For My Next Trick

Inspired and stunned by the weekend's sports news that golf pro Sergio Garcia incomprehensibly blew a 6-stroke lead going into the final round of the Wachovia Classic Championship, I thought I'd write another book. I bounced the idea off a friend. The premise is that the mind can, on one hand, be an enormous asset in an athletic performance and, on the other, interfer with a performance and screw things up no matter how hard you practiced.  I told my friend that I wanted to interview top athletes to find out the ways they get their minds right.

If you have been a regular reader, you know that back in February I wrote about athletic performance and the Zone.  (Check out February's archives for the 14th, 15th, 17th and 28th.)

My friend loved the idea but said the problem was getting access to the athletes. I had to agree and felt deflated. However, that evening (the night before the Day of Lasting Achievements) I made a list of all the things I wanted to pursue on May 10 in order to take maximum advantage of that auspicious day. During that list-making exercise, I happened to think of three or four of my friends that had some connection with professional  athletes.

When Akshaya Tritiya (The Day of Lasting Achievements) dawned I called some and emailed the others. Miraculously, a book customer called (out of the blue) to order a bunch of my books to give out as gifts. It turned out he was the son of a majorly famous (and now quite old) tennis pro. He loved the idea and said he'd open some doors for me. The few friends I contacted sprang into action too. Now I have some phone numbers (even cell numbers) for a couple of very cool superstars. Hopefully one thing will lead to another.

I'm stoked to the gills. We'll see how it unfolds. I'll keep you all up to date if anything worth reporting takes place. Right now, even at age 59, I'm feeling like a little kid again. I'm going to ask some questions that I always wanted to know from these hugely accomplished athletes and I can't wait.

P.S. Of course, if any of you could introduce me to a great athlete (or if you are a great athlete), please get in touch with me.

www.lazyway.net

Comments

[John]

Fred,

I don't want to tell you how to write your book. I am merely offering this as a suggestion and something to think about, as we know you will be successful with this endeavor too.

Being the organic consumer that you are, I would like to see the athletes you interview be free from having improved their games with steriods and other drugs. However, if you did get access to a known user, it be interesting to compare and contrast their zone with those that aren't using.

I'd also like to hear from the lesser known athletes that go on to compete in the Olympics and have been successful. Maybe they'd be more accessible too?

Good luck!

[Ben]

I always hoped your next book would be a sequel to lwos where you give concrete examples of successful entrepreneurs (maybe including yourself) who put lazy way principles into practice. That would be a killer! I don't think there's something similar available already. See, your postings about how you went to a bank to get funding without any preparation and "just did it" is way more inspiring than any motivation/new age/meditation/time-management talk could be. A theory is nice, but people who just do what we all merely dream about is what really gets one starting. And I believe you have something valuable to share. Whereas, although I enjoy reading about high performing athletes and how they get into flow etc, I always found it quite difficult to put their knowledge into practice for the "rest of us".

[Jason Carrion]

Sounds like a great idea. I definately like John's idea about looking at some Olympic athletes as well.

You may want to look at Bryan Clay, winner of the silver medal for the decatholon at the 2004 Summer Olympic Games.
http://www.apu.edu/athletics/trackandfield/stories/6835/

I'm slightly biased since we went to the same university at the same time. :)

If your intersted you may be able to get in touch with him through Kevin Reid (his college head coach) at kreid@apu.edu

Best of luck.
Jason

[nerio]

Fred,
I know 2 ex world champions in Billiards. Mike Ferreira and Geet Sethi. I can organise for you to either speak to them or correspond with them over e-mail. Let me know.
Nerio