May 15th, 2012 | 
Author: One of the great hindrances to an individuals success is the age-old problem of procrastination. It is very much in the nature of man to procrastinate. After all, why do today what you can put off tomorrow. I was actually going to publish this chapter some time ago, but I never got around to it until now. Someone aptly said “to do nothing is within every mans power.” Everyone procrastinates from time to time, but some go on and keep practicing this bad habit until they become chronic procrastinators. They begin to self sabotage their own lives and all their dreams turn to ashes as they succumb to a live of negated meaning, lifeless apathy and lethargy which is always the end result of procrastination.
Procrastination always leads to frustration, anxiety, stress, discouragement, sometimes leading to depression, and much more. The obvious key to overcoming procrastination is to just get started. Procrastination has more to do with our thinking than reality, and most of us understand that if we could just get started, we could immediately get a second wind and really make some progress on the project at hand. Once we start by taking action, we then can get focused and begin to concentrate, suddenly we find ourselves in hyper creativity, and hyper-productivity, and that is when we become unstoppable.
I have a plaque that says “I will do today what others will not, so that I will have tomorrow what others have not” if I could just get started!
I want to help you overcome procrastination by empowering you with some tools to defeat this energy devouring culprit.
So here are some great ways for you to deal with procrastination and get started:
Power principles for overcoming procrastination:
1. You must plan out exactly:
A.)What you are going to do. You must write it out on paper where you can see it. This is essential. The great film director Stephen Spielberg said “if it’s not on the page then it’s not on the stage.” In other words if it is not planned out exactly on paper, it’s not going to happen. We procrastinate because we do not take the time to define exactly, in detail, just precisely what we want to accomplish. If it is not important enough to take the time to write out what is really important for us to achieve, then we will have a natural tendency to simply put it off. We spend more time planning our vacation than we do our life. How absurd and short sighted we are that this is true. How can we ever achieve if we don’t know what exactly it is that we want to do?
B.)How you are going to do it. This is the step by step detailed plan of just how you are going to get this thing done. Many dreamers imagine all the things that they would like to do, but with out a precise plan of action they are doomed to failure. Bad things happen by accident, that’s why they call them accidents. Good things happen on purpose, that’s called purposeful living. You must empower yourself to overcome the inertia of procrastination and take the action necessary to achieve your desired outcome by having a well thought out carefully crafted plan of action! You must take some quiet, creative time and ask the question; just how am I going to do this? Wait then for the answers to come and your incredible brain with figure it out and report it personally to you.
C.)When you are going to do it. Next; you must set a time deadline to accomplish the task at hand. Just when do you intend to have this thing done. Think of the incredible motivating power of a time deadline. How about when you were a child and you absolutely had to give an oral report on Friday. Or what about when you procrastinated until the last minute then ended up staying up all night to cram for an exam or finish a book report due. Or what about April 15th that causes people to focus and prepare their tax documents and stand in long lines to get them postmarked before 12pm. Never underestimate the incredible motivational power of a time deadline, and learn the incredible power of attaching it to any project!
D.)Why you must get it done. Great lives are absolutely motivated and empowered by great “why’s.” Why must you succeed? What is at stake? You must feel the emotion of what it means to fail or succeed and all the ramifications if you do one or the other. This is what I call getting emotional leverage on your self and it is so powerful! It requires intense thought and just as intense feelings. You must not only apply your “intellectual IQ” to the task but also your “emotional IQ.” To the degree that you complete this commitment question of “why” you will find the energy, time, and effort to overcome procrastination and achieve your dreams. I dare you to try it!
2. Break it up into smaller more achievable tasks. Small steps are the keys to success. Remember, “how do you eat an elephant” answer “one bite at a time.” When you break a project down to the least common denominator as far as small steps, the mind can get it’s understanding around it and the mind will not feel overwhelmed. Much procrastination is caused by a feeling of just being overwhelmed. When you break it down and commit to finishing one little step after another you will then build momentum until massive action takes over and you make a quantum leap in productivity. Little by little, step by step, one by one, is the key. Anyone can do the little things, all you have to do is again take the time for creative and meditative thinking and split it into easily achievable compartments. That is how productive people operate while many others are lost in an overwhelming fog.
