Five Principles I've Learned From Athletic Competition

Chris Burt 33, Fred Opie 34, Mike O'Donnell 31, Syracuse Hopkins 1985 Title Game at Brown University

Visualize the desired outcome you want and situations you need to avoid like the plaque. This is something professional pilots do on a regular basis in flight simulators. I do this as a writer and teacher but I started back when I played.  Visualize executing the prepared game plan, and adapting it to the circumstances. Second, give your best efforts so that win, lose, or draw you would have nothing to regret. I played in two national championships and lost both but because I gave my best effort I've never looked back. The same was true when I won and loss club championships and when I won a world championship as a member of the 1990 U. S. National Team. My college coach Syracuse University, Hall of Famer Roy Simmons Jr. had a mantra that is so important: head, heart, and hustle.  Coach would say the difference between winning and losing often is who would hustle the most and get the most ground balls. My own mantras is ground balls wins games and do all the little things right because they bring about big results! Finally, never forget that someone's always watching. What kind of influence are you having on those around you?