Letters To My Son

Unlock your potential and make adversity your advantage by developing an elite mindset. Become a machine of consistency by establishing the right performance routines and habits of excellence. Get clarity on who you are, what you want and discover the behaviors you must start and stop to get results you’ve been lacking.

In my own experience, a deep breath is always a good first reaction to a first report. Try to let the potato cool a bit before you pick it up. - General Collin L Powell.

“Every day you rewrite the story of my future. Interestingly, we are not consciously aware that we are creating a fictitious story and acting as if it were non-fiction. We trick ourselves into believing something that is fabricated because our mind doesn’t realize we invented it.”

Today, every worthy challenge will inspire some fear. Today, excellence is difficult. An excuse is seductive. Choose excellence. I know it’s hard. Choose excellence anyway.

“The athlete tells us he’s giving it 110%, and the businessman informs us that he works 80 hours a week. We’re supposed to be impressed, but I’m not. I feel sorry for them. Although effort is important, it isn’t the most important thing.” - Dr. Stan Beecham, Elite Minds

“I’m not saying you should call every person in your bloated directory. I’m talking about the friend who is on speed dial and earned royalty status on your favorites folder on your phone. That one.”

“When you cut yourself, your body will try to heal - whether you acknowledge your body or not. Psychological wounds are different. You cannot begin psychological healing until you acknowledge and describe your pain, because self-invalidation cuts even deeper.”

“Focusing on our passion might inspire us to quit our jobs but if we want to pay the bills and flourish over the long run, we need to shift our focus to getting really good at creating value that people will pay for.” - Cal Newport, So good they can’t ignore you.

Setbacks are your opportunity to bounce back - to make a comeback! I’m convinced that nobody is ever down and out; they’re just plotting a comeback.

“This less-than-optimal performance doesn’t merely reflect a random fluctuation and skill level. We all have performance ups and downs. This choke occurs in response to a highly stressful situation. It’s when you or an individual athlete, actor, musician or student perform worse than what you have done in the past.” - Sian Beilock, Choke.

“Just another cold, dark night on the side of Everest is a way to remember the paradox of stress. The most meaningful challenges in your life will come with a few dark nights.” - Kelly McGonigal, The Upside of Stress.

To learn resilience, children must be exposed to hardship. If they don’t meet hardship early, they’ll certainly find it later. And if they haven’t built a habit of resilience and earn some self-respect by then, the adult pain they meet probably won’t strengthen them. It will likely overwhelm them.

One race, four new records. In total, 13 men ran personal bests that evening in the 10,000 meters, and all can tell the story of how they ran in one of the fastest and best 10,000 meter races in the history of track. That night, 13 men got to say, “I am a winner“.

Ultimately we need to know that life is a precious gift. We’re blessed with an opportunity to see just how good we can be at something we love doing. We get to have a ball for many years seeing how many wonderful things we can do with our lives. We may or may not win the external prizes, but when we live like that, we win the ultimate prize: peace of mind. - Bob Rotella, How Champions Think

“Your brain is your software, your body the hardware. Simply put, your body does what your brain tells it to do or what your brain thinks your body is capable of doing.” - Dr. Stan Beecham, Elite Minds

“How many people have put off the necessary, unglamorous work of building habits because they spend their lives waiting for a sign, an epiphany that never comes? Don’t wait. Don’t wait a single day. Live.” - Eric Greitens, Resilience

“We all love a good cowboy movie, and we always cheer when the underdog defeats the perennial powerhouse. But the good guy gets there only because they had a team helping them every step of the way.”

The best team doesn’t always win. The team that plays best always wins. Even the All-Star has a bad night, and the nobody can become a Somebody.

You’ll ask yourself how you got so mentally weak. Admitting the problem is the first step to recovery. Identify your problem, rebuild your strength, hone your killer instinct, and head back into the arena. Get out of your head. Keep going forward, keep climbing. There are more things for you to do. The message is clear the only way you can fail is to give up.

“You can’t follow someone else’s path and get there. There is no checklist for success - no map, no GPS, no guarantees, nothing. You have to cut your own path in the woods. Fear is the thing that will keep you from doing it. Just go. Fear not. And get yourself lost in your pursuit of success.” - Dr. Stan Beecham, Elite Minds.

“Be careful” is the worst advice you can give someone who is trying to do something great.” - Dr. Stan Beecham, Elite Minds.

“Walking all at once brings mechanical stimulation all at once. Walking uses a greater number of muscles (when done naturally) than most other activities, which means taking yourself for a walk is like taking your cells out to eat.

“This silent sleep loss epidemic is the greatest public health challenge we face in the 21st Century in developed nations. A radical shift in our personal, cultural, professional, and societal appreciation of sleep must occur.”

“There are many ways to find meaning and purpose. One is to establish a metric by which our life will be judged and, from today, to resolve to live each day in such a way that our life will be graded a success.” - Sonja Lyubomirsky

I will do my very best to succeed while simultaneously accepting that the ultimate outcome is beyond my direct control. Deo Volente.