I think most of us would agree that increasing strength is a good thing. Athletes invest countless hours training for the purpose of increasing their strength. They do this because the rigors and challenges about to come REQUIRE ENHANCED STRENGTH to succeed. Without adequate strength they will be overwhelmed and out matched by the demands of the sport.

ATHLETES THAT TRAIN INADEQUATELY ARE ILL PREPARED FOR THE DEMANDS OF COMPETITION.

Physical strength is trained by utilizing resistance. I have never heard of an athlete that goes to the gym to train with AIR. Resistance is a CRITICAL element of strength building. However, if the resistance is not moved with correct form then INJURY can occur which has the exact opposite effect on the body. What initially was intended for BENEFIT has now become HURTFUL simply because of the use of IMPROPER FORM. The RESISTANCE is not the problem. The FORM is the variable that allows for injury.

Through the thousands of conversations and observations I...

I attended my first teen support group about 30 years ago. I remember that night like it was yesterday. My first encounter was with a 15 year old that asked, “What the ******** are you doing here?” To which I honestly had no good response. To be honest, as a recent college graduate I believed that I had answers to the problems that many teens were experiencing at the time. I was there to share wisdom and provide a pathway to better living for those that were lucky enough to listen to my counsel. (I now realize how misguided I was)

This is where MY education began!

For the next 6 months I listened to young people talk about family breakdown, drug abuse, suicide, school failure, rejection, depression, hopelessness, and deep discouragement to name just a few. I realized that my answers were weak and unwanted, not because they were without merit, but because my presence reeked of superiority and judgement. I certainly did not intend this, but in retrospect, I understand.

You...

When people think of a mirror they think of a piece of glass that reflects the image that faces it. Mirrors can be useful because they reflect back to us an image. Mirrors do not judge, have an opinion, talk back, or hate. Like most things when utilized for their intended purpose the value is high.

However, a mirror can be turned into a weapon of mass destruction because of the user. Many spend hours in front of a mirror shaming and hating on themselves because of the judgment and self-condemnation they generate from the image being reflected.

Let me offer a different way to think about a MIRROR.

Recently, I was mentoring a young soccer player. She just finished tryouts and I asked her to share a moment that stood out in her mind. She proceeded to vaguely tell me of a moment where she passed the ball to her teammate and that teammate scored. The initial description was lacking detail and it would have been easy to gloss over with a statement like “good job” or...

Who of us would not want a deep, bold and stable confidence?

Unfortunately, to many people the thought of possessing this type of confidence left long ago. It could be that a significant relationship with a coach, teacher, parent or friend sabotaged that dream. As a result we often tolerate, make excuses and position our lives to insure that we protect ourselves from a sense of failure or discouragement in order to never deal with our utter and complete lack of confidence.

For these reasons this is the day I invite you to engage in the CONFIDENCE CHALLENGE!

Simply stated I want to challenge you to PURSUE a more powerful and sustainable confidence.

For over 18 years I have been coaching thousands of athletes and without question when I ask, “What is the one thing you want to work on?” the response 90 percent of the time is “More CONFIDENCE!”

WHY ARE SO MANY OF US LACKING CONFIDENCE?

ANSWER

Because so many of us are TRADING COMFORT for CONFIDENCE.

It seems that...

Have you ever given thought to the connection between ATTENTIVE CONSISTENCY and SUCCESS?

What I mean by ATTENTIVE CONSISTENCY is the continual capacity to give quality focus and concentration to a pre-determined priority; gaining a deeper and deeper understanding with each days focus. This is very similar to immersing yourself for a period of time in something you have a deep passion for or has significance to you. Examples of ATTENTIVE CONSISTENCY could include a relationship, hobby, business, sport, or even yourself.

But there is a problem.

I believe many of us are missing out on the deep joy and sense of fulfillment that accompanies the capacity to fully engage in and consistently focus on important priorities. We are often lured away from this type of experience because of multiple distractions. I define a distraction as anything that interrupts the flow of our attention.

Ask yourself this question: What is the length of time I can give quality focus and concentration to a...

