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. 

Is Attitude Always Everything?

And the chorus sings “Attitude is Everything!”

It is said so often that it has become a cliché…Attitude is everything!

But is it really? Yes and no. It’s not everything if you aren’t working.

Don’t kid yourself about your attitude. Just being a happy, positive person isn’t enough. Anyone can be pleasant when they don’t have anything to do or aren’t under any pressure.

A great attitude goes beyond that. 
It means you’re committed to a goal. It means you are willing to face challenges without hesitation. It means you can be counted on. People who have great attitudes are energized and focused. They work hard and they work long. They have a toughness and consistency about them that gives encouragement to those they work with. It shows up when things are going well and when they are going bad. It goes well beyond just being an easy-going, happy guy.

You can have a wonderful attitude but without wonderful activity it's not going to do you much good.

Even Lance Armstrong Had a Gut Check

GETTING HIMSELF MENTALLY READY FOR HIS COMEBACK IN THE TOUR DE FRANCE AFTER A 4 YEAR LAYOFF...

"When I started my comeback, in all the early races I was tentative, hesitant—that was the reason for the crash—broke my collarbone. I had thoughts of using this as a reason to quit, wondering, do I really want to do this? Word of this reached the Team director, he called and made one call, said, "ARE YOU NUTS, YOU ARE NOT QUITTING! YOU'VE COME TOO FAR!" After that call, that was it, I went all in—whatever it took." —Lance Armstrong

He had spent a year getting himself physically ready for the comeback, but the mental commitment was another thing entirely. Until he got that past the issue of whether or not he was ready to give it everything he had, he wouldn't be ready.

Now we know the result.

He finished an amazing third in the 21 day race against 200 of the top elite professional road racers in the world—almost all of them 5-12 years younger than he is.

You'll never put forth the effort required to be the best unless you commit totally. It's impossible to push yourself to the maximum effort required unless you want it bad enough to go all in. Even Lance. Even a 7 time Champion.