CONTROL FACTORS

Do you agree:
YOU CAN ONLY CONTROL ABOUT 10% OF THE NOISES AROUND YOU.
Would you say:
YOU CAN ONLY CONTROL ABOUT 10% OF PEOPLE'S REACTIONS TO YOU.
Do you believe like I do:
YOU CAN ONLY CONTROL ABOUT 10% OF YOUR OWN LIFE.
And:
YOU CAN ONLY CONTROL ABOUT 10% OF YOUR SPORT.

I'm going to lay out for you why you should concentrate on improving that paramount and personal ten percent. And if you concentrate primarily on that 10%, you can improve your game (life) up to 85%! Apply this lesson to any sport, at any level.

Let me first ask another question: Would you rather fight nine guys and let one go, or fight one guy and let nine go?

Now do this: Take four blank sheets of paper and a pen. Label one sheet "LET IT GO." Label another sheet "NOT LIKELY," and the third sheet "IN MY CONTROL."
Take the LET IT GO sheet first. List all factors of these sports that an athlete has no control over.

Ice skating (judges...)
Triathlon (weather...)
Football (referees...)

If something creates a debate, move it to the NOT LIKELY sheet. Now let's go there. List all factors of these sports that an athlete has only partial control over.

Volleyball...
Sprinting...
Golf...
Surfing...

For example, in tennis, you have under 30 seconds between serves. You can choose to slow the match down by using all the time, or speed up the pace by serving quicker. What you cannot do is take more time than the rule allows.

List factors of these sports that an athlete has total control over.

Boxing...
Basketball...
Hockey...

Now, take the fourth sheet of blank paper and put the name of your sport at the top. Now list the factors you cannot control, the factors you cannot likely change, and the factors within one hundred percent control. This is the list for your sport (and life). Work almost exclusively with the IN MY CONTROL factors you have listed--and add more.

Best equipment for you!
Best pre-game ritual for you!
Best stretching for you!
Best breathing technique for you!
Best short-term/long-term goals for you!
Best ways to control your emotions!
Best weight for you!
Best job for you!
Best spirituality for you!
Best life path--for you!
THE BEST YOU!

I was driving my 5-year old daughter and her friend. When we came to a red traffic light, they began chanting "Booble-lee-booble-la, fe-fish, fa-fish, three-two-one change!" But the light stayed the same. They did it again and again, as we continued to sit there and let the red light run its cycle. The little girls repeated that chant twelve times before the light turned green then they let out a small cheer.

You can control winning only slightly more than those little girls controlled the changing of the traffic light. You can control winning as much as you can control the noises in the world around you. You can control winning about as much as you can control your life.

Concentrate on the IN MY TOTAL CONTROL factors. Don't waste your life trying to change the traffic light from red to green.

It's really all we can do.

*Concepts for this column can be attributed to Bill Cole, Pres. Int'l Mental Game Coaching Assoc., www.MentalGameCoaching.com

EMAIL: athletewhisperer@gmail.com