Message #20 - Dreaming Big Jamill Kelly Style

Never Quit and Never Give Up! You Never Know When Your Breakthrough is Coming.

Deep down inside Jamill Kelly always believed that some day he would WIN BIG...and he DID!

Jamill made the 2003 World Team and Made the 2004 Olympic Team by beating opponents that won a combined total of 5 NCAA Titles.

Jamill Never Won A State Title and he Never Placed in the NCAA's



IMPRESSIVE ISN'T IT!

Message #19 - Attitude

A Powerful Message on Attitude from Pastor Chuck Swindoll. We are all in charge of are attitudes

ATTITUDE

THE LONGER I LIVE, THE MORE I REALIZE THE IMPACT OF ATTITUDE ON LIFE.

ATTITUDE, TO ME, IS MORE IMPORTANT THAN FACTS.

IT IS MORE IMPORTANT THAN THE PAST, THAN EDUCATION, THAN MONEY, THAN CIRCUMSTANCES, THAN FAILURES, THAN SUCCESSES, THAN WHAT OTHER PEOPLE THINK, OR SAY, OR DO.

IT IS MORE IMPORTANT THAN APPEARANCE, GIFTEDNESS, OR SKILL.

IT WILL MAKE OR BREAK A COMPANY...A CHURCH...A HOME.

THE REMARKABLE THING IS WE HAVE A CHOICE EVERY DAY REGARDING THE ATTITUDE WE WILL EMBRACE FOR THAT DAY.

WE CANNOT CHANGE OUR PAST...WE CANNOT CHANGE THE FACT THAT PEOPLE WILL ACT IN A CERTAIN WAY.

WE CANNOT CHANGE THE INEVITABLE.

THE ONLY THING WE CAN DO IS PLAY ON THE ONE THING WE HAVE, AND THAT IS OUR ATTITUDE

I AM CONVINCED THAT LIFE IS 10% WHAT HAPPENS TO ME AND 90% HOW I REACT TO IT.

AND SO IT IS WITH YOU...WE ARE IN CHARGE OF OUR ATTITUDES.

-Chuck Swindoll

Message #18 - Dreaming Big Shackleton Style

Sir Ernest Shackleton and the Endurance

In December 1914, Shackleton set sail, on "the Endurance" with his 27-man crew, to accomplish something that had never been done before...to be the first to completely cross the Antarctic continent on foot. This was an extremely dangerous mission.

To select many of the 27-man crew, it is said, they had responded to the following recruitment notice: "Men wanted for hazardous journey. Small wages. Bitter cold. Long months of complete darkness. Constant danger. Safe return doubtful. Honour and recognition in case of success. —Ernest Shackleton."

Ice conditions were unusually harsh, and the wooden ship, which Shackleton had renamed Endurance after his family motto, Fortitudine Vincimus—"by endurance we conquer," became trapped in the pack ice of the Weddell Sea. For 10 months, the Endurance drifted, locked within the ice, until the pressure crushed the ship. With meager food, clothing and shelter, Shackleton and his men were stranded on the ice floes, where they camped for five months.

When they had drifted to the northern edge of the pack, encountering open leads of water, the men sailed the three small lifeboats they'd salvaged to a bleak crag called Elephant Island. They were on land for the first time in 497 days; however, it was uninhabited and, due to its distance from shipping lanes, provided no hope for rescue.

Recognizing the severity of the physical and mental strains on his men, Shackleton and five others immediately set out to take the crew's rescue into their own hands. In a 22-foot lifeboat named the James Caird, they accomplished the impossible, surviving a 17-day, 800-mile journey through the world's worst seas to South Georgia Island, where a whaling station was located.

The six men landed on an uninhabited part of the island, however, so their last hope was to cross 26 miles of mountains and glaciers, considered impassable, to reach the whaling station on the other side. Starved, frostbitten and wearing rags, Shackleton and two others made the trek, and on the afternoon of May 20, 1916, Shackleton, Worsley and Crean walked into South Georgia's Stromness station. They had marched non-stop for 36 hours. Dressed in rags and black with blubber smoke, they were unrecognizable. The station manager asked "Who the hell are you?" "My name is Shackleton," was the modest reply.