3. Next, you must do something immediately. By now the creative and motivational juices are flowing and you should naturally experience and energy and focus. There is something about just starting that is 80% of the battle. Capitalize on where you are, in the moment, and take action now. This is the time to move forward and just get started. You have come this far in the process and I guarantee you’ve got what it takes, the focus, the interest, the excitement, the mental clarity, so utilize the convergence of all these things and start, and start now! Remember the old wise sage that said “the journey of a thousand miles begins in a single step.” Trust me, at this point; it is the perfect time to take that step.
4. Make sure you have everything necessary to do the job. Plan the logistics of the operation. How much time will it take, how much money, manpower, supplies., Carefully lay out anything that you will need to crate, or buy or secure so that you can successfully accomplish your project. Most people fail because they do not take the time to carefully plan every detail, for instance 80% of all companies fail in the first two years due to under capitalization. In other words they did not plan accurately for the finances and other imperative logistics. It is easy to get stuck if you are missing some important piece of the puzzle and you can loose valuable momentum if you have to stop and finish preparations that should have already been done. Make sure you have all the supplies at hand before you set sail on jour project and then when it is time to start you will feel confident that you will succeed, you will conquer the incapacitating fear of failure, and you will procrastinate no longer.
5. Do the thing you hate first. Do the thing you fear most, and you conquer fear! Same concept. Our minds build up immense opposition to things we hate to do or are afraid of doing and it often causes a paralysis that forces us into procrastination mode. Doing the worst thing first makes everything else easy by comparison. Make the phone call you hate first in the day and you are on your way to productivity. Many people fear using the phone, it’s called “phone reluctance” and a lot of people have it. But, whatever it is that is incapacitating and paralyzing you, you must identify it, and put it on the top of your too-do list and get it done first. Why not commit yourself to this simple little tip and make a habit of doing the thing you hate first so that you can get on with the main thing which is your successful achievement of the task at hand. It just simply works!
6. Picture in your mind’s eye the task accomplished, and how good you will feel. We do things because we believe the results will ultimately produce something that will make us feel better. Visualization is so important and it is a true saying that we do things for the feeling it gives us. Why make more money, because we feel better with it. Why drive a nice car, because of the way it makes us feel. Why wear nice clothes, because of the way it makes us feel. It’s not the money, or the car, or the clothes, it’s the way those things make us feel. That is the great motivator. That is why we do what we do. So, if you can make that fact work for you, if you will but imagine and visualize how great you are going to feel when you win the battle and do the thing that important to you, then your mind, body and emotions will automatically move towards the fulfillment of your project. Your mind cannot distinguish between an imagined thought and a real thought, so let your imagination work for you and meditate, think, visualize, and feel with the most emotional intensity that you can muster, and you will overcome procrastination, guaranteed. That is why people, with all odds against them, rise out of the ashes of defeat and succeeds in life, because they tasted the victory in their emotions and thinking long before they ever experienced it in reality. If you can imagine the powerful positive feeling as a result of accomplishment done even before a task begins, it will definitely help you get started. Be sure to make full use of this powerful principle along the journey to your dreams.
7. Make yourself work on it for a short time – anybody can do something for 30 minutes. Anybody can give a project their best shot for 90 days! See the concept? Since just getting started is 80% of the battle, if you commit to working for a pre-determined short amount of time, you will generally catch your second wind, and develop energy and interest to go on and work on the project for a longer period. It is human nature, so we should wise up and take advantage of our nature, even to the point of tricking ourselves into action with the end result of becoming a winner in life and achieving all we are meant to achieve in our time on planet earth. You can certainly apply this to bigger projects by breaking things into small achievable tasks, and then also breaking things into small achievable start times that will automatically produce longer effort and major progress.
8. Commit yourself publicly and then work like crazy to get it done! We all hate to be wrong at the top of our voice, so often it is a great push to overcome the inertia of procrastination when we announce to everyone what we are going to do. This makes us accountable to those that heard our words and accountability is a huge motivator. One would be wise to use this principle by making themselves accountable to a counselor or coach, or anyone that cares enough about us to check on our progress. This of course only works for people of character that it would be important for them to keep their words. Words are powerful so should be used carefully, but trust me this can be so moving and empowering especially at times when one may be tempted to quit when the going gets rough or again in just motivating one to take the action of simply starting. Work is obviously essential. One multi-millionaire said “the harder I worked the luckier I got.” So commit yourself to others and then so whatever you have to do to make it happen, and they will celebrate with you when the battle is won.
