With October comes shorter days, cooler weather, turning leaves…
And football coaches trying all SORTS of things to inspire their teams to play to their highest level.
New York Jets head coach Erik Mangini is an especially strong advocate of motivational speakers and techniques.
In the past three years, he’s brought in all-time receiving leader Jerry Rice; Jim Calhoun, men’s basketball coach at UConn, former Olympic decathlete Dan O’Brien and the boxing trainer Teddy Atlas, to name just a few.
This week I heard Mangini mention something that Baltimore Colts coach Mike McCormack used to ask his players (although it's also attributed to others including Jim Rohn).
"Would you prefer the pain of discipline or the pain of regret?"
Point being, of course, that the pain of discipline is fleeting, while the pain of regret can be eternal.
It reminded me of something my marathon training buddies and I talk about when we're out sufferin' and griping in the mid-August Florida heat running 16 miles.
"You can pay now… or you can pay on race day."
It's all about choices.
This week I heard Mangini mention something that Baltimore Colts coach Mike McCormack used to ask his players (although it's also attributed to others including Jim Rohn).
"Would you prefer the pain of discipline or the pain of regret?"
Point being, of course, that the pain of discipline is fleeting, while the pain of regret can be eternal.
It reminded me of something my marathon training buddies and I talk about when we're out sufferin' and griping in the mid-August Florida heat running 16 miles.
"You can pay now… or you can pay on race day."
It's all about choices.
Life is short...
Don't let those last few moments we'll all have someday be filled with what-ifs and might-have-beens!
3 comments:
That quote is possibly one of the most inspirational things I have ever heard. I never thought of pain (whether mental or physical) in that way when trying to accomplish a goal. Thank you for this post.
Thanks Jonathan. I thought it was powerful the instant I heard it... as it really summarizes so much about life in so few words. And the funny thing is that once you accept this, the "pain" of discipline subsides as time goes on because you know that it can lead to great rewards instead of mediocrity and nothingness.
Great quote Charlie.
Nice to hear you writing so much about running.
Quick story our fastest runner just qualified for Boston with a 3:10. He just did his first marathon last year.
I spoke to him last night and he said that the key for his preparation was hitting his long distance runs at race pace...and hard hard tempo runs in the week...45 seconds faster than race pace.
The point is...most runners do not run hard enough in their training...then they struggle race day.
Listen to any champion athlete and they'll say they just work harder than anyone else.
The key to success.
Hitting it hard in training is the key to race day success.
Seems like this would apply to many things like copywriting also.
p.s. what race are you training for?
Gary
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