In the 1930′s a Northwestern grad student in the psychology department, E.F. “Al” Wonderlic, invented the test that came to be known as the Wonderlic.

Each year, nearly 3 million job applicants in every line of work take the Wonderlic.

NFL combine athletes must take it as well.

The Wonderlic is a timed IQ test, consisting of 50 questions, ranging form easy, to hard, and must be completed in 12 minutes.

Each question equals one point.

What’s good?

Well, the average scores in some professions look like this:

Chemist: 31

Programmer: 29

Sales: 24

Bank teller: 22

Security Guard: 17

The average NFL combiner scores a 21.

Former Bengals punter and Harvard grad Pat McInally scored a perfect 50 — the only NFL player known to do so.

What’s a sample question look like?  According to ESPN’s Closer Look online articles, here are five:

1. Assume the first two statements are true. Is the final one:

1. true,  2. false,  3. not certain?

The boy plays baseball. All baseball players wear hats. The boy wears a hat.

2. Paper sells for 21 cents per pad. What will four pads cost?

3. The hours of daylight and darkness in SEPTEMBER are nearest equal to the hours of daylight and darkness in:

1.June,  2. March,  3. May,  4. November.

4. A boy is 17 years old and his sister is twice as old. When the boy is 23 years old, what will be the age of his sister?

5. RESENT RESERVE • Do these words

1. have similar meanings, 2. have contradictory meanings, 3. mean neither the same nor opposite?

A well-rounded athlete isn’t simply about how many 225-lb bench presses can be performed, or the speed of one’s 40, but also …

the fast wit of one’s mind.

(I know a great place where you can increase your mental skills… yup, www.mentalstrength.com, of course)

By the way, in case you want the official answers to the above, they are: 1. true, 2. 84 cents, 3. March, 4. 40 years old, 5. mean neither the same nor opposite.

For more information, visit: ESPN Closer Look:

http://espn.go.com/page2/s/closer/020228.html

About MentalStrength.com
MentalStrength.com has served over 10,000 highly productive people, including business owners, athletes and coaches since 1999. A cutting edge interactive website, packed with discussion boards, valuable downloads, books, resources and rich multi-media tools, MentalStrength.com helps its members maintain a great attitude, network with other productive people and obtain life-long mental strength. You can also get MentalStrength.com updates by following us on Twitter @MindStrength.

The Mental Strength Training Center announced today the release of a Sport Psychology and mental skills training program for Soccer players and coaches.

To help soccer players, coaches and parents of soccer athletes become better teammates, leaders and athletes, the Mental Strength Training Center, working with world class Mental Skills coach and Indiana University Professor Dr. Gary Sailes, created the MENTAL STRENGTH TRAINING PROGRAM FOR SOCCER, a 2-phase training program contained on two CD’s.

Dr. Gary Sailes is an accomplished professor, having worked with dozens of professional athletes, universities, and other high profile individuals. Topics of the program include; Why mentally fit soccer athletes perform better, How to play to your potential, How to increase your speed, agility, and footwork through mental strength, How to be more confident, What to focus on while playing, How to stay relaxed in the stressful situations, and How to visualize success.

The MENTAL STRENGTH TRAINING PROGRAM FOR SOCCER features The Mental Strength Training Center CEO, Samuel F. Hirschberg in an interview format with Dr. Gary Sailes. The sports psychology for soccer program is easy to listen to and easy to learn from. The program features a 42-item self-inventory checklist, and a 10-question true/false exam to ensure maximum retention and understanding of the core principles. The MENTAL STRENGTH TRAINING PROGRAM FOR SOCCER, 2 CD’s, 42-item Mental Strength Inventory, and exam, $99, can be purchased online at www.mentalstrength.com for digital download, or the 2-CD’s are shipped priority mail through the United States Postal Service (USPS).

About MentalStrength.com
MentalStrength.com has served over 10,000 highly productive people, including business owners, athletes and coaches since 1999. A cutting edge interactive website, packed with discussion boards, valuable downloads, books, resources and rich multi-media tools, MentalStrength.com helps its members maintain a great attitude, network with other productive people and obtain life-long mental strength. You can also get MentalStrength.com updates by following us on Twitter @MindStrength.

You should now have a list of your responses to some of the common distractions affecting your play.

Such as…

• Your violent outburst to the baby crying …or…
• You spending the next four points wondering why you double faulted on game point.

And if you have no idea what I am talking about, please read Handling Distractions, Part 1, so that you get caught up:

The bottom line is this:
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You need to get back on track…
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and get over whatever caused your distraction.

How do you do that?

Simple.

Focus on something in the here-n-now.

So, let’s focus on your breathing.

