Part of a winning attitude is a sense of gratitude...

Most of the time I post sort of "fun" "teamwork" have a "good, positive attitude" on my Blogs and in my articles. And 99% of the time I am a pretty positive, upbeat person. But sometimes bad things happen to really good people. And sometimes it is hard to see the glass as half full. In the past few months I have seen floods and tornadoes hit the Midwest, innocent people have died, and homes and property destroyed. I have seen the death of an outstanding drag racer--I did not know him personally, but I feel like in the auto racing world we are all part of a big huge extended family and I pray for his friends and families. And a close friend and neighbor passed away after dealing with a terrible illness. So I have experienced some sad things that I think make you think about your own life. And I think at difficult times it is easy to feel sad and sort of wonder what is life all about? But I think you come out of difficult times when you think about all of the things you have to be thankful for in your own life. And I know that my friend enjoyed his life to the fullest and was a happy guy and I think there is a lesson when you lose someone--you better be happy, you better do the things you want to do, you better be good to the people who matter the most to you. Mike and I are happy at the races and we really like the people we race with--it is a great community of people and I am thankful to be part of that community--in the good times and in the bad times. Part of a winning attitude is taking some time to be thankful for the things, the people, and the opportunities you have in your life.

Who Cares Who is in the Other Lane?!?

Ask any drag racer in the world when they are the happiest to get a bye run and the answer is always, "at three cars." A few weekends ago at the Gateway International Raceway Spring NHRA Open, we were running super comp and I was able to take a look at the ladder. I quickly saw that if Mike could keep cutting good lights and if the car wanted to keep cooperating, then we had a chance at a bye into the finals. When the winlight came on at 12 cars, I was excited. And when the winlight came on at 6 cars I was really excited! I knew that at 3 cars we would have the bye into the finals and we did. As we were rolling into staging at 3 cars, Mike and I felt this surge of confidence, this surge of joy, this surge of "we are going to the finals." And Mike cut an awesome light and the car ran a great number. And I started to think how many times I have seen good runs when people have bye runs--they often hit a good light (.005-.020) but they rarely seem to go red and they rarely seem to cut a crappy light. And it made me think--you should always run like it is a bye run, you should always try to have the best run you can. Of course when you are racing someone you need to think about their ET, their MPH, but the number one thing is to focus on your light and your run. I do some sport consulting with athletes in other sports (e.g., tennis, softball, volleyball, bowling, etc.) and I encourage them to think about their competition, but to keep the focus on their own game and the things that they can control to help them win. So who cares who is in the other lane if you perform the best you possibly can?

(Photo from www.bretkepnerphotos.com)

There's no whining in racing!

In the movie "A League of their Own," Tom Hanks playing a coach says to his softball players, "There is no crying in baseball!" Well, the same thing applies to all sports in my opinion. I am not saying that sometimes really bad things happen in sports, there is bad weather, there are bad officials, there are annoying opponents, but you know what? Great athletes know how to learn from things, control what they can, make the best of bad situations, and they don't whine.

Instead of focusing on whining, focus on winning!

Case in point, last weekend we went out to racing for the first drag race of the season. Now there were lots of things to whine about. First off, we had troubles with our generator, took it to a shop, and of course the person did not get it fixed in time for us to take to the track--so we have to get electricity for our battery charger from our friends and we have no generator in our motor home (not fun!). Then the weather was typical spring weather and it was cold and rainy--(also not fun). All the racers were complaining about the cost of fuel and race fuel (and yeah, that is definitely not fun). But you know what, if you can't control it, learn from it, and then deal with it...and at the end of the weekend, we not only didn't whine, but the tuffpaw.com dragster went to the winner's circle in super comp (and yeah, that was definitely fun!)

Your Mental Tool Box!

Every year I conduct a workshop at the Drag News Magazine Expo. In January, 2008 I did a workshop called, "the Mental Tool Box." We all have a tool box we take to the race track full of tools we need to work on the race car, but we also need to make sure our mental tool box has the right tools. At the Expo I asked the racers who attended my seminar and completed the survey the following question, “If you could give just one piece of advice to a racer to help them win, what would that piece of advice be?” I thought this would be a pretty interesting question and I received a wide range of answers and I want to share some of them.
1.) Stay Focused. Concentrate. Stay in the present. Focus on the task at hand. Be in the here and now! Don’t be distracted. Don’t let your surroundings interfere with your concentration. Take it one round at a time.
2.) Be positive. Have a positive mental attitude. Give it all you got!
3.) Race your own race. Never be intimidated by the other car or driver.
4.) Be the same all of the time. Be consistent. Have a good routine.
5.) Practice. Seat time.
6.) Preparation. Prepare everything. Check and recheck everything!
7.) Visualize. See what you are going to do.
8.) Be comfortable in your car. Know your vehicle. Have the best car you can.
9.) Relax. Stay calm. Don’t get stressed. Don’t choke. Keep cool (have a cool head). Relax and do your thing!
10.) Have confidence. Believe in yourself. Learn to trust your gut. Make your moves on instinct.
11.) Have fun.
12.) Don’t give up. Be Patient!
13.) Don’t be afraid to lose. Deal with losing. Learn from failures.
14.) Listen to people that know what they are doing. The above list was really pretty darn good and I think it is good to remind ourselves about the above list. I would also like to point out that at my seminar there were some fantastic racers, some of these people have won a lot of races and some have raced for a long time, so I think this list is pretty complete.

So what's in your mental tool box? What do you need to work on and add to your tool box to help take you to the winners circle?

Time to celebrate, time to think, time to refresh!

Doesn't it just seem like the world keeps going faster and faster (and I am not talking about the race cars!)....With so much to do and so little time to do it, sometimes it seems like the world just won't slow down. I constantly hear people say that they need more hours in the day! Well, guess what, we won't get more hours in a day and this life we have is all we have. I am encouraging everyone to take a little time out of your busy, hectic, crazy lives to celebrate, think, and refresh. Think about all that you have to celebrate in your lives, your health, your friends, and families, and the things you are passionate about. Don't only celebrate your life when you are in the winner's circle--try to celebrate small things as well. Also think about your goals and things that you need to work on and improve. And finally take a little time to refresh and take a break. Sometimes when you feel overwhelmed with too much to do, the best thing you can do is to take a little break to refresh. After the break you will come back mentally, physically, and emotionally stronger and ready to take on anything! So get out there and celebrate, think, and refresh so you can compete even stronger later!