PSYCHOLOGY
bosses, coaches, or peers. Courage is a private, internally-generated qual- ity. It takes concentration, focus, and determination.
When all the right qualities are working together, you achieve what Vince Lombardi termed “mental toughness.” Lombardi built his winning team on four principles: self-discipline, self-sacrifice, mental toughness, and teamwork. He knew that, without all four ingredients, his players couldn’t focus hard or long enough to out-execute the oppo- nent under any circumstances. “I’ll give you my playbook,” he once told an opposing coach, and we’ll still win, because we’ll execute bet- ter than you.” There’s a difference between the kind of focus and self-control Lombardi talked about and everyday “hard work.” We often consider anyone who works hard a workaholic, and there- fore a candidate for an early heart attack. But hard work isn’t stressful; working hard without seeing positive results causes stress and depression. Pressure doesn’t kill you; spinning your wheels in the mud may. There’s also a difference between
The Courage to Succeed JIM TUNNEY
Everyone agrees that courage is a virtue, but just where does it come from? Are we born with a set amount of courage or can we develop courage the same way body-builders develop biceps?
A key attribute of courage is the abil- ity to perform well in spite of tension, fear, or stress.
When you can concentrate and perform tasks just as skillfully and deliberately in a tight spot as you can under ordinary circumstances, you will have developed mental biceps. Although we tend to idealize physi- cal courage, ordinary work challenges
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will not be physical but emotional, intellectual, and/or psychological. Career shifts, office politics, difficult customers, stalling prospects, new territories, or recalcitrant salespeople – these are the daily tests you face. Courage is never rash, ruthless,
sneaky, impetuous, arbitrary, or trivial. Courage requires that you act of your own volition – not on orders from
mere tenacity and Lombardi’s mental toughness. You may have the deter- mination to stay at something and never give up, but mental toughness means you also have the self-control and focus to limit your efforts only to those that will produce results. To maintain steady control, you must feel a goal as an extension of yourself, and you must feel personally respon- sible for getting yourself from where you are now to where you want to be. When you have mental courage and you have developed biceps for the mind, you do not wait for your ship to come in. You row out to meet it. It takes courage to imagine picking up those oars. It takes mental biceps to pick them up again after circumstances knock them out of your hands. It takes mental strength and courage to mus- ter the determination and skill to think through the difficulties you’ll meet every day of your life.
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