9. Reward yourself for accomplishing the smaller tasks, and give yourself a big reward for the big achievements! The truth is , like Pavlov’s dog, we are motivated by reward and the wonderful feeling that we get from reward, therefore, if you want to overcome procrastination, determine what would make you feel happy and then commit to accomplish a small task and then reward yourself. You can do this over and over, accomplishing each small step until you get close to finishing the project, then create a fantastic reward for when you finish the task. The project might be so big that you could reward yourself with a vacation, or maybe a cruise, or some new clothes, or a magnificent piece of furniture, or a new car. You know what you like and what revs you up, so be creative and design a reward worthy of and commensurate with the fulfillment of the project, task, or the reaching of your dream.
Now you have the principles that are really the tools to enable you to defeat the ugly dragon of procrastination. Without implementing these tools and making them a pattern in your life as part of successful living, things will literally drag on and on and on, and procrastination will control you if you are weaker than it. Life is about decisions and choices and from this day forward you chose to be an overcomer because you hold the keys to your own success. I can give you the keys but you must drive your car yourself. Now you know how to do it, so the responsibility for your achievement is in your grasp. Good luck and God Bless!
DO IT NOW!
DO SOMETHING EVEN IF IT’S WRONG!
“READY…FIRE…AIM!”
And Have FUN!
Dr. Gary D. Knouf
http://www.instituteofchampions.com
Drgary4@yahoo.com
Introducing Speaker, Communicator, and Author: Dr. Gary Knouf
Dr. Gary Knouf has spoken publicly over 12,000 times in churches, colleges, schools, retreats, camps, corporate trainings TV, radio, and more. He has been an Author, Pastor, Evangelist, CEO, and President of companies for 31 years. He holds three doctorate degrees, two Doctorate of Divinity’s and a PhD. in Psychology and Counseling from Baptist Christian University. Dr. Knouf is also a certified marriage and family counselor. He serves God full time at Apache Creek Deaf and Youth Ranch as Staff Evangelist as well as director of PR, and Marketing.
Favorite Topic: His new book, “Power Motivation for Bible Believers” a Christian personal development book emphasizing how believers can discover Gods will for their life, and also learn how to Biblically and spiritually motivate themselves to accomplish Gods will and live a victorious and fruitful life.
Other topics of interest: “Successful Relationships,” “Successful Financial Management,” “Power Principles for Success in Life” “Dealing With Depression,” “The Secret To Receiving God’s Richest Blessings,” and More.
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Are you just plain fed up with house breaking dogs? You certainly do breathe a sigh of relief when the pup finally learns how to control him or herself and resists going on the carpet. Unfortunately, dog urinary problems start the habit all over again. However, in these circumstances it is a far more tragic situation; not just one of frustration. Because of dog urinary problems the animal cannot control itself. Dog urinary problems can include urinary tract infection, incontinence, kidney disease and any number of other disorders. It seems that dog owners really know when their beloved pet is experiencing a problem. You could say that we humans have a sixth sense about our animals and can tell if something is off. At the same time, we may wonder if some unusual symptoms in a dog really merit taking the dog to the veterinarian. After all, a vet bill can be steep and many sick dogs could be traumatized by the visit anyway. What should you do when your dog shows symptoms of dog urinary tract infections? When the symptoms are pronounced, the safest thing to do is to take the dog to a qualified veterinarian. Otherwise, you risk the condition getting worse. For example, problems with the urinary tract are caused by invading bacteria. The bacteria, if not eliminated, will spread to other organs and could eventually cause the pet’s death.
The first thing to learn about dog urinary problems is what symptoms you should be looking for. Nobody enjoys analyzing dog urine or the process of the dog taking a leak. However, these details will reveal the most telling signs. For instance, if you notice blood in the dog’s urine this is a very critical sign of something being wrong with the urinary system. If you notice the dog straining to urinate then this indicates that there is some sort of blockage in the system. Also darker urine (as in a reddish color) or foul smelling urine should be noted. Lastly, if you notice that the dog is trying to urinate but does not seem to release, or that the dog is drinking a lot of water, this is a cause for concern.