After arriving at the Stromness station, Shackleton made immediate plans to rescue the Elephant Island group. The Norwegians volunteered a ship; but 60 miles from Elephant Island, the ice prevented the unprotected vessel from continuing. As the months passed, Shackleton made increasingly frantic rescue attempts, each time thwarted by ice or weather. At last, on August 30, they succeeded in bringing through the Yelcho, a tug loaned by the Chilean government. It was their fourth attempt. Four months had passed since the Caird's departure, and Shackleton feared the worst.

On Elephant Island, the Yelcho was spotted. As the castaways ran onto the beach, Shackleton, straining through binoculars, counted anxiously. "They are all there!" Worsley reported him crying. It was August 1916, 21 months after the initial departure of the Endurance, Shackleton returned to rescue the men on Elephant Island. Although they'd withstood the most incredible hardship and privation, not one member of the 28-man crew was lost.

Shackleton was quoted as saying "If anything should happen to those fellows while waiting for me, I shall feel like a murderer."

Message #17 - Burning Your Ships...Ali Style

This is How Muhammad Ali Burned His Ships

Don't play the Video in this post until after you've read my post of September 22, 2007, titled "Burning Your Ships", and until after you read my comments below:

You don't have to be a Muhammad Ali fan to appreciate his desire to win and the supreme confidence he displayed when preparing for his boxing matches and in the ring. His signature tag line of "I'm the Greatest" is legendary. Even the Ali detractors grew to respect his great courage and desire to be the best. Read my post of September 22, 2007, titled "Burning Your Ships", of how Cortez took away all escape options by instructing his men to "burn the ships", leaving he and his men, only one thing to think about...how to survive and complete their mission. Quite simply it all boiled down to winning.

Well, Muhammad Ali did much the same thing when he would make outrageous statements about his opponents and about what he would do if he lost. He left himself no way out, he had only one thing to think about, and that was how he was going to WIN! Losing was not an option for him. He took that option away by his antics. Think of the pressure you would feel if you backed yourself into a corner like he did, "saying all that crazy stuff he used to say", and think of how hard and intensely you would train; and think of the depth and scope of your mental preparation; all to avoid the humiliation of having to eat your words if you lost.

Anyway you look at it, this is "Burning Your Ships"...you win or else be humiliated. The clip you are about to hear is before Ali's biggest fight at the time - the year was 1964 - it was a shot at the heavyweight world title - against the most feared heavyweight at the time, and if he lost this fight his career would have suffered a great setback - to say the least, and it possibly could have ended his career. The media would never have taken him seriously after that, and more importantly, how could he have taken himself seriously after that.

If after reading my comments here and you've read my post of September 22, 2007, titled "Burning Your Ships", Click the play button at bottom left of picture and hear what Ali has to say.

This indeed is "Burning Your Ships"

Message #16 - The Battle Inside of All of Us

TWO WOLVES

One evening an old Cherokee told his grandson about a battle that goes on inside people. He said, "My son, the battle is between two "wolves" inside us all.


One is Evil. It is anger, envy, jealousy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, and ego.


The other is Good. It is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence,empathy, generosity, truth, compassion and faith."


The grand son thought about it for a minute and then asked his grandfather: "Which wolf wins?"The old Cherokee simply replied, "The one you feed."

Message #15 - “Burn the Ships”

Commitment is the foundation of all Success

This phrase “Burn The Ships” comes from a historic conquest of history when, in 1519, Spanish Conquistador Hernando Cortez landed in Mexico on the shores of the Yucatan, with only one objective…seize the great treasures known to be there, hoarded by the Aztecs. Cortez was committed to his mission and his quest for riches is legendary. Cortez was an excellent motivator, he convinced more than 500 soldiers and 100 sailors to set sail from Spain to Mexico, commanding 11 ships, to take the world’s riches treasure. The historic question is “how a small band of Spanish soldiers arrived in a strange country and swiftly brought about the overthrow of a large and powerful empire that was in power for over six centuries?”

For Cortez, the answer was easy. It was all or nothing! A Complete and Total Commitment. Here’s how Cortez got the “buy in” from the rest of his men. He took away the option of failure. It was conquer and be hero’s and enjoy the spoils of victory…or DIE! When Cortez and his men arrived on the shores of the Yucatan he rallied the men for one final pep talk before leading his men into battle, and utters these three words that changed the course of history. “Burn the Ships”.

