The following is a tweaked version of a section from Pete Carroll's book, "Win Forever"...
I’ve learned that possibly the greatest detractor from high performance is fear: fear that you are not prepared, fear that you are in over your head, fear that you are not worthy, and ultimately, fear of failure.
If you can eliminate that fear- not through arrogance or just wishing difficulties away, but through hard work and preparation- you will put yourself in an incredibly powerful position to take on the challenges you face.
Achieving a “winning mentality” means getting our players to rely on themselves and their teammates to perform at the highest level in the face of any challenge, even losing.
The reality is that, no matter how well you practice, how fully you develop your philosophy, how mentally tough you are, you will fail at times.
The separator is your ability to approach the challenge of losing/failing with the same competitive spirit that comes easier when you’re having success.
When I say that everything counts or that every challenge in life is a chance to compete, I mean it. I don’t mean everything except losing and failing.
Personally I hate to lose more than almost anything. What I hate even more is learning the hard way. I want that for the other guy. But in reality we can learn tremendously from our losses and our mistakes, though that is tough to admit.
We always have the choice to switch our attention to our next challenge, next game, next at bat, next pitch.
We must learn to never drag the past along with us, because the past is not a place where we can compete. Instead we need to always be able to get back to the attitude, energy, mentality that gives us the best chance to win each day.
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