The Hard 90 Podcast With Zach Sorensen

"This block of the Pyramid addresses a most important characteristic: selflessness which is the opposite of selfishness. I mean by this that you are eager to sacrifice personal glory or gain for the greater good, namely, the welfare and success of your organization, your team, your group. This is a player who would make our team 'great' rather than a someone who was just a 'great player'."

In John Wooden's Pyramid of Success, Skill is a crucial level 4 block, defined as the knowledge and ability to execute fundamentals correctly and quickly, requiring preparation and attention to detail to master techniques, ultimately supporting the top blocks of Poise and Confidence for achieving Competitive Greatness. 

In John Wooden's Pyramid of Success, Condition is a crucial building block in the pyramid's center, alongside Skill and Team Spirit, emphasizing that true success requires holistic fitness: mental, moral, and physical. It's about being prepared and resilient, working through challenges to build inner strength, making the right choices daily, and aligning mind, body, and character to function at your best. 

John Wooden viewed confidence as "respect without fear" built primarily through thorough preparation, self-discipline, and focusing on the process, not just results, enabling poise and the right to be proud. He stressed that you can't expect others to trust you if you don't trust your own preparation, and that true confidence comes from knowing what you are capable of. Wooden's "Pyramid of Success" highlights confidence as a key trait, achieved by mastering fundamentals and consistently doing your best. 

Wooden on Poise: Just be yourself. Being at ease in any situation.  Never fight yourself.

Competitive Greatness. Be at your best when your best is needed. Love the battle.”

Faith is the strong belief in something unseen, while patience is the endurance to wait calmly for it to happen, with both working together in spiritual and personal growth to inherit promises or achieve goals, as faith provides the "why" and patience provides the "how long," preventing discouragement during delays. Faith is the confident expectation, and patience is the steadfast perseverance. All good things take time.

Top 12 Things All Successful Athletes Have In Common 1. Self-Confidence 2. Motivation 3. Self-Discipline 4. Optimism 5. Acceptance of Criticism 6. Poise Under Stress 7. Focus 8. Resiliency 9. Competitive Spirit 10. Natural Leadership 11. Humility 12. Passion

John Wooden defined success as "the peace of mind which is a direct result of self-satisfaction in knowing you did your best to become the best that you are capable of becoming," focusing on maximum personal effort and character growth.  What is your definition of success?

Focused on the process, addicted to the result!

Your energy is contagious. Is yours worth catching?

Is it going to end up good? We Will See. Is it going to end up bad? We Will See. Stay judgement free, stay neutral, and We Will See what happens.

Non-judgement allows us to be more attuned to the present moment, instead of worrying about the future or ruminating on the past. When we remove the value-based judgments of our thoughts and remember that they are just thoughts, not facts – we remove their power.

What are you going to say to yourself each morning to remind yourself how amazing you are?

Instead of being in a Tug Of War with the ones that care about you, stand back to back, with arms locked.  Nothing will come in between you.

Spend time each morning writing down 3 things that you are grateful for and you will see a major transformation in your happiness and performance.  What are you grateful for?

Evidence suggests that teammates who touch each other liberally on the court -- high-fives, fist-bumps, hugs, pats and the like -- tend to do that better than players who don't.

“It is real simple. If you want to be a good teammate and if you want people to like you, you MUST be a fountain. Your team does not need drains. Drains only clog thing up.”

Perspective is reality. The attitude you take is a decision you make. What attitude will you bring to the team today?

Most people think that the only way to consider yourself successful, is when you are at the finish line. Gain new perspective on the definition of success so that you can feel successful even before you are at the goal.

What is your definition of Success? Make sure you are capable of reaching it daily.

A "compared to what" mentality will help you maintain a positive perspective on a tough situation.

When you see the hidden images in these logos, you will never see them the same again.  You will have a new perspective. I hope the same is true for your mental performance training. 

An awesome example of a player "taking leadership." You don't have to be at the top of your game to impact others. 

You become the average of the 5 people you spend the most time with. Who do you surround yourself with?

It's as much where you are at as where you see yourself in the future.  Vision is real.  See yourself doing the things you want to do.

You need to have vision. Learn how I implemented the concept of having vision to see myself playing at the elite level.

Jimmy Valvano had a vision of winning a National Championship at NC State and it all began with cutting down the nets. Don't Let the first time be the first time. 

There are two ways to do things.... The right way, and again. What is your right way?

Great advice from a great coach - You focus is to be at the Right Place at the Right Time Trying To Do The Right Thing.

3 things player need in a leader: Can I Trust Him, Does He Care About Me, Will He Make Me Better

Instead of focusing on being the best player on the team, focus on being the best player for the team. 

Character Counts. Courage Counts. Communication Counts. Consistency Counts. Connection Counts. Competence Counts.

1. We are always looking for RESULTS 2. When we don't get the results we want, we change our MECHANICS or TECHNIQUE 3. When that doesn't work, we start saying that we need more FOCUS 4. When you still aren't seeing the results you want, we realize that we need to manage our EMOTIONS 5. If you don't have a positive BELIEF SYSTEM, you will not get the results you want. DO CONFIDENCE, don't wait for it.

1. We are always looking for RESULTS 2. When we don't get the results we want, we change our MECHANICS or TECHNIQUE 3. When that doesn't work, we start saying that we need more FOCUS 4. When you still aren't seeing the results you want, we realize that we need to manage our EMOTIONS

The next level of the performance pyramid is focus. When you are getting the results you want after you make adjustments to your technique, often times we say that we need more focus. Results Mechanics and Technique Focus

1 - We focus on Results 2 - When we don't get the results we want, we Change Mechanics and Technique

At the top of the performance pyramid is results.  We all are looking for results.  Is this what we should be focusing on?

Which is better - Prove yourself right, Or Prove Others Wrong? Both are valuable. Use them both.

If you want to be your best, add an accountability partner and coach.

Measure everything! Measurement gives you information.  Measurement gives you answers. Measurement Creates Motivation!

Set your goal... Attach a WHY... Reverse engineer a plan... Ready, FIRE, and the aim.

Narrow your focus and see that you hit or almost hit your target every time.

Instead of focusing on whether things are good or bad, focus on progress. Stay committed to getting a little better every day.

Figure out who it is that you want to be and Be U More!

If you recognize your reason why and it is big enough, your commitment to the why will overpower the way you feel.

Lessons learned.... 1. It all starts with developing your process. 2. It takes small actions every day 3. It takes persistence, patience, and commitment.

If your commitment is greater than your feelings, you will get results. Schwarber tracked 1,300 pitches from a pitching machine, a process that helped him recognize breaking balls. He faced live pitching from a Cubs prospect. And then he played in two games. He walked twice, and his only hit was a double, but Epstein said in his second game, on Monday, “he smoked three balls.” And the next night, he played in a World Series game.

Athlete Tough.  If I were to ask you what is the key to being mentally tough, what would you say the answer is?

Somewhere Someone Is Practicing and when you meet them in a head to head competition....  They'll BEAT you.

What is your passion? Can you make your work your passion? Your passion will give you enjoyment in the process. Your passion will give you enjoyment in the struggle.