Just about all of us know the name Peyton Manning. For those of you who aren't as familiar, he's an NFL quarterback putting on the greatest performance in a season so far that the league has ever seen. He is best known for his preparation and near-perfect execution leading his team out on the field. He has been setting records left and right since the beginning of the season. The Broncos are 5-0 and aren't slowing down. But I want to point out some things I have noticed about Peyton during games, particularly Sunday's instant classic against the Cowboys, that make him a winning machine.
Peyton's focus and discipline on and off the field goes unmatched. If you watch him during the heat of a game, his mind is constantly gearing up for his next series. He has one goal: score every time the Broncos get the ball. Every single time. That is it. Nothing can get his mind off of his task. If something/someone doesn't have anything to do with scoring on the next drive, it might as well not exist at that point in time to him. He takes one series at a time, one snap at a time with his mind trained on his goal, then at the end of the game when he looks up at the scoreboard, they have 51 points and set more records.
Another thing: when he messes up and throws an interception (a very rare occasion), he'll shake his head and acknowledge the mistake, but then return immediately back to his spot on the bench to focus on his next drive. As a matter of fact, when you watch him sitting there preparing for the next drive, you can't even tell if he just threw a touchdown or an interception on the previous drive. He has conditioned his mind to be trained on his one goal of getting the ball in the endzone; he doesn't get too high or too low emotionally during a game. Why? He's too busy looking forward.
Set a daily goal for yourself. Work hard and focus on reaching that goal. When you stumble, acknowledge it and learn from it, but then turn your thoughts and focus on your next effort to reach that goal. Prepare both mentally and physically, stay disciplined, and be focused on the task at hand so that when obstacles appear you are equipped to face them head on whether it happens to be a 260 pound linebacker or something else. This level of focus will allow you to Venture On and never settle when it matters most. That's the Peyton Manning effect; that is Venture On.
Until next time.
The Venture On Group