THE MOMENT OF TRUTH

The 5th Key to Beating Big Shots is Commitment

Commitment gives you Confidence! Tiger Woods said that confidence was the big advantage he always had that allowed him to stay strong, focused at the tough moments.

It led to fantastic finishes on Sunday. It led to draw dropping putts and towering precision iron shots to win tournaments that were hanging in the balance. It led to total dominance for years in golf.

Commitment means you are all in

• It means you’ll start strong with total focus
• It means you’ll build intensity as the match goes on.
• It means you’ll fight until the final bell
• It means you won’t relax if you get ahead
• It means you’ll leave it all on the field
• It means you won’t be thinking about anything else until you’re finished
• It means your team and coaches can count on you to be your best

It means that if you ever get beat you’ll have a burning desire to come back next time with more fire and power and give the other team the beating…just like Alabama did to LSU in the NCAA College Football Championship this year.

It’s the last thing you find out about a player or team…Will they quit or not?
Many times, at the highest levels, this is where the game is won…in the very last seconds of the game. Who will flinch?

Teams can be equal all the way to the end..and then.. which one will have that last ounce of commitment.

The intensity in the stands builds as the climax of the game approaches. Here’s where we find out. This is the moment where it will come out. 

• Who is tougher? 
• Who want’s it more? 
• Who will stretch a little more? 

They are both exhausted so which one will reach down for that last effort, that last burst, that last surge that will put them in front? You that out right at the end. 

You find out about your “commitment” at the Moment of Truth
That’s when the team finds out about themselves. Everyone thinks they are committed. Everyone thinks they have what it takes. But until you play the game you don’t really know. It doesn’t necessarily mean you won.

You can be totally commited and lose, but you’ll have no regrets. You’ll know that you gave it everything you had. You won’t be happy about losing but you’ll be proud of your effort. You won’t be hanging your head.

You can really see it in boxing
It’s what makes boxing so fascinating to watch because you can see this play out right in front of you. You can see it also in individual sports like tennis or golf but boxing is different…they are beating on each other. They are exhausted, they may have been fighting for 15 rounds and time is running out. 

They may have been knocked down. Every part of their face and upper body has been pounded and pounded. Their bodies are screaming in exhaustion, begging for relief yet the boxer puts all that out of his mind and stays focused and on the attack right down to the final bell. 

• You can see it in his eyes.
• You can see it in his posture. 
• You can see it in what he does

At that moment commitment is not just a word, it’s real and there for everyone to see. 

What Alabama Beating LSU Means for You

Some great lessons for competing in 2012

Many were shocked when Alabama shut out LSU in BCS Championship game January 9. It wasn’t that they won but how they won. LSU was unbeaten. LSU was frighteningly talented. LSU was powerful at every position.

They had even beaten Alabama previously at Alabama. This time the game was to be played in New Orleans just down the road from Baton Rouge. It was essentially a home game for LSU.  

That’s what so great about competition
It didn’t matter that the odds were in LSU’s favor. Once the game began it was all about who was going to get the job done then! None of the past mattered—beyond the fact that it put them in position to do well. For some reason, maybe it was the ferocity of the Alabama players who wanted to redeem themselves, LSU was uncharacteristically jittery as they started the game. They were stumbling, fumbling, and out of rhythm. They certainly weren’t relaxed, confident, and aggressive.

Alabama sensed their hesitation and indecision and kept the pressure on. They were so effective the unthinkable happened, LSU not only got beat, they didn’t even score! They have no moral victories to take out of the game. They didn’t end on a high note. The decision was totally in Alabama’s favor. Alabama won big!  

What does that mean for you in 2012?
You can win big in 2012! You can win decisively in 2012! Things that have stood in your way in the past can be beaten. It doesn’t matter what has happened beforehand. It doesn’t matter what people think. It doesn’t matter how the odds may be stacked against you if you’re willing to compete you can still win.  

Alabama’s huge win over LSU is a loud message to all of us that if we’ll fight and compete we can win in 2012.