What I like to do is concentrate on the breath coming into my lungs, and then, the exhaling of the breath going out my lungs.

And while I am breathing, I go about my task at hand.

Give it a try.  I am confident this will help you to get relaxed, re-focus on what you are doing, and stop dwelling on things you no longer have any control over.

About MentalStrength.com
MentalStrength.com has served over 10,000 highly productive people, including business owners, athletes and coaches since 1999. A cutting edge interactive website, packed with discussion boards, valuable downloads, books, resources and rich multi-media tools, MentalStrength.com helps its members maintain a great attitude, network with other productive people and obtain life-long mental strength. Memberships start at just $14.95. The tip of the week is always complimentary for non-members and available for enrollment at www.mentalstrength.com. You can also get Mental Strength.com updates by following us on Twitter @MindStrength.

Ok, last week we built upon your concentration skills.

Static concentration that is.

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Now, let’s move it.
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Literally.

You developed your concentration skills while totally focused on every contour, color, shape, size and detail of the object in question, i.e., baseball bat, tennis ball, golf ball, football, basketball, and so forth.

• Now, go onto the playing field.
• Throw a perfect pass.
• Hit a serve.
• Swing the bat.
• Run a perfect sprint.
• Perform the perfect stroke.

Whatever you do, simply relax, and perform it exactly as you want.  No pressure.

As you do it, imagine you are up in the clouds, looking down, watching yourself — slowing your performance.

When you are done, replay every detail in your mind.

If you can’t do it yet, that’s ok, keep performing and realizing more detail each time you do. Smell the grass, feel the air in your face, listen to the kids playing on the basketball court… every detail.

Continue to practice this motion picture in your mind.

Every time you do you’ll notice more and more details.  You’ll begin to train your mind to train your body to perform the way you want under real-life, balls flying, water splashing, fast-moving circumstances.
Keep trying.

About MentalStrength.com
MentalStrength.com has served over 10,000 highly productive people, including business owners, athletes and coaches since 1999. A cutting edge interactive website, packed with discussion boards, valuable downloads, books, resources and rich multi-media tools, MentalStrength.com helps its members maintain a great attitude, network with other productive people and obtain life-long mental strength. Memberships start at just $14.95. The tip of the week is always complimentary for non-members and available for enrollment at www.mentalstrength.com. You can also get Mental Strength.com updates by following us on Twitter @MindStrength.

Since we can’t get to every single question, this week, I figured I’d address the most frequently asked, which deals with gaining better performance through mental rehearsal.

So what’s the most asked question?

= = = = = = = = = = = =
“Where do I start?”
= = = = = = = = = = = =

Let’s answer this with where NOT to start.

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Don’t start with a negative.
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Instead, start with a positive.

For example, back in the 1988 Olympic games, Greg Louganis hit the back of his head on the diving board in a qualifying round.  You probably remember seeing countless images of this played over and over and over and over again by the ‘not-so-helpful’ news media.

But, I betcha you didn’t know that Greg absolutely would not watch this video tape.  Can you guess why?

He feared that if he watched it he would create a powerful subconscious, negative, video-clip-in-his-mind undermining all his hard work.

So instead, he focused on creating perfect dives in his mind, and then went on to win two Gold medals — with five stitches in his head!

Now, I could rant-and-rave about how destructive the TV is, because it constantly overwhelms our minds with negative images, definitely affecting our daily “life” performances.  But I won’t.

I could get on my “soap box” about how you need to have a positive mental outlook in your life, but you already know this.  So I won’t.

But I will tell you to carefully monitor the pictures that are being replayed, again and again, in your head.  Because you can either picture what you WANT, or, by default, your mind will picture things you DON’T want (things the media and high-priced advertisers want FOR you).

(This simple little principle probably has a lot to do with the little maniacs running around shooting people and creating havoc.  But I’m not gonna go there.)

So chances are pretty darned high that whatever you play in your head, will come true!

Please… choose what YOU want.

About MentalStrength.com
MentalStrength.com has served over 10,000 highly productive people, including business owners, athletes and coaches since 1999. A cutting edge interactive website, packed with discussion boards, valuable downloads, books, resources and rich multi-media tools, MentalStrength.com helps its members maintain a great attitude, network with other productive people and obtain life-long mental strength. You can also get Mental Strength updates by following us on Twitter @MindStrength.

We have gotten a tremendous response from the definition of MENTAL TOUGHNESSS.

So let’s do another.

Again, I am after your own, personal, deep down definition.

Really the only definition that truly makes a difference in your life.

I, and other experts can give you input until we are blue in the face.  But unless and until you believe and internalize the message…

…it will not help your output in the slightest.

That is the reason for working from the inside out.

