The 5 Dots

(Excerpt from Mike Brescia's newsletter)

On the cover of this week's Sports Illustrated is Tom Brady, 2005's Sportsman of the Year.

What makes this article interesting to me is how they gave us a glimpse into the mind of the most süccessful player at the most difficult position in the last 20 years. You see, it's important to me to know how people become successfül at anything. I look for mental patterns that can be
translated into any other area of life.

To know how Tom got so good so young, so mentally tough, how this tall skinny kid got to be so successfül in the world of lightning fast 300 pounders trying to take his head off can teach me and you how to be successful at just about anything.

He said, "I didn't win this [Sportsman] award being Tom Brady the person. I won it because of the way we play football. Notice he said the way "we" play football.

He now has choices in life that most people will only ever dream about... Because he is good at doing just one thing.

The consummate team player. He "just wanted the camaraderie, to share some memories with so many other guys."

Purpose.

"I love seeing us get better," he says, "and I don't think you get better in games. The improvement comes in practice."

That is true of everything you will ever do.

When he was in high school, he and the other quarterbacks would practice a drill they called The 5 Dots. With marks on the ground, they would practice the same steps over and over and over.

Every morning before school he worked on it in his backyard.

Repetition.

Practice.

So now at just 28, he's won 3 Super Bowls, makes tens of milliöns of döllars, does what he loves doing, has a wonderful future ahead of him... And it is all because he's willing, on his own, to do the boring repetition. And loves it.

No one will ever teach you any method of changing how to succeed at anything, how to change any habit, how to develop mastery, how to quit feeling some way and start feeling another way without incredible repetition of thought.

It is impossible without it.

There is no magic wand.

You can try and try, but you will always fail.

Practicing is where you get good.

Mastery comes only after numerous missteps and failures.

So if you just think that you'll one day be able to start eating healthy after being a junk food junkie for decades and sücceed your first time out, guess again. You won't.

Sales süccess means lots of failures before you get good.

Being happy even requires practice. Imagine that.

Walking required practice.

Talking, too.

Eating even.

Remember, you used to get food all over you when you ate. Now that you are older, hopefully you're a little neater!

So when I hear people tell me every day, "I tried everything to [change something about themselves]." I know that they are not into practice.

They want a "pill."

But think about any person who is super süccessful in some area of life. They are good at something because of repetition of thought. Purpose. Drive. Focus. Practice.

It's not unfair.

It's life.

No action is possible without thoughts behind the actions. Lots of the same thoughts.
Probably for years and even decades.

If you are trying to make changes without doing the necessary practice (of the right thoughts, which creates new attitudes and beliefs), then you will always be disappointed. Decide now to "get it," to understand the logic here.

Mike Brescia

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