He met with resistance from his men. "Burn the ships," he repeated. He then uttered these words "if we are going home, we are going home in their ships". With that, Cortez and his men burned their own ships, and by burning their own ships, the commitment level of the men was raised to a whole new level. A level much higher than any of the men, including Cortez, could have ever imagined.

Amazingly, the men conquered the Aztecs and had succeeded in something where others had been unsuccessful for six centuries. With the victory Cortez and his men took the treasure. Why did they win? They had no escape. No fall back position. They had no choice! It was "succeed or die". Their ships were burned. They had no way to get back. Their backs were to the wall.

To “really succeed” you must have an attitude much like that of Cortez and his men. Cortez and his men did not have a “crutch” or “fall back position”. They frankly didn’t have any options. It was simply “succeed or DIE”. Pretty strong position, isn’t it? How would you like to be engaged in fighting someone with that level of motivation and commitment?

This is the level of motivation and commitment you must have. The “BURN YOUR SHIP” level of motivation and commitment. Take away your crutches and excuses and burn the ships that are keeping you from achieving your goals. Identity the ships in your life that are keeping you from accomplishing dreams. I have a saying and it’s “Dream Big”. I have a new saying and it’s “Burn your Ship”. You see, whatever prevents you from achieving your goals and dreams are ships that must be burned. Not dismantled, or run ashore…but burned and destroyed.

If we know that our ships are still out there, when things get tough we instinctively head for our ships so we can escape. It's just human nature. The path of least resistance. This level of thinking and commitment sees sacrifice as a positive thing, not something weird or impossible, but something to be cherished and fought for. Cortez didn’t allow himself or his men to have the option of going back to Spain. By removing this option, Cortez and his men were forced to focus on how they could make the mission successful. And so it is with you. How can you make the missions in your life successful?

This is really a story about commitment. Commitment is the foundation of success. Not a single accomplishment is ever achieved without it. By focusing on commitment, we seal our future.

Message #14 - Don't Sweat The Small Stuff...Focus On What's Important Today

This is really fascinating to see Our World Presented This Way. Our mortal minds can’t comprehend the vastness and complexity of the universe. The bible says God spoke all this into existence. The Bible also says we are all made in his image. Wow!!!

The Sun is Circled in Red

The Sun is circled in Green (it's barely visiable on the page) and Arcturus is circled in Red.
Notice the size of Arcturus in the photo above this one compared to Antares in this photo.

ANTARES IS THE 15TH BRIGHTEST STAR IN THE SKY. IT IS MORE THAN 1000 LIGHT YEARS AWAY.

NOW HOW BIG ARE YOU?

NOW TRY TO WRAP YOUR MIND AROUND THIS

THIS IS A HUBBLE TELESCOPE ULTRA DEEP FIELD INFRARED VIEW OF COUNTLESS"ENTIRE" GALAXIES BILLIONS OF LIGHT-YEARS AWAY.

BELOW IS A CLOSE UP OF ONE OF THE DARKEST REGIONS OF THE PHOTO ABOVE

HUMBLING, ISN'T IT?

NOW HOW BIG ARE YOU? AND HOW BIG ARE THE THINGS THAT UPSET YOU TODAY?

KEEP LIFE IN PERSPECTIVE.

AND DON'T SWEAT THE SMALL STUFF!

Message #13 - Best Chance at Winning is to Never Stop Trying

Listen to What Harvey McKay has to say about Over Coming Obstacles

Are you surprised at who had to overcome the disappointments and obstacles thrown at him to ultimately succeed?
I was!

Message #12 - Why People Win...

Winning is a function of inner confidence and dealing with the pressure.

Click on the picture to learn why people win and how you can learn to win and deal with the pressure of wanting to win.

Change your mental attitude and start WINNING NOW

Message #11 - DREAM THE IMPOSSIBLE AND BELIEVE

They Said it Couldn't be Done

Don't Believe What Others Say About You

Message #10 - DREAM BIG!!!

Kemp vs. Gable

I wrestled Dan Gable in only my sixth year of wrestling experience. The first time I went out for wrestling was my freshmen year in high school. That was the fall of 1970.

I wrestled Dan Gable in the fall of 1976 in my Sophomore year in college.