So, what is your definition of:
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MENTAL STRENGTH
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Here is the dictionary.com definition:

Mental
1. Of or relating to the mind; intellectual: mental powers.
2. Executed or performed by the mind; existing in the mind: mental images of happy times.

Strength
1. The state, property, or quality of being strong.
2. The power to resist attack; impregnability.
3. The power to resist strain or stress; durability.
4. The ability to maintain a moral or intellectual position firmly.
5. Capacity or potential for effective action: a show of strength.

So, what does mental strength mean to you?

About MentalStrength.com
Mental Strength.com has served over 10,000 highly productive people, including business owners, athletes and coaches since 1999. A cutting edge interactive website, packed with discussion boards, valuable downloads, books, resources and rich multi-media tools, MentalStrength.com helps its members maintain a great attitude, network with other productive people and obtain life-long mental strength. You can also get Mental Strength updates by following us on Twitter @MindStrength.

… While I was at the first round of Davis Cup Tennis play in Carson, California, I was struck with inspiration.

I felt compelled to share with you my opinions on world-class athletes, how I think you can benefit, and where we plan to take the Mental Strength Training Center in the coming months.

As I watched Andre Agassi play Ivan Ljubicic and Andy Roddick battle Mario Ancic from Croatia on center court of the Home Depot Training Center, I thought to myself, “Boy, I can do that, I can hit that hard, can move like that and can probably even hit it harder in some cases.”

…Whammo!…  and this is where the rubber hits the road.

You know… the real difference between being good, and being great.
And that is what struck me to compose these five traits; the core components of a great competitor.   You see, dedicating yourself to become just 5% better in each of these qualities, will exponentially improve your results.  And to help you become better, these five traits will create the foundation of where we will go with the Mental Strength Training Center in the future.

Now, I am being slightly biased here since I am a former competitive tennis athlete, and I really do believe tennis ranks among the most physically demanding of sports.  But these five traits apply to all sports, including basketball, baseball, soccer, volleyball, football, golf, equestrian, and so on.

The sport doesn’t matter.

The Five Traits of a World Class Competitor

1.      World Class Competitors are great athletes – And more importantly they work hard at being better on the basics.  Simply dedicating yourself to being better in every main category of sport-specific fitness will make you a better competitor.  Focus on flexibility, cardiovascular fitness, strength and conditioning, performance nutrition and mental strength.
2.      World Class Competitors have great awareness – These particular tennis athletes all showed great court awareness.  Great athletes are flat-out aware of their surroundings.  They practice being aware.  They are aware of the present moment, can anticipate opponents moves, anticipate ball movement based on spins, weather and racquet trajectory.   They know where they are on the court, or the playing field, and how they relate to where their opponent is.  They are also aware of what the highest probability of options the opponent has based on all the variables.  They see the ball, the court, the opponent and themselves very well.   Dr. Gary Sailes calls it “broad” focus and “narrow” focus, as he and many of the experts at the Mental Strength Training Center reveal strategies in the resources.
3.      World Class Competitors know how to win. They are confident in their game under pressure.  They understand that winning is an attitude, and a habit.  Winners kick and fight and scratch and overcome, until they do.   And they have usually started this habit as a youngster, so it is deeply engrained in their psyche.  But, this is a habit that you can develop under the right guidance at any age.  Get into the Teleseminars and resources found at the Mental Strength Training Center as there are lots of resources to help you.
4.      World Class Competitors are realistic – Great competitors play within themselves.   They are conservative, but at anytime can turn their “A” games on when they need to.  This is a trait that helped Ivan Ljubicic beat Andre Agassi.  It really is about confidence and conservation — finding the balance and constantly tweaking the two based on the situation.  Similar to a balancing act.
5.      World Class Competitors know how to deal with injuries when they occur. As an athlete, injuries are a fact of life.  How you think about injuries, and how you bounce back from injuries play an integral role in your playing time, recovery rate, and your confidence.  If you study the great competitors that have had long careers, you will find that they are masters at dealing with injuries.

If you focus on becoming better at each of the five components, you will find that when you get better at one, you will increase your effectiveness at another.

Combine these five traits, focus on small, incremental growth in each trait and you will experience improvement faster than you ever thought possible!

About MentalStrength.com
MentalStrength.com has served over 10,000 highly productive people, including business owners, athletes and coaches since 1999. A cutting edge interactive website, packed with discussion boards, valuable downloads, books, resources and rich multi-media tools, MentalStrength.com helps its members maintain a great attitude, network with other productive people and obtain life-long mental strength. You can also get MentalStrength.com updates by following us on Twitter @MindStrength.

