The Peak Performance Expert

I was watching a Celtics game recently where the referees seemed to be making a series of bad calls.  The TV commentators were complaining about it, too. I was curious about how the players would react to these calls and noticed that most quickly shrugged them off and got back on track.  This is definitely a sign of mental toughness, i.e., the ability to minimize the impact of distractions, get refocused and deal with the task at hand. 

This got me thinking about life in general.  In case you haven’t noticed, life is often unfair. Hard working people lose jobs and homes and sloths win the lottery.  So, what do you do?  The true test of a person’s character isn’t how he or she functions when things go well but rather, when things get rough. 

Have you ever noticed how 2 people might both encounter a series of hardships and yet each deals with it differently?  One might be a whiner and the other a winner; one sees impossible obstacles and gloom and doom and the other sees challenges and opportunities. Which type are you? 

Now I am not minimizing the very real pain that some of you might be experiencing due to layoffs, loss of investments (you should see my IRAs!), and so forth.  And it’s perfectly ok and understandable to acknowledge and feel that pain but then - what? 

It’s then time to take a step back, assess your situation in an objective fashion and create a plan of action.  What needs to change in order for you to move through this rough period?  Who can you call for advice or assistance?  What or who will give you emotional sustenance? 

A mentally tough individual views mistakes and set-backs as opportunities for learning and growing; do you?

This entry was posted on Thursday, February 12th, 2009 at 9:31 pm and is filed under Championship Mindset, Mental Toughness, Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.