Once you take the dog to the vet to have its dog urinary problems diagnosed, the vet will most likely give you antibiotic treatment. However, before prescribing a strong medication, he will want to see that your pet is not ultra-sensitive to some type of drugs. Pet owners may feel wary about chemical-based medicine and so may opt instead for herbal treatment for dog urinary tract infections.
After The Treatment
After your dog is given treatment to reduce the infection and inflammation, you will still have to regularly check up on its health. Don’t make the mistake that many pet owners do, of assuming that since their dog recovered once, he or she is now free of all UTI symptoms. Some dogs are actually genetically disposed to having recurring symptoms. Keep an eye on the dog and follow some general prevention tips.
First, make sure that the dog is taken outside frequently. This may be frustrating to you, but holding it in as per the master’s request can increase the chance of the dog having UTI symptoms again. Remember that all bacteria that reside in the bladder must be flushed as soon as possible. Not only should you take your dog for a walk-you should also keep the dog exercising, as this improves urinary function. Giving the dog more water is an obviously beneficial treatment, as this will cause the dog to urinate more in general. When it comes to dogs recovering from urinary tract infection the more urine the better! Some experts have also spoken highly of citric juices for dog urinary tract infections.
For more information on how to care for your recovering dog visit http://www.pet-bladder-treatment.com
My name is Einar Eskeland. I am a Norwegian medical doctor, and a yoga and meditation enthusiast since youth. I promote several high quality sources of knowledge and products for self improvement, health, evolution and growth as a part of my practice as a doctor, and as a help for my patients in their struggle to regain health and balance.
http://www.pet-bladder-treatment.com
When one mentions a radiator, one would think of that silent ubiquitous metal air-conditioner type of grill, like out of the refrigerator itself. And you wouldn’t be far from the truth, dear Reader. In fact, the purpose of this grill-like object in refrigerators and cars are both the same: draw heat away from the engine.
How is hot water cooled in the radiator?
Radiators are by definition “convectors” or “heat exchangers.” Radiators mostly involve liquids and changing the temperature of these liquids from hot to cold to hot and so forth. The goal of a car radiator is to draw heat away from the engine and replacing the environment with cooler water drawn from the radiator.
Radiators are located front of the engine and behind the front grill of the car. This puts the radiator in a position to receive relatively cold outside air. Radiators have fins sticking out from the pipes to increase the surface area where air can come into contact with it, this way warm liquids in the radiators get colder faster in time to be pumped back into the engine to draw more heat away.
What’s the composition of the radiator liquid?
Inside the radiator is plain water mixed with coolant. The ratio is about 50:50.
As a word of caution, NEVER put coolant when the engine is hot. Wait for the engine to cool down before putting in coolant. Doing so may crack the engine due to extreme temperature differentials.
Putting plain water in a hot engine is allowed during emergencies.
Coolant is needed as a part of the mixture because it has anti-corrosive properties, saving your radiator from early rust.
How to check and add liquid to your radiator
Here are the steps on how to properly check and add liquid to your radiator.
Open the radiator cap. NEVER open a radiator cap with the engine hot, this is a sure way to get very hot steam in your face. If you cannot wait, pour cold water over the cap and the radiator to facilitate in cooling the radiator faster and safe enough to open.
Look down into the hole and check water level. You should be able to see that the water level has to be around an inch below where the cap screwed on. This means that the water level is fine.
Any lower, or if you see the water fellow the fins in the radiator, it’s time to add some liquid.
Check fluid condition. You tell a lot by looking at the quality of the fluid inside a radiator. The regular color of fluid is like juice, orange, blue or green. Vibrant colors.
If you notice that the fluid color is colorless (and you did remember to put in coolant), rusty, or has some particles floating around inside, it’s time to flush the fluids and add new water and coolant into the radiator
If you see the fluid quality is oily or sludgy, drive the car immediately to the mechanic or service center. This may be a possible leak with the internal head gasket.
Check hose conditions. Feel and squeeze the hoses for that familiar rubbery feel. If they are in any way cracked, brittle, spongy, porous, or bloated, it’s a good time to replace them.
Add some liquid in the radiator. The rule of thumb when you place fluid in the radiator is 50% water and 50% coolant. The coolant is important, not only to keep the engine cooler than what just water would do, but also to stave off the attack of rust on metal.
What if I need to totally replace (flush) the radiator?
Coolant is TOXIC to living things. Do not just flush them into your drain.
