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Got a Moment?

That's Enough Time to Learn From the Focus Edge Approach to Succeed at Your Own Field of Endeavor

Effective individuals use the same Focus Edge mindset to compete successfully as do the sports legends who describe it in Psychology of Champions.

From leadership challenges to reaching team goals in record time, using this achievable three-step attitude can make you a super-athlete in your own field of endeavor.

Motivation: Take some time out of your stressed-out world and meditate on what's important to you. Take a walk alone or an easy drive on a road with no traffic and think about what's really important to you. What will matter to you in the long run? What will make life worth living in terms of where you put your most effort? What are you good at? How do you follow your ecstasy? Once you get clear about that, your motivation will climb to unfamiliar levels. Doing what you're good at and what makes you feel most fulfilled is how best to get motivated to the success of which you are capable. Read how Michael Jordan acquired his intensity of competition, how Wayne Gretsky proved his natural talents to his doubters, how Arnold Palmer learned to attack the course rather than play it cautiously.
Confidence: Continued improvement on what you decide to focus on builds on itself over time. Nothing succeeds like success, and soon you'll feel more confident than you thought possible. Garner all your strength, and then be your authentic self — totally. Only you have that particular set of skills and abilities that make you unique. Know your knowledge, and know the challenge set before you. As a leader, being honest and fair-minded will get you the support from above and below and add greatly to your sense of self-confidence. As a team member, knowing how to communicate to others what you're good at and what you want to do to make the best contribution will again add confidence. Read how Ted Williams built his confidence on the little things, how Jack Nicklaus developed his confidence through preparation, how Deion Sanders learned his limits and focused on what he could do.
Concentration: Learn from the super-athletes how to be in the zone, how to focus on the moment at hand so that you're not distracted from achieving the success of which you're capable. Being in the moment with your associate, subordinates, or superiors makes you a force to be dealt with. Being your authentic self as you are in the moment makes you worthy of others' respect and loyalty. You come across as more trustworthy and dependable. Read how Mario Andretti set out to control his mind around a single objective, how Gordie Howe saw the goal from the eyes of the puck, how Chris Evert gained "an ability to live only in each moment, not one second in the past or one second in the future."

Winning Points: Psychology of Champions

Focus Edge Mindset is the winning attitude combining three components of success in sports. Our research on super-athletes and sports legends across the generations validates our belief in a common attitude that always leads to such success.

MOTIVATION. The strength of an athlete's willingness to put forth the effort to fulfill a goal is what makes up motivation. It involves inner discipline and a strong sense of commitment — over time. Expectations of success fuel this fierce drive toward pushing the outer edge of the envelope in terms of effort devoted to competing at one's highest level, even when the going gets tough — especially then. A healthy combination of desire to succeed and fear of failure keeps the super-athlete at the cutting edge.

CONFIDENCE. This is a key ingredient, the essence of which is characterized by the words storming out of Muhammad Ali's mouth: "I am the greatest!" Confidence in one's own ability and particular skills is what matters, at the highest level of certainty. Far beyond trying and hoping, Focus Edge confidence is sometimes aided by an athlete's spiritual beliefs. In any case, this faith in oneself is based on a consistent track record of successful performance history. As Michael Jordan once put it, "I know where it is and how to get there and what it feels like to go deep inside for that extra push or pull I might need." (Ali's Quote)

CONCENTRATION. Focusing is what enables the super-athlete to transcend competing distractions and hone in on the challenge of the immediate moment. The perceived world slows down, and the details of the end goal are blown out of proportion to reality. This is what's commonly referred to as being in the zone. Attention to the important details becomes effortless. In some sports, narrow focus plays its part, as when a batter focuses on the pitch and can see the seams of the ball as it rolls slowly toward him. In other sports, broad attention allows the player to be aware of the field of surround. This happens when a quarterback scans the field for the best receiver or when a Wayne Gretzky becomes so keenly aware of his teammates around him as he looks to make one of his perfect passes.

Focus Edge Mindset: A Solid Winner for Super-Athletes and Sports Legends Over the Years

The Focus Edge mindset has proven to be a solid winner for athletes in all sports. Over the years of our study, a common theme of winners was consolidated into three components — motivation, confidence and concentration. This winning combination proved successful in team sports such as football, basketball, and hockey; in individual sports such as running and car-racing; and in one-on-one sports such as boxing and tennis.

According to the athletes we interviewed, success was due to: