From: XXXXX@hotmail.com
To: Psychedonlineorg@yahoo.com
Subject: Great site!
Date: Sat, 15 Mar 2003 08:27:51 P>Great Site! I really love your articles. I wrote this piece that I use to keep me motivated and wanted to share it with you
Focus. Determination. Dedication. That hard work paid off. All those practices, time, sweat, blood and sacrifice were worth it. In the end, the broken bones, the scars, the injuries … they don’t matter. It’s about winning. Winning big. When you’ve played so hard, been so focused, in your mind … you, and only you, know that nothing gets by. No player gets left unchecked. No opportunity missed and no goal left un scored … you reach a whole new level, psychologically. You’ll never play the same again. Because that last game when you were so focused, so prepared. That now becomes the standard. The standard by which you play by. Your mind is at a whole new level. It’s a game you’ll always look back on. Something you’ll always remember. No one else understands, but when you reach that next level, you’re on a personal high. Like an adrenaline rush.
It’s one thing to show up to practice, do the drills but not succeed, listen to the coach but not hear him, and put in the time but not the effort. In the end, you can lie to everyone, bitch, complain and say it’s unfair that you lost, but YOU know that you didn’t put in your best effort.
While they’re sittin’ at home, watching tv, or getting’ hammered with their friends, whatever they’re doing, they’re not practicing. But you’re practicing, practicing hard to kick their ass come game time.
At the time, you may not realize it, but those cold, wet, winter nights spent on the soccer pitch are gonna lead to something big. Satisfaction. The fact that you know you’ve reached your goals, pushed the limits and put in your best effort and then some.
When the game becomes about the money, the guys, or partying after the game, even after you’ve LOST, then it’s over. But until you reach that point, if you ever do … keep pushing the limits, focus on that championship, strive for the best and never, never give up. Practice hard. Play hard. Die hard. Never go down without a fight. No fear.
TO: XXXXX@hotmail
FROM: questions@psychedonline.org
SUBJECT: Re: Great Site!
DATE: Tue, 18 March 2003 16:38:22 EST
Response: I can see why that would keep you motivated to practice! Make sure that you keep it in a place that you see it often like the mirror in your bed room or the refrigerator.
Something else that might be of help to you is goal setting. Try to make concrete goals that you keep track of and see if you achieve them. For example, if you wanted to set the goal of practicing five times a week, you could keep track of the days that you practice on a calendar and check it at the start of each week. If you wanted to be able to make 90% of your penalty kicks, then I would recommend you keep track of the percentage when you start and on days that you practice. It often helps keep people motivated when they see progress towards what we want to achieve.
Good luck,
Miguel Humara, Ph.D.
