Preparation
Nineteen hundred years ago, Marcus Aurelius wrote, "Choose not to be harmed and you won’t feel harmed. Don’t feel harmed and you haven’t been.”
Four hundred twenty years ago, Shakespeare, "There is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so."
Three years ago, Trevor Moawad wrote, "Neutral thinking means accepting the idea that when something good or bad happens, it happens."
Whether you call it mindfulness, neutral thinking, Stoicism, or rational
reasoning, the message is the same. An event happens and that fact
can't be changed. Too many times, I see athletes and coaches holding on to an image of what should have been rather than facing what is. Such an approach can lead to frustration, a misplaced focus, and a delayed response. You get a bad bounce. The referee blows a call. The conditions change. You have one choice at this point, and that is to determine how to
deal with the facts of the situation. Start by looking at the situation objectively, and then turn to what you can control. The sooner you do so, the
sooner you can move forward.
**To start building this mentality, consider reading Hamlet by William Shakespeare, The Obstacle is the Way by Ryan Holiday, and It Takes What it Takes by Trevor Moawad.**