Name of location: The Home Depot Center
City/State/Country: Carson, CA, USA
Website:  http://www.homedepotcenter.com/

Reason for going: The Home Depot Center was home of the 2005 United States Davis Cup first round play vs. Croatia.  Where the United States tennis team including Andre Agassi, Andy Roddick and the doubles team of Mike and Bob Bryan hosted the Croatian team including Mario Ancic and Ivan Ljubicic.

About the Home Depot Center: The Home Depot Center is a 125-acre development in Carson, California, featuring stadiums and facilities for soccer, tennis, track & field, cycling, volleyball, baseball, softball, basketball and other sports. Designated as an “Official U.S. Olympic Training Site,” The Home Depot Center is the nation’s most complete training facility for Olympic, amateur and professional athletes.

Created around a 27,000-seat soccer stadium, 13,000-seat tennis stadium, 20,000-seat track & field facility and indoor velodrome –The ADT Event Center, the complex is located on the campus of California State University, Dominguez Hills. The Home Depot Center is the home of the 2002 MLS Cup Champion Los Angeles Galaxy, Club Deportivo Chivas USA (MLS expansion team for 2005 season) and the U.S. Soccer Federation (national team training headquarters).

The complex has also been designated “official” training sites for USA Cycling, United States Track & Field, the AVP and the USTA, as home of the USA Tennis High Performance National Training Center.  The Home Depot Center is also home to Athletes’ Performance Los Angeles, a nationally recognized training center for elite and professional athletes and is the summer training camp site for the San Diego Chargers (NFL).

Rating system: 1-5 stars

5 stars: absolutely incredible!
1 star: much room for improvement

The Mental Strength Rating:
Service of staff: 3.00
Friendliness of staff: 3.00
Maintenance of grounds, lavatories, and overall cleanliness: 4.50
Quality and cleanliness of food services: 2.00
Surroundings and Environment: 2.00

Comments: It was very windy and got very cold, rapidly, as soon as the sun began to go down below the stands around 2:30 pm PST.  Even though all their security equipment was set up, and several security employees stood there, they did not let us out of the facility to get jackets, blankets, etc out of the car.  That was very disappointing.  Granted, we received complimentary tickets, but most people spent in excess of $100 per seat to attend, plus all the other expenses it took to get there. Major downer.

I suppose I should expect the extremely high prices for food, souvenirs and trinkets. But, a simple cup of coffee was about $4.00!  Oh well, it sure tasted good when we couldn’t get back to get warm clothes.

The facility itself was nice, and well kept.  Everything was relatively new, no graffiti, and nice structures.  We do look forward to going to a soccer game as the field looked great, and every seat appeared to be a “good seat.”

Overall average rating: 2.90 out of 5.00

Was it worth the price?

We had a lot of fun, and the seats were quite good from almost anywhere in the stadium.  I was very disappointed in the “Nazi” attitude we received when trying to go out and get a jacket.  We did like the facility, and plan on coming back to view a soccer game one day.

The Million Dollar Question:  Would I come back?
Yes.

About MentalStrength.com
MentalStrength.com has served over 10,000 highly productive people, including business owners, athletes and coaches since 1999. A cutting edge interactive website, packed with discussion boards, valuable downloads, books, resources and rich multi-media tools, MentalStrength.com helps its members maintain a great attitude, network with other productive people and obtain life-long mental strength. You can also get MentalStrength.com updates by following us on Twitter @MindStrength.

I always laughed at golfers that couldn’t swing a club unless EVERYONE could hear a pin drop.

That just ain’t realistic.

Then, these same athletes would get mad and frustrated — literally ruining their entire day.

You see, noise and distractions are the norm and the perfect conditions are rare.

Lots of things can cause you to get distracted.

Maybe you are losing to someone that everyone thinks you should beat…

Or, maybe the young baseball team is making too much noise on the adjoining field…

Or the girls making up your golf foursome are talking too much…

Whatever is causing ‘your’ distractions, I ask you this…

Is it your problem, or is it the distractions’ problem?

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99% of the time it is your problem.
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After all, your success in sports and in life is not dependent upon what happens to you…

but, rather…

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How you re-act to what happens to you
++++++++++++++++++++

So, I have some homework for you.

I want you to carefully watch your responses to the things that occur to you — the good and the bad.

Write ‘em down.

I’ll show you what to do with your findings next week.

About MentalStrength.com
MentalStrength.com has served over 10,000 highly productive people, including business owners, athletes and coaches since 1999. A cutting edge interactive website, packed with discussion boards, valuable downloads, books, resources and rich multi-media tools, MentalStrength.com helps its members maintain a great attitude, network with other productive people and obtain life-long mental strength. You can also get MentalStrength.com updates by following us on Twitter @MindStrength.