I’m sure that we have all experienced a time when we didn’t want to follow through with a task at hand. Either we got bored, felt like the task was too difficult to complete, became burnt out, or couldn’t see the benefits that would arise upon completion. Whatever the reason may be, we’ve been there. The good news is that there are various approaches that can be taken to fix this problem, one of them being, “keeping your eyes on the prize.” Everything that we do is done for a reason. For example, baseball players both young and old are required to go to batting practice. It has become part of their pregame routine to take dozens of extra swings in preparation for competition. The purpose, as told by the Oakland hitting coach Chili Davis, is that “batting practice is a time to create and foster good habits. The guys who do it and do it right are the ones who are more successful.” (Caple, 2014) The same thing goes for volleyball players. “A setter will come close to ...

Every third Monday of January we recognize and celebrate the lifelong impact that Martin Luther King Jr. made on our country. We celebrate this day to honor and commemorate MLK and his strong belief in combating racial discrimination. As you all know, King was the lead spokesman for non violent activism in the Civil Rights movement, and is often recognized by his “I am a dream speech”. However, this blog isn’t to give you a history lesson on WHAT King did- stuff you already know.  This blog is to prompt some thinking about HOW he did it.   So how did he do it? How was one man able to bring about change and bring a country closer together despite significant challenges and adversity? The answer starts with a firm belief in himself and his cause (or task).  He showed immense courage by standing firm in his belief in a nonviolent approach, even when others prosecuted him for it. He knew that violence would only make things worse for his people and so instead, he led peacef...

Change is inevitable. Growth is optional. The athletes who strive to Be. Better. are the ones that dive into deeper levels of mindset training and excel into the highest levels of peak performance. To Be. Better. is to always strive to improve at what you’re doing – regardless of how good you already are or what circumstances surround you – and it extends further beyond physical performance. To Be embraces the process of accepting who we are as an individual and allowing ourselves to exist in the present moment. Only then can we begin to understand ourselves more deeply – the pros and cons, the strengths and weaknesses – so that we can use that awareness to our advantage. Being Better means putting in the time and effort each and every day with the intent to improve ourselves – from a physical, tactical, and mindset perspective. When we combine these concepts while maintaining focus on a growth mindset each day, we become efficient, a...