Follow these steps:
Make sure that the engine is cold before proceeding. Park in a place where you can work with no children coming near, especially toddlers.
Place a bucket under the drain valve of your car. Make it enough to hold at least 6 liters.
Open the drain valve and allow the liquid to fill the bucket.
Close the drain valve.
Open the radiator cap and fill with plain water.
Run then engine with heater on high for 10 minutes. Keep an eye on your temperature gauge to prevent overheating. Allow the engine to cool and drain into the bucket all over again.
Refill the radiator with 50% water and 50% coolant.
Replace radiator cap and run the engine with heater on high until the engine comes to your usual temperature range.
Shut off the engine and allow to cool once more.
Bring the used radiator fluid to your local service station for disposal.
Every week, re-check the radiator for water level once more and fill as necessary.
There you have it. You can now do maintenance on your radiator. Easy wasn’t it?
Our next article in the DIY series is: How Saving Gas Is Partly A Matter of Air Pressure
For more very useful information on increasing fuel efficiency, mileage, and saving petrol. Visit us at our URL below.
Erwin Chua MCP, MCDST is a HUMAN BEING posing as a WEB MARKETER. In his youth, he’s read the entire World Book Encyclopedia and World Book Dictionaries from A-Z out of a passion to know things and share his knowledge with others. Things that fascinate him most include: the HUMAN CONDITION and its PASSION TO IMPROVE, TECHNOLOGY that make things easy, SYSTEMS that make things easy, and HELPING OTHERS escape the RAT RACE through online marketing. He has a still-pending MA in Philosophy from DLSU-Manila after he decided to leave the academe in pursuit of a career in web marketing. He is based in Penang, Malaysia spending his online and offline activities pursuing his passion in equipping others with tools and mindset to be spiritually and financially free.
For more detailed information about fuel efficiency, enhancing engine performance, and products visit: How To Get The Best MPG Cars With Save Petrol Fast!
Oily skin care is a time consuming process. Some oily skincare products contain alcohol and other drying ingredients which could have a detrimental effect by leading to excessive dryness. Here is a little advice on the subject that might be helpful.
Keeping your skin clean is the most essential part of any regimen. You should take care to wash your face at least twice per day, once in the morning and again at night. The pollutants that your skin is exposed to throughout the day can stimulate the production of the skin’s natural oil, known as sebum, and can contribute to accelerated signs of aging.
The cleansers that you use should be of a mild variety, devoid of harsh abrasives. In addition to harsh cleansers, you should also avoid exfoliation products. Although commonly recommended for oily skin care, the practice will actually increase the skin’s sebum production.
You want to also avoid oily skincare products that contain petroleum based moisturizers, such as the often used petrolatum. These products will not only leave your skin feeling greasy, but will also clog your pores. This will eventually lead to the development of blackheads and acne.
We mentioned earlier about the risk of excessive dryness when using products containing alcohol. While we don’t advocate the use of any astringent for oily skin care, witch hazel is a better choice if you are going to use one. Plant based alcohols are the best.
There are many plant oils and waxes that are beneficial additions to oily skincare products. Jojoba and passion fruit extract are particularly good, because they act to literally balance the level of sebum production. This is because the extracts so closely resemble to the skin’s own oils that your glands produce less.
Grape seed oil is another beneficial natural ingredient for oily skin care. This oil leaves a fine film on your skin which protects your pores from dirt and grime. When the skin is excessively oily it tends to attract more dirt, so acne and blackheads are more common.
There are probably oily skincare products in your kitchen. Orange peels for example, if moistened, make for an effective facial scrub. If you want to take it all of the way, freshly squeezed orange juice makes for a healthy cleanser.
A couple of things that you ought to keep out of your oily skin care regimen are creams and lotions that contain parabens and artificial fragrances. Parabens are the preservative agents commonly used in cosmetics. Both they and many of the chemicals used in the fragrance engineering, have been shown to cause cancer.
The oily skincare products that you want to use should contain all natural preservatives such as vitamin E. Of course, you want as many of the other ingredients as possible to also be natural. There are some very good organic products available, they are just a little harder to find.
Just make sure to read the label thoroughly before you buy a product. If you see a lot of ingredients that you do not readily recognize, then look somewhere else for your oily skin care solutions.