Dan Gable was an Olympic Champion in 1972.


There is simply no way I could have entered that match without Dreaming BIG!!!

Message #9 - Bubba Jenkins Wins Junior World Title

Congratulations Bubba!

CLICK ON IMAGE TO SEE BUBBA'S GOLD MEDAL MATCH

Bubba Jenkins (Virginia Beach, Va./Penn State University) won a gold medal at 66 kg/145.5 lbs at the Junior World Championships in freestyle wrestling on Sunday night, Aug. 26 in Beijing, China. Jenkins defeated European Junior champion Okay Koksal of Turkey 1-0, 3-0 in the championship finals. Jenkins pinned Armenia’s Samvel Adyan, beat Kazakhstan’s Nurlan Bekhanov 0-1, 4-0, 4-2 and downed Iran’s Saied Dadashpour 2-0, 6-0 en route to reaching the finals of the Junior Worlds. Jenkins went 23-12 and qualified for the 2007 NCAA Championships at 157 pounds during his freshman year at Penn State. He went 1-2 at his first NCAA tournament. Jenkins plans to drop down to 149 into a packed weight class for his sophomore season in college. THIS WILL BE INTERESTING!

Message #8 - Don't Apologize for Trying to Win

Winning is not as Important as a Winning Effort

I Love to sweat, work and practice...and win.

But to work, sweat and pactice...and lose.

I can't see that at all! - - Lee Kemp

Message #7 - Every Day You Must Get Up Running

Every day in the Serengeti, a Puma must run faster than the slowest Gazelle to eat, or else he will starve and die.

Every day in the Serengeti, a Gazelle must run faster than the fastest Puma to avoid being eaten, or else he will die.

It doesn’t matter who you are in the Serengeti, a Puma or a Gazelle, you better get up running.

Message #6 - Do It Now...What Ever Your Going to Do...Do It Now

Don't Wait to Get Started on you Goals...Do It Now...Get Started Now!

1. Planning is Great, but don't plan your success to the point that all your doing is planning. To put it another way "Don't Buy Green Bananas" (Hope you get the point).
   
   
2. Expect results right away. By doing this you will work a little harder. I remember when I first started to lift weights in 8th grade, I could hardly wait until I saw a hint of some muscles starting to develop. I was always pusing for results.
   
   
3. Ability, Talent, Opportunity will not produce results all by themselves. You must do something. There are a lot of people that possess all these attributes, and more, but they never accomplished much, because they never get started on something.
   
   
4. Get started NOW!

Message #5 - Don't Set Limits on Your Ability or Goals

If I Asked You the Questions: What are Your Goals?.... and How Big Are They? - - What Would You Say?

1. I have a wrestling school and I consistently ask my wrestlers what do they want to accomplish?
   
   
2. What I find is that some of them limit there goals to what they think, or are reasonable sure they can accomplish.
   
   
3. The problem with this is there could be so much more they could accomplish...If they only believed in themselves, and set higher goals.
   
   
4. Never set your Limits. When you set your limits, you also set the point where YOU WILL QUIT.
   
   
5. Don't watch the clip in #7 below unless you want to have a breakthrough. Promise yourself before you watch this clip that you will start giving your best effort without setting limits.If you’ve decided you want a breakthrough watch the clip. Get ready to get inspired!!!

Message #4 - Humility

It’s not about us; it is God working through us and others that are responsible for our achievements

My Faith in God has taught me to know that:

• There are Godly influences and inspirations in our lives, without which we could not, and would not, achieved anything of any significance. To put it another way “It’s not about us; it is God working through us and others that are responsible for our achievements".
  
  
• I’ve kept this little newspaper clipping since 1973 when I was 16 years old (my sophomore year in High School), when I first started having wrestling success. The previous year I had little success; I had almost as many wins as losses.
  
  
• I saw this clipping in the Geauga Times Leader newspaper from my hometown, Chardon Ohio, and it had a profound effect on me. This shaped my perspective on any success I had in wrestling, or anything else to this very day.
  
  
• I realized that it's to God and the Godly influences and inspirations upon our lives that we must give the credit to.
  
  
• All the ability and talent we possess are God’s gift to each of us.
  
