Book Talk 1 - In Pursuit of Excellence

*Wheel of Excellence - Terry Orlick, PhD

• Focus (the focal point)

  • To perform your best, a focus that allows you to be free and be you is vital for success. Being in the moment in each step of the journey raises the quality, level, and consistency of your best performances.

• Commitment

  • With strong commitment, your goals are always possible. Commitment can grow by finding joy for what you are doing and embracing the special moments within your journey. Just as important as chasing your goals and continuous fighting through adversity, commit to taking time for resting physically and mentally.

• Mental Readiness

  • You must be mentally ready for focused, and decisive action. Mental readiness is being able to learn, apply, and perform under challenging conditions. Your mental readiness can grow from shifting negative experiences to positive lessons learned.

• Positive Visions & Images

  • “Visions, big or small, live in your mind before they become positive realities.” Visualization in life and sport can be a very powerful tool. Reflect on positive moments from past experiences and envision what you want to happen to push for the performance you strive for.

• Confidence

  • “Pure confidence comes from feeling grounded in who you are and knowing in your heart and soul that you are capable of doing what you want to do.” Preparation is important to building competence, achieving quality work, and removing the doubts that can negatively affect your performance.

• Distraction Control

  • There are internal (doubts, fears, worries) and external distractions (opposition, media) that can affect your performance. Eliminating distractions and controlling what you can control is important when experiencing pressure or uncertainty.

• Ongoing Learning

  • Carefully evaluating both negative and positive experiences is important for constant growth. Quality and consistent feedback to yourself, from yourself and others, will aid in high performance outputs.