Andrea Marshall is a researcher of skin care and health supplement products. Visit her site now at http://www.healthy-solutions-source.com to get the facts on how to choose the best products for your youthful and healthy life.
Many women suffer from morning sickness during the first three months of pregnancy – known as the first trimester. How bad the symptoms are varies from mother to mother and even from pregnancy to pregnancy. In a twin pregnancy, you can expect double the hormones to cause double the morning sickness. Usually this is an indicator that there may be two babies in there!
Some women have morning sickness only in the morning. Others have it all day long and wonder why they call it ‘morning sickness’ when it’s more like ‘all day sickness’.
What causes morning sickness ? The culprit seems to be the pregnancy hormone - human chorionic gonadotropin or HCG. It’s the hormone that we test for in pregnancy tests and it is highest during the first few months of pregnancy. Progesterone, another hormone results in the slowing of the digestive process and may also be a factor. There’s a lot of changes going on in a pregnant woman’s body ,such as increases in kidney function and blood volume .
If you are suffering from morning sickness you probably don’t care about WHY – you just want to get relief while you’re marking off the days on the calendar, waiting for your 2nd trimester. Here are some things to try to give yourself some relief.
1) Keep crackers by the bed and try to eat some before you even make an attempt to get up out of bed. Having a totally empty stomach can give you queasies right off the bat.
2) Don’t eat till you are stuffed. Eating small meals, often throughout the day will keep your stomach acid down and your blood sugar levels stable.
3) Try not to eat and drink at the same time – again – this prevents your stomach from being overly full so eat and drink separately.
4) Make sure you are not dehydrated especially in the summer months – sipping on cold water, fruit juices milk will keep you hydrated.
5) Stick to plain, boring, bland foods. If you are suffering with morning sickness it is not the time to check out new Thai or Indian spicy food – stick to bland until your stomach settles. Sometimes the smell of certain spices in cooking will set you off too – if something makes your stomach turn – avoid it.
6) Eat complex carbohydrates such as pasta, toast, and potatoes – again – bland and starchy and less likely to set off your tummy.
6) Stay away from greasy and fatty foods – things like pizza and greasy cheeseburgers probably won’t sit very well , and they don’t have a lot of nutritional value anyway.
7) If your sense of smell has gone crazy – you may need to ask hubby to do the cooking – or avoid cooking anything with strong odors – it’s OK to just have soup or pancakes !
Talk to your doctor about vitamin B6 – it has been shown to help reduce nausea in low doses. You may also want to consider switching prenatal vitamins as some are harder to digest than others.
9) Ginger ! In tea form, in gingerale, in candy form – it can help with morning sickness.
10) Get some fresh air – taking a walk in the fresh air can help you feel better while you wait it out.
11) Sour things can help – not sure why but lemon candy, lemonade, lemon popsicles , fresh lemon in water – all seemed to help me get past morning sickness.
12) Brush your teeth often and use mouthwash – the extra saliva in your mouth will make you feel sick so get rid of it as often as you can. If your toothpaste is suddenly turning your stomach – switch brands or flavors. And if you are vomiting – this will help protect your teeth from your stomach acids.
13) Keep your toilet bowl clean – just trust me on this one – if your face is in it – you’ll want it to be clean!
14) Do what works for you. Eat what appeals to you – even if it’s unusual or not nutritionally perfect. Avoid triggers as much as possible and get help with things that turn your stomach if you can.
Morning sickness is one of those things that you may suffer with – but know that it is temporary and that your body is just adjusting to all the changes taking place. While that may be hard to do while your head is in the toilet bowl again – try to keep your sense of humor and focus on building a healthy baby! Every one is different – I couldn’t look at raw meat or even at pictures of raw meat in the grocery store flyers, couldn’t smell parmesean cheese, and the smell of a dirty or wet diaper sent me running. But it passed!
Now – if your morning sickness is extreme, or going beyond the first 3 months, or you’re losing too much weight and feeling dizzy – make sure you let your doctor know immediately. He may prescribe medication to help with the nausea, and a small percentage of women do require hospitalization due to Hyperemesis Gravidarum- severe morning sickness.
For most women – it passes by the second trimester – and just becomes a rather unpleasant memory so hang in there ! I feel for you!
