What does it take to be a champion? Countless athletes take to the field, court, rink, pool and mat each year - all hoping to be crowned a champion. But, few actually achieve their goals.

Athletic Performance Principles for Life are the keys to being a champion - not only in athletics, but in life as well. Study these areas and plug this wisdom into your own life...you'll be glad you did!
Affirmations Anger
How do you develop and keep this "best in the world" attitude? Today many sports psychologists suggest that elite athletes begin a program of affirmations. They say that positive self-statements are a powerful weapons. From a performance standpoint, an number of things can happen, which are all bad when an athlete has anger building up inside his heart. First the athlete loses their focus...
Attitude
Attitude is, essentially, the way you view your situation and circumstances. Too often our focus is drawn inward - our focus is on ourselves. We tend as athletes to operate in an area of selfishness, in a "I, me, my, mine" mode. This type of selfishness does not only affect performance, but it affects the people around us, as well as their view of us.
Character Class New Principle!
Character is defined as the aggregate (the rock) of features and traits that form the individual nature of a person...moral or ethical qualities...qualities of honesty...courage...integrity...reputation. A person once said that, character is what we are when nobody is looking. What is class? It is one of those valuable intangible personal character qualities that is in high demand. Unfortunately most athletes don't have it. Class is...being a good person, showing good sportsmanship, always taking responsibility for the consequences of your actions...
Commitment Competition
Commitment is total and complete. It cannot be compromised, for once it is, it is nonger commitment. You don't have to tell anyone about your commitment - they will know. How? By your actions! Competition. You should not only welcome tough competition, but you should seek out the best competition you can find. As an athlete you will never reach your full potential unless you are challenged. You need to be challenged.
Discipline
One of the greatest lessons learned in athletics is that to be truly successful you must become disciplined. Talent alone is not enough. To reach your goal in athletics and in life, you must be willing to cut out those things in your life that keep you from going to the top. Ultimately the choice is yours.
Faith Focus
Whether you think you can or can't, you are probably right. That, simply put, is what faith is all about. Faith acts as a safety valve to release the pressure that you put on yourself to perform at your best. It helps you put every athletic contest into proper perspective. It lets you see that there are many ways to become a winner. Focus is the "state of clear defination," or the ability to concentrate on a specfic area or idea. Focus allows you to function in a complicated environment. Without focus you would be overloaded with too much input from your senses. Finding the appropiate center of interest can be a challenge. The real problem begins when you focus on things that are not important, or when you fail to focus on the important areas.
Goals
By setting goals and measuring their achievement, you are able to see what you have done and what you are capable of doing. The process of achieving goals and seeing their achievement gives you confidence and the self-belief that you will be able to achieve higher and more difficult goals.
Humility / Pride New Principle !
Don't be confused, there are two very different and distinctive types of pride in sport. Too often we see the ugly, "me-first, self-centered side. Coaches and athletes who travel down this path are heading towards disaster.
Influence Injuries
Influence is defined as...the affect a person or thing has on another...it is an impact, impression; force or hold, or control on another person.There are positive and negative influences all around us as an athlete. Do not be deceived: bad company corrupts good moral character. With all things being equal, if you run with bad company, it will corrupt you. Following an injury, all athletes have the tendency to respond with a wide array of emotions such as denial, anger, and depression regarding the unfairness of the injury. Although this is typically a natural reaction, you really need to move beyond these feelings and take some positive steps that will help you cope with the setback.
Keeping Your Word
Are you a person of integrity and character who follows through and keeps your word? Your words and your actions that follow are important indicators of your heart, they show your true character.
Leadership
Being a leader is a tough and demanding job. Sometimes the pressure falls only on their shoulders. When you invest much, then there is a lot at stake. Most team leaders will tell you that the rewards are worth the risk. Any leader realizes that you can't do it alone - that is what team is all about.
Motivation
If you are having motivation problems, you are probably having performance problems as well. Motivation is the energy that makes everything work. Self-motivation is an important and powerful source of positive energy, and without it, performance withers.
Persistence Preparation New Principle!
Webster defines persistence as steady perseverance, tenacity unyeilding, holding on in following a course of action in spite of difficulties, a long-continuing application which requires endurance. It is not easy to persist, it is tough work, most times it entails a struggle that requires endurance. Practice is preparation. You have heard of the old saying, "Practice does not make perfect, practice makes permanent. Perfect practice makes perfect." Just putting in your time in practice won't get you to the next level. It is in practice, in the thousands of repetitions that a champion is made.
Pressure New Principle!
Pressure - it is a way of life in athletics. Pressure abounds...pressure to win, the pressure to make the team, the pressure to keep your position and ranking, and the pressure of criticism and fame. You can't run from it, you can't hide from it. Pressure is always there. The most important issue to consider is how are you going to deal with it
Quitting
Now matter what happens in business, life or sports, don't quit! Quitters are losers; they have the bad habit of giving up before it's over. Winners set goals and work hard; they don't let anything stop them from reaching their goal. The only true way to fail to reach your goal is to quit.
Recognition Rituals
One of the greatest joys in athletics is to be recognized for your athletic abilities; your talent, your skills, and for your performance. Athletes are also remembered for their character, their hustle, their leadership and for their integrity. A ritual helps you get lost in your preparation. Everything is automatic as you go from step to step. No outside worries or concerns. Just focus on your goals and get your mind and body ready. Design your own plan. Practice it, then use it. By ritualizing your precompetition tasks you will begin to help yourself shift into auto-drive.
Sacrifice New Principle! Self-Control New Principle!
If you are going to experience true success, you must learn self-control. Self-control is discipline. It is controling your thoughts, your emotions, your words, and your actions. The true recipe for discipline is just plan hard work, guts, and determination to do the right thing.
To reach to the next level in any sport requires sacrifice. Webster defines sacrifice as; "Voluntary giving up something valued." So to climb to a new level of performance, you must be willing to pay the price for success - that payment is called sacrifice.
Sportsmenship
Strength
Sportsmanship - is simply an athlete who behaves fairly, honestly and generously in sports competition. It is playing and competing within the ruls of the game. It is training and competing with honesty and integrity in everything you do.
All athletes recognize the fact that strength is necessary to compete successfully. It is a critical element for success, but strength is not just power, or might, or force, or toughness, or stamina, or tenacity, or intensity, or will power. Sometimes strength is found in one's hear and in one's faith.
Success
While success is something that every athlete wants, it also creates an entirely new set of pressures and problems. Not every athlete who achieves success can handle it well.
Teamwork Training
The ingredients of team spirit are mutual respect, good communication, closeness, trust, acceptance, and encouragement. Team spirit is a powerful source of positive energy, and when it's there, every athlete seems to come alive. Athletes report that team spirit not only keeps them feeling pumped up and energized, but alos takes the pressure off. Physical training has a workout partner named sacrifice. To reach the top level in your sport you must be willing to pay the price for success. Training is never fun, it is hard work: technique, skills, strategies, tactics and physical and mental conditioning can be punishing.
Wisdom
Wisdom is not something a person is born with. Intelligence is. Cleaverness is. The ability to appear dynamic is. But wisdom is not. Wisdom only comes from living, from making mistakes - or from listening to others who have made mistakes and learn from them.
Copyright (c) 2000, 2001, TTNL Reprinted with permission.