  
• My faith in God continuously reminds me I’ve been blessed with gifts far beyond that which I deserve. So much so that I can only give the glory and honor to the one that bestows the gifts, OUR HEAVENLY FATHER, GOD

Message #3 - Passion Creates That Something Extra

Develop a Passion for What You Do

Message #2 - How Do I Get The Winning Attitude?

People that win all the time are not governed by circumstances, but are guided by their passions and love. Read on;

1. Which comes first; a successful event or outcome that changes your thinking and attitude –or– a change in your thinking and attitude that creates a successful event? The answer is Both. It really doesn’t matter which comes first, however for predicable and planned success ones attitude must be the driving force behind the success. The fact is attitude can be changed in a number of ways.
   
   
2. Attitude can be changed by both negative and positive circumstances, and will have a direct impact on your performance. For instance; if it’s a nice day (sun shining etc.) you have a tendency to automatically feel better which generally leads to a more productive and successful day. Conversely if it’s a bad day (overcast, raining etc) you have a tendency to not feel as good and as a result have diminished motivation and less productivity. The problem here is you can’t predict when you’re going to feel good and if your big event falls on one of your “bad days” you don’t perform.
   
   
3. Almost everyone’s performance (and success) will go up if enough force and punishment is applied. For instance; if every day you got beat if you didn’t meet a work quota, sooner or later you will get tired of getting beat and start meeting your work quota. It doesn’t matter how hard the quota is to hit, your attitude will change and your performance will go up and you will figure out how to hit the quota. Some country’s have a very low crime rate because any guilty perpetrators are killed. The wanted attitude and behavior is achieved by maximum force. This scenario will cause predictable performance and success, but is not feasible or humane in this country.
   
   
4. Think about if you were in the situation described in #3 above. What would your attitude be when you woke up in the morning? You’ve guess it. You would get up “strap it on” (that winning attitude) and make sure you didn’t get beat that day. Replace the negative consequence forcing you to conform your attitude and behavior with something that is even a greater motivator. PASSION and LOVE. Think about it. People that are passionate about something can’t stop talking or thinking about it. It is the passion and love of something that surpasses all fear, stress and strain, work, pain and doubt and is virtually unstoppable. Let Passion and Love control your attitude.
   
   
5. Develop a passion and love for what you do. If you don’t have a passion and love yet for something, don’t worry, you can develop it. Just immerse yourself in what ever you’re doing and be diligent and soon you will find the passion and love creeping in. You CAN learn to love something. If you do this you will consistently be successful. I guarantee it.

Message #1 - How Can I be Sure of Future Success?

The best way to be sure of future of performance is to;

1. First prepare yourself for your goal by repeatedly challenging and testing yourself in situations similar to the one you want your best performance in. This is your “Preparation/Training Time”. Your “Preparation/Training Time” must have repeated and relentless efforts towards carefully selected goals that continually move upward to “the next level” once lower levels are attained. This keeps you in a state of growth and improvement during your “Preparation/Training Time”.
   
   
2. Make sure you have enough “Preparation/Training Time” to experience noticeable growth and improvement of your performance during your repeated efforts. This is essential for building a solid foundation for your confidence. To put it another way, set goals for yourself that at first seem unattainable during your “Preparation Time”, and put pressure on yourself to, not only attain the goals, but to exceed them (even though they seem unattainable) and allow yourself to feel the emotions and pressure of how your effort stacks up to the goal. This is an important part of the process. You must allow yourself to feel the emotions and pressure connected with the satisfaction (or disappointment) of your efforts during this “Preparation/Training time”. You want to condition yourself to hunger for the feeling of satisfaction when you’ve attained one of your “Preparation/Training Time” goals.
   
   
3. Continually push and improve each effort toward your goals during the “Preparation/Training Time”, always inching closer towards the ultimate goal you’ve set for yourself. Remember you are trying to do a “dress rehearsal” of your “big event” trying to make it as real as possible. Ultimately you will evaluate how your repeated effort, during your “Preparation/Training Time”, stacks up to you actually believing your ultimate goal is attainable. The key here is to continually “move the bar higher” improving upon your past practice performances.
   
   
4. Draw upon your successes from your “Preparation/Training Time” to establish your history of past successes, and this knowledge will provide the base and the foundation for you to actually believe that you can achieve your ultimate goals.