In anything that we pursue in our lives, the “mental game” is a critical part of high achievement.

When was the last time you saw someone beat themselves up openly following a failure or setback?   Sometimes it wasn’t even something that mattered when you put it into perspective.  I have seen it many times – in sports, in work and in relationships.

I recently became the Manager of a youth baseball team, and attended a coaches’ clinic at a local high school.  I was impressed with what I saw from the head coach of the boys baseball team.  Their theme for this year’s season is “Compete Fearlessly.”   This is part of a bigger focus on ensuring that the players get their mind right when it comes to competing.  If they make a mistake, they are conditioned to say “so what” and focus on the next play.

What is amazing about this approach is it allows players to focus only on what they can control, and find a way to eliminate the negative thoughts from their minds about what they cannot control.  They cannot do anything about the last play, so why focus on it?  This is a very powerful approach that can work in all aspects of life.

We can all take a lesson from what this coach was demonstrating with his team.  We can learn from failure, but we can only look forward and use that failure as a means of figuring out how to win.