​How many of you have ever tried to accomplish a certain goal and just kept failing time and time again? This could be anything from a goal time in practice to winning Olympic gold. You have tried everything possible. Your effort level is there. You work harder than everyone around you. Your body is sore, as your muscles ache from the amount of work you put in. You have thought about every possible way to improve even more so you could creep just an inch closer to your goal. Well, I’m here to ask you to stop thinking. It sounds crazy, right? Let me tell you why.

Thinking too much can demotivate you
The moment you realize you aren’t performing the way you would like to; you start thinking about what you are doing wrong. You start to ask yourself the “what if” question (check out my article “What If” to learn more on this). “What if I’m just not good enough?” “What if I’ll never make it to the top?” When you don’t perform to your expectations, negative thoughts are generally the first thing to pop up in your mind. You start to criticize yourself on problems you never even had to begin with. You become overwhelmed with all these new “problems” you have created, which leads to a significant decrease in performance.

Thinking tends to overcomplicate the basics 
Another way your mind could betray you is through overcomplicating the little things. You don’t perform as well as you want to, so your mind immediately tells you that something is off. Whatever that may be, you then overthink it. Overthinking is just another distraction you don’t need. It forces you to focus on things that are less important, rather than the things that will actually make you perform. Focusing on the problems will always lead to more problems. Rather focus on the possibilities so you can have more opportunities.
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Thinking gives you limitations 
It’s true. Let me ask you a question. What is the very first thing you do when you are in the middle of practice and your muscles are absolutely on fire? You think about it. There’s nothing wrong with it. It’s completely normal. However, thinking puts some incredible limitations on your abilities. If you have always been bad at something, you might be thinking that it is just something that you will never be good at. The one thing that separates the good from the best is the ability to move outside of your comfort zone. If we keep thinking about how much it hurts, there is no way in the world that you would be able to perform to the best of your ability. Great performances require great practices and great practices requires you to take that step out of the comfort zone. So challenge yourself to take one small step further out of your comfort zone every day, and eventually improvement will come.  Stop thinking, start doing.
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Dream. Dare. Succeed.

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The world we live in today is a world full of great discoveries and accomplishments. There are so many individuals we consider to be the best in their field. Tom Brady, for example, is arguably the greatest quarterback of all time. Michael Phelps, the greatest Olympian of all time. Many athletes say they want to become the best at what they do, but that’s just it. It’s just words.

They aren’t willing to do what it takes to be the best. What’s the point in wanting something if you know you won’t do what’s necessary to get it. Brady and Phelps weren’t born the greatest of all time. No, they had to work for it. Simply being the best wasn’t good enough for them, and that is why they succeeded.
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When being good is not enough
Many athletes say they want it bad, but those same athletes are fine with just being good. That’s when you have to ask yourself, “Why do it then?” Why spend so much time and energy perfecting a particular skill if you are fine with just being good. You have to be willing to do something today that will make you better tomorrow. Don’t settle for being one of the “good” ones. To reach the top, you have to go the extra mile.

When being better is not enough
You are doing something now to make you better tomorrow. You are beating your competition more consistently. You are better than you used to be. You can see yourself improving and you love it. However, this is not the time to stop. So many athletes significantly get better every day. They are destroying their best times. They are killing it in practice every day. The people they used to see as competition are gone now. They settled for being simply better than those around them, because that’s where they got all the attention. At the end, that was good enough for them. Eventually, they will stop progressing and won’t understand why.

This is the phase when you need to stay humble. Show up to practice as if you are the underdog. There will always be someone for you to beat. Practice being that person. The person that everyone wants to beat. You are never too good to take it easy during practice. Always practice beating the best, not beating the rest.

When being the best is not enough
This is when you exactly know where you want to be in life, and you are willing to do whatever it takes to get yourself there. The great Thomas Jefferson said it best, “If you want something you’ve never had, you have to do something you’ve never done.” If you want something so bad that you are willing to do everything in your power to get it, then you will be successful. If being the best is not good enough for you, then you will continue to grow and improve. That is the ultimate goal in life. To realize that even being the best is not good enough. You can’t stop working hard just because you are the best now. You have to keep on pushing.
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Matthew McConaughey said one of the greatest things when he won his Oscar, “Your hero needs to be you in 10 years. After 10 years, your hero is still you in 10 years. That gives you someone to always keep on chasing.” Don’t worry about what those around you are doing. They are working hard so they can beat you. You need to be working hard so you can beat yourself. You see, when you compete against other people, you get stuck on their level. However, once you realize you are your only and greatest competition, that is when you start moving forward. You won’t ever beat yourself and that is the beauty of it. It forces you to keep working hard and in doing so, you move forward. NEVER LET IT REST! 

Dream. Dare. Succeed.

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There are too many people out there today who deeply regret some decisions they have made. They believe that if only they had chosen differently, everything would’ve worked out for the better. How many of you out there have had a moment in your lives when you thought, “What if I had done this instead?” or “If only I did this one thing differently, I wouldn’t be in this mess right now…” I know I have. How different would your life have been if you had made better decisions? What if every decision you made was one that took you closer to your dream life? Is that even possible? Well, that is exactly what this post is about.

We all have that one big goal in life. That one dream that overshadows it all. These dreams come in different shapes and sizes. Some of us dream of winning Olympic gold one day, while others dream of the opportunity to simply take part in the Olympics. There’s nothing wrong with having a different dream than someone else. The only thing that matters is whether you do everything you can and more to make that dream a reality. The sad part about this reality is that the moment things get tough, we start slacking off or even quit altogether. Most of the time, this is an unconscious decision, because that is how our bodies are wired. Your body lets you know that it is in immense pain and can’t go any further. It is letting you know that you should stop now before you get hurt. That is when you have to realize what you are made of and how much you are truly capable of achieving.