Author’s Bio
Kimberley Becker is the founder and author of a website for parents of twins at http://www.raising-twins.com
She is a stay at home mom of four beautiful children, 2 boys and 2 girls. She has a degree in Applied Counseling and Early Childhood Education and has previously worked as a special needs worker, a Counselor for abused women, and a Counselor for High Risk Youth. For a more complete discussion about the ways to deal with early pregnancy symptoms visit http://www.raising-twins.com/early-pregnancy-symptoms.html
Learning to compete is yet another of the vital pieces to becoming a next-level player. Athletic ability alone gets very few to the top of the pyramid with the exception of names like Albert Pujols, Joe Mauer, Andrew Jones, Roger Clemens, Alex Rodriguez; guys just born with such amazing skill and size. Yet even they needed to learn to become great competitors.focused and prepared to do battle.
Even Derek Jeter, once viewed as the third best shortstop in the American League (and owner of 4 World Series rings as of this writing), talks about the countless hours of his teen years spent hacking with his SoloHitter Hitting Trainer. You watch how he approaches every at-bat and how hard he competes and you just know that this is how he is wired. it may have started from the head of his dinner table, or a coach, but those who know him say that this guy was always a tough out!
Watching Jeter play, you just have to appreciate how many of the best become their best!
So who & what is a great competitor?
In Practice – He’s the guy who knows what he is supposed to do and does it correctly. and not just when coaches are watching. He understands the value of practicing hard & correctly and knows its importance to himself and his team. He practices how he plays! He challenges himself and is interested in becoming his best.not just better!
In Games – He is mentally prepared and has a plan for every at-bat and every situation. Because of his great practice habits, he can kick his game plan into gear with little concern for not being prepared. Coaches know they can count on him!
The Ultimate Competitor is the Ultimate Team Player!
- He doesn’t care who the hero is.
- He’s going to compete to help his team win!
- He wants his teammates to do well!
Players come in all shapes, sizes & personalities.
but successful players all learn the importance of being a great competitor!
The Young Player
Teach & Learn The Love of The Game!
A competitive nature can start at a young age but first a player must learn to love the game. Without that love, he may never get to that point where the rest even matters. This is overwhelmingly more important.
My own observation is that few 10-year olds are equipped to understand this; maybe half of 11-year olds seem to and most 12-year olds who get the concept are emotionally equipped to do battle and understand the euphoria of winning and the agony of losing. and what it takes to get there.
This knowledge can come from the head of the dinner table, an older sibling, a teacher or coach, older or other teammates, opposing players.anywhere really. What’s more important is that it becomes how a player goes about his business on the field.
It’s Just Baseball
One 10-year old may love to play every day and will play 60+ games a year while another may be burned out by age 12 with that sort of schedule. Love the game first and the competitive juices will just kick in when they are supposed to.there is no schedule. Know your player(s) and you will know when to prod and when to back off and let them find it themselves. THEY’RE ALL DIFFERENT!
Some Examples of Great Competitors
- The 4th best player on my best 14-year old team ever is now a 2nd year pro after a stellar college career and a trip to Omaha as a freshman. He made himself into a ballplayer. He wanted it more than anyone else on that team. and is still playing while those who were his superior are now out of the game or finishing their college careers as their last stop.
- A leftie outfielder of mine was drafted in the 38th round out of high school, went to a JUCO (junior college) instead, redoubled his efforts to improve, and is now a 1st year pro. redrafted in the 4th round and, as of this writing, he is rated by Baseball America as having the best raw power in the Anaheim Angels organization!
- The Chicago Cub infielder I played golf with recently was kidded by a member of our foursome with a reminder of the pressure putt he had.it was quite testy. I will paraphrase him as he shot back at the heckler. Are you kidding, I love this stuff. referring to that pressure. And believe me, this guy has made himself into one tough Big League competitor.he is a tough out and will battle you with all he has.even at a charity golf tournament!
- My buddy Steve Springer played 14 years of pro ball with very little Big League time but he is content with his years in the game. He was 4 foot 11 inches tall and weighed 90 pounds as a freshman high school player. Can you imagine how many times older players tortured him?
He didn’t even start his senior year in high school. yet he didn’t quit! He grew late. but he grew into an All-Conference college shortstop. and that’s how he got seen and ultimately drafted by the New York Mets!
As Spring says, “The great thing about this game is that you get judged every day. So be a great competitor. Be a tough out!”
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