DO YOU FIND YOURSELF CONSTANTLY WAITING FOR SOMETHING BETTER TO COME UP?
DO YOU SEEM TO KEEP REPEATING THE SAME CHALLENGES IN YOUR LIFE?
DO YOU FIND IT DIFFICULT TO GIVE OF YOURSELF COMPLETELY TO A PURSUIT OR PERSON?
DO YOU GET FRUSTRATED THAT YOU DO NOT KNOW WHAT YOU CAN TRUST?

If these are some of your experiences then this blog might give you a new perspective to create change and movement.

At first sight you may look at the title of today's writing and have to spend a couple seconds thinking about it. However, I wrote the title purposely. I want to have a look at commitment and challenge you to re-think how you see this rich and vital concept.

I think it is safe to say that we are in the FOMO generation (Fear Of Missing Out). I hear with consistency the phrase, “I do not want to commit to ________; something better might come up that I do not want to miss out on.” I believe the effects of this mindset are destroying the quality of our relationships, work and sport. We...

We would all like to believe that we are in CHARGE of or CONTROL our lives. Fundamentally we do make choices with our behaviors and thoughts day to day. However, the shocking truth is that we are all CREATURES OF HABIT. It is these habits, or repetitive behaviors, that end up determining the quality of our lives.

Over the years I have become more aware of the connection between the quality of my life and my habits. In other words I have been struck by how much I get what I have earned. For example, in relationships I have had a habit of talking more than I am listening. This came to my awareness as I was talking with my son one day. I went into the conversation with a desire to learn about his level of interest in his upcoming college experience and realized as I was driving to my next appointment that I had actually learned nothing. This was not because he was unwilling to share, it was because I didn’t listen. I have work projects that I have authentic excitement about that...

We all have aspirations to do GREAT things!!

I can detail at least five different GREATNESS SEEKING visions I have been chasing. In fact, the still small voice within often torments me concerning the minimal, if any, progress I have made with regard to these worthy pursuits.

I believe there are countless NOBLE and GAME CHANGING VISIONS that have died on the seat of PROCRASTINATION. Have you ever wondered to yourself where your life would be if just one of these visions actually became reality? Have you ever taken the time to assess the OPPORTUNITIES and QUALITY of life LOSS that is simply the by product of the inability to muster the willpower, motivation or discipline to see these through to reality?

This is a very personal writing for me. I have battled with procrastination most of my life. One day as I was talking with a colleague about a project, he was courageous enough to give me the feedback that his level of trust in my ability to see this project through was small. When I...

Discovering purpose can be very challenging. This might be because we have a pre-determined idea of what it means to have a purpose by generating an image of a hero like Martin Luther King, Gandhi or someone we have come to admire because of the mark they have made on the world and our lives. These people certainly lived with a purpose that drove them to commit their lives to their message.

For the sake of this article I would like to suggest that we can create many multiple applications of purpose. It doesn’t have to be an all-encompassing, immersive, commitment-rich passion we invest our entire lives in (although it could). What I am referring to is living each day and moment with an intention to BE PURPOSEFUL.

In other words, FULL OF PURPOSE.

This can be anything from meeting the challenges of our day believing that we will grow strength, resilience and a deep sense of confidence by doing so, or intentionally engaging in our routine tasks and responsibilities with a purpose...

Have you ever asked yourself what it means to be GREAT? Maybe you haven’t asked yourself this exact question but you have most likely desired and maybe even taken steps towards some form of GREATNESS in your life.

This has increased in importance to me because I believe the understanding of “GREATNESS” has changed from a vigilant pursuit of the uncommon to something used more as an habitual punch line for vague, unwarranted and often average performance and living. Pursuing GREATNESS should be a daily aim.

Because of my passion for this I want to INSPIRE a MOVEMENT of GREATNESS SEEKERS!!

Today, I define GREATNESS as intentionally pursuing my “HIGHEST SELF” while serving others to do the same. I believe pursuing greatness requires (3) things:

First, TRUE GREATNESS requires INTENT and personal initiative. To reach any form of excellence in our lives it is vital that we leverage our WILL. GREATNESS is never an accident. If I am to BECOME a GREAT husband,...