouse to be the star for the well-being of your spouse and the team?

Remember, We Live within the Relationships Created by Our Choices!

Dr. Hal

Life and Mental Fitness Coach

Koyie Hill and Mental Fitness

Have you heard about Koyie Hill?  He is a professional baseball player who has made a remarkable recovery from an accident that had threatened his career.

October 16, 2007 was the day, which almost ended his career.  He was working on a saw, when the accident occurred.  His thumb was cut first and then three more fingers.  Ligaments and tendons were severed on three of his fingers and his thumb.  His thumb and fingers had to be reattached surgically.

I imagine that at the time of the accident, he was distraught and fearful regarding his future.  In fact, in December of the same year he was told by a doctor that he would never play baseball again.

Koyie did not give up.  He didn't give up his dream even though it seemed unlikely.  He had the confidence and determination to reach his goal.  Rick Gano, AP Sports Writer, interviewed Koyie who said:

“In the back of mind I always knew if I got the opportunity to play like I did, the Cubs kept me in the lineup down there, I knew I was going to be able to do it. I knew it was going to be hard and it looked ugly at the beginning.”

When he first began to return to his career, he described his fingers as feeling like "frozen carrots".

He needed mental fitness to overcome his disability and psychological fears and anxieties.  He went through hours of physical therapy and learning how to use his hand.  In his own words he said "

“It was a long deal. We did three or four hours of therapy every day and you battle a lot of nightmares and ups and downs emotionally as far as your career,” he said.

“I’m proud I’ve been able to overcome. Every day I got to keep on top of it. We feel like we got it under control for the most part.”

Koyie has had a remarkable recovery.  Once again he is back in the major leagues.  He has been able to perform all of the skills necessary for his career with a surgically repaired hand.

We can learn a lot about mental fitness and toughness from Koyie Hill.  He has shown us that life's impossibilities can be transformed into actualities.  He has shown us the power of our mind.  He has shown us that we can overcome the physical, emotional and realistic limitations in our lives. 

He has shown us the power of our will and mindset.  What we habitually think and believe about ourselves can overcome all of the obstacles looming in our vision.

He has also underlined the importance of continuing daily the exercises and thought patterns that are necessary for continued growth and self-improvement.

Remember, We Live within the Environment Created by Our Choices!

Dr. Hal

Life and Mental Fitness Coach

DOES PHYSICAL FITNESS MAKE YOU MENTALLY FIT?

One of my readers recently lost a lot of weight and talked about how her physical fitness improved her mental fitness.

There are many people who believe that becoming physically fit automatically will make you mentally fit.  Becoming physically fit will not make you mentally fit! 

Certainly, when one has achieved a goal and become physically fit, that person will feel successful and confident.  They may like themselves a lot better and their self-concept may improve tremendously. 

Physical fitness can significantly improve the quality of one's life, both physically and mentally.  However, physical fitness does not automatically translate into mental fitness.  If you become physically fit, there is no guarantee that you will be mentally fit.

In fact, there are numerous well-trained athletes, who fail to reach their dreams, because of poor mental fitness.  They spent a lot of time training your body and their professional skill, but ignore training their mind for victory and success.

People need both the mind and body of a champion to become a champion.  Mental Fitness is more than feeling good following following success.  Mental fitness is learning how to think like a champion and rigorously exercise the mind for overcoming obstacles and maximizing performance.

There is a difference between feeling and training.  If you wan lasting success, it is important to train for success.  Successful feelings without training the mind dissipate quickly.

Remember, You Live within the Environment Created by Your Choices!

Dr. Hal

Life and Mental Fitness Coach

Michael Phelps And Mental Fitness

The accomplishments of Michael Phelps are a tribute to his physical and mental fitness.  He is the winningest Olympian in the history of the Olympics.  He has 14 gold medals.  He has five more gold medals than any athlete in the history of the Olympics.  This year he achieved eight gold medals in swimming.  No one in the history of the Olympics has won more than eight gold medals in one Olympics.

AP National Writer, Paul Newberry wrote:

"Michael Phelps kept every swimsuit, every cap, every pair of goggles he wore during nine magical days at the Water Cube. Every memory will be savored, too, from goofing off with his US teammates to bowing his head not one, not two, but eight times to receive a gold medal at the Beijing Games.

“There are moments I’ll never forget,” he said.

Neither will the whole world."

Michael's successes and worldwide recognition are the result of his years of physical and mental conditioning.  According to Paul Newberry Michael was "the kid was afraid to put his head in to the water".

He overcame his fear.  He had a dream.  He focused on breaking Mark Spitz's achievement of seven gold medals at the 1972 Munich Games.  For many, this goal was perceived to be unobtainable, but not for Michael.

"Being able to have something like that to shoot for, it made those days when I was tired and I didn’t want to be there … it made those days easier to look at (Spitz) and say, ‘I want to do this,’” Phelps said. “I’m just thankful for him having done what he did.”

When Michael was 11 years old, he began a relationship with his coach, Bob Bowman.  12 years later he reached the pinnacle of success.  His commitment and persistency on a daily basis develop the skill and confidence for him to be the best in the world.

From Michael we can learn to overcome our fears and achieve unattainable goals. 

Remember, We Live within the Environment Created by Our Choices!

Dr. Hal

Life and Mental Fitness Coach

There Is a Cure for Choking And Loss of Momentum

"Tonight I was playing in the finals of a local tournament and missed the nineball in two games. Due to these misses, I came in second place.

Is there a cure for this disease?"

 

This was the gut wrenching plea from a frustrated billiard player, who wrote "Choking nine balls? Help!

 

Is there a cure for choking and loss of momentum?

Choking and loss of momentum are seen on a daily basis in every sport.  Errors and mistakes are inevitable and part of amateur and professional sports. 

Phil Rogers of the Chicago Tribune humorously wrote about choking by one of baseball's super stars, Soriano:

When Does a Tool Become a Tool?

When does a tool become a tool?  This may seem like a strange question to you. 

"A tool is always a tool", you might think. For example, aren't your screwdrivers, hammers or pliers always tools?  You bought tools, because you wanted to have them in your toolbox for when you need them. 

We like our tools, because they are not perishable like fruits and vegetables.  Tools have a long life, unless misused or fatigued because of years of service.

Of course, you say "a tool is always a tool". 

If you think a tool is always a tool, you are both right and wrong.  How could you be wrong?