Darrin Donnelly
Jul 12, 2018
In 2008, Ronda Rousey became the first American woman to win an Olympic medal in judo.
In 2012, the year after UFC president Dana White decaled that women would “never” fight in the UFC, Rousey became the first female fighter to sign with UFC. Shortly thereafter, she became the first female UFC champion. On July 5, 2018, Ronda Rousey became the first female fighter inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame.
Again and again throughout her career, Ronda Rousey achieved what the experts said could not be done. In the process, she became one of the most popular athletes in the world.
What made the difference? What made Rousey refuse to believe the experts and the naysayers? What made her so certain that no goal would be impossible for her? [continue reading…]
Darrin Donnelly
Jun 28, 2018
How you start your morning sets the tone for the type of day you will have.
High achievers have long recognized this fact and therefore proactively structure their morning routines. They know that what they feed their minds first thing in the morning will impact their entire day.
Tom Osborne is one of the most successful coaches in the history of college football. At Nebraska, he won three national championships and thirteen Big 8/Big 12 conference titles during his 25 seasons as head coach. In other words, during a quarter-century as head coach, Tom Osborne won a major conference title more often than he didn’t. That’s simply an incredible feat.
Like so many great achievers, Osborne believes his morning routine was a key factor in his success. Interestingly, he started each day in a way very similar to many other coaches and leaders who have risen to the top of their professions… [continue reading…]
Darrin Donnelly
Jun 21, 2018
After a Hall of Fame basketball career that included one NCAA national championship, one Olympic Gold Medal, five NBA championships, and 12 seasons as an NBA All-Star, Magic Johnson took on the business world with the same passionate and fearless approach that made him a basketball legend.
Johnson is the CEO and founder of Magic Johnson Enterprises (a business conglomerate valued at $1 billion), he’s the co-owner of three sports franchises (including the Los Angeles Dodgers), and he serves as president of basketball operations for the Los Angeles Lakers.
Magic Johnson believes the same values and lessons that lead to success on the basketball court also lead to success in the business world. How he deals with fear is one of those keys to success… [continue reading…]
Darrin Donnelly
Jun 14, 2018
A crucial—but often overlooked—step in accomplishing a major goal is to take time each day to visualize the positive outcome you hope to experience.
Too many of us ignore the awesome power of visualization. We blow it off as a time-waster, nothing more than mindless daydreaming or wishful thinking.
But ignoring the power of positive visualization is a huge mistake.
The fact is, many of the world’s greatest achievers make positive visualization a vital part of their day and swear by the power of this simple technique.
One big proponent of positive visualization is Kentucky basketball coach John Calipari. Here’s how Coach Cal used positive visualization to fulfill his dream of becoming a Division 1 head coach… [continue reading…]
Darrin Donnelly
Jun 7, 2018
Great achievers in any field have long recognized the extreme importance of confidence.
Confidence is the belief you have in your own ability. The size of your confidence determines the size of your success. The more confident you are, the more success you will tend to have.
You will never perform higher than your confidence level and lackluster confidence leads to lackluster results.
With this in mind, it’s crucial that we don’t let an upcoming opponent or obstacle rob us of our confidence. Too often, when we know we’re about to face a particularly difficult challenge, we start to feel our confidence fade. We start to let self-doubt overwhelm our self-confidence. [continue reading…]
Darrin Donnelly
May 31, 2018
I’m currently working on Book No. 5 in the Sports for the Soul series. It’s a book that deals with the inner battle against fear that we all must deal with on a daily basis.
Researching this book has brought me to many different perspectives on how best to deal with the fear that holds us back from the lives we desire to live. One particularly powerful perspective comes from Jocko Willink.
Jocko is a retired Navy SEAL and a bestselling author. Aside from his avid participation in Brazilian jiu-jitsu (he’s a black belt), Jocko isn’t a well-known sports figure (like most of the people written about on this blog). However, his lessons carry over seamlessly into the world of sports. In fact, they can be applied to all areas of life.
Based on his years of combat experience as a Navy SEAL, Willink has a unique perspective on how to deal with fears. His view on what a person should be afraid of is a powerful lesson that we all need to be listening to… [continue reading…]