What if I told you that you would be an Olympic gold medalist one day, and that is a fact. All you have to do to achieve this is outwork everyone at practice. Would you slack off or quit the moment things start getting harder? No, of course you won’t, because you know what the outcome is going to be. Suddenly, you’ll find yourself pushing past every single limit that you’ve ever had and realize that you are capable of achieving the impossible. Why are you able to train at a much higher level now than you have before? The answer is simple. You aren’t. You see, it’s not a brand-new ability that fell out of the sky and landed right in front of you. No, you’ve always had this ability. It has always been inside you, waiting to be unleashed. Your change in perspective is what brought it out into the open.

Don’t go through life thinking, “what if..”, go out there and do what you have to do today. Don’t wait. Every second you wait is a second wasted. Don’t say you’ll start tomorrow. Tomorrow becomes next week, next week becomes next month and so on. Eventually, you will find yourself in a place where you ask, “What if I had started back then? Where would I have been today?” So go out there and outwork every single one of your teammates. Make every second count. Don’t be one of the many unsuccessful people out there who never realized their true potential.

​Every day, focus on one thing at a time. Don’t try to multitask; it distracts you from what is important. Always remember that you can do anything you set your mind to, but you can’t do everything. You are capable of great things. It’s true. You have to believe it too. The moment it starts to get tough, I want you to remember two things. Remember why you started in the first place and remember where it will take you. Don’t let yourself fall into the “what if” trap. 

​Hi there and welcome to my first blog post. Let’s get right into it. Everyone endures some sort of physical labor in their everyday lives. Whether you are an athlete who is in the weight room and the practice field day-in and day-out or have a desk job that works for hours without rest. Physical labor might come in different shapes and sizes.

We all know the importance of physical ability when it comes to performing. Yet, there is one thing that we all need to perform that way we are supposed to. We’ll get to that in a second. First, let me tell you something about myself. I have been athlete for most of my life now and have always put great importance on my physical condition. The better condition your body is on the better you will perform, right?

Well, that's a tricky question. As important as it is to be in exceptional shape to be able to perform at your best, it is only about 50% of what maximizes your performance. And now we get to the part you have all been waiting for. What is that one thing that we all need to perform at our best? It makes up the other 50% of your performance ability. It is a little something called, mental strength and I’ll explain where this comes in a little bit later on in the post.

We are fortunate enough to live in a world full of great accomplishments. We have the ability to communicate with anyone from anywhere in the world. That is in fact, how I am communicating with you right now. However, all these amazing accomplishments would not have been possible if we didn’t have dreamers. You see, for something to come into existence, you need an idea or a dream. That dream is a goal you would like to accomplish one day. We all have dreams and we would all like to make those dreams a reality. The bigger you dream, the more work it will take to make it a reality, but it is never impossible.

​The most successful people in the world didn’t get to where they are today through chance. They had huge, almost impossible dreams which they made a reality through hard work and dedication. Let’s take Bill Gates, the founder of Microsoft, for example. He was a college drop-out and co-owner of a failed business. Yet, he never stopped chasing his dreams and today he is one of the most influential and successful businessmen in the world. Another great example is Albert Einstein. When he was younger he was unable to speak fluently which led to his teachers thinking he was slow. Did he let that get to him fulfilling his dreams? Heck no, of course not! He is seen as one of the greatest scientists and smartest people to have ever lived. Can you imagine if these people allowed others and their inner selves to influence them negatively? How different and boring would our world be without dreamers? No technological advances, no cars, no going to the grocery store to buy food for the week. Jeff Bezos, CEO of Amazon and richest man in the world, used to work at McDonald's when he was younger. Instead of slacking off during holiday times, he used to work on improving his company. This has led to him becoming the richest man in the world today. Some of his closest friends thought he was crazy and would never succeed, but he didn't let that stop him from becoming one of the most successful men in the world. The biggest difference between successful and unsuccessful people is attitude. Some say they can't, while others say they can. Both are absolutely right. It's all about your perspective on what is possible.

They have found a way to make their dreams a reality and they were most certainly not successful on their first try. They weren’t afraid to fail. We have to realize that there is no shame in failing. The only way to succeed, is through failing. Michael Jordan, arguably the greatest basketball player to ever step foot on the court, is an amazing example of someone who wasn’t afraid to fail. He said: “I have missed more than 9000 shots in my career. I’ve lost almost 300 games. 26 times I’ve been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed. I have failed over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed.” If you want to be successful in life, you have to be willing to do whatever it takes to make that dream a reality. It might take hours, days or even years for you to be able to sit back knowing that you have accomplished everything you ever dreamed of. You might not get it on the first try, you might not get it on the second try. Heck, you might not even get it on the 100th try. You just have to keep on pushing.

I cannot guarantee you will make all your dreams come true. The road to success is a long road with many twists and turns and even more obstacles. It's not supposed to be easy, otherwise everyone would do it. I want to leave you with one very important thought. Remember, if you stop trying you will never succeed. But, if you get back up every time you fall, you become stronger and stronger mentally. Life is like a tennis match. If you don’t get the ball over the net, you have no chance of winning. Yet, every time you do get the ball over the net, your chances of winning gets better and better a little bit at a time. Don’t ever give up on pursuing your dreams, no matter how many times you fail. You will fail, but that is after all the way to success.

​Dream. Dare. Succeed.

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