I get knocked down, but I get up again!

It has been a cold and snowy week in St. Louis and I am more ready for spring and the start of race season than ever! I know in the middle of July I will complain about the heat, but right now a 90 degree day at Gateway International Raceway with the smell of race fuel and the sound of thunder seems like a wonderful escape from winter. Of course race season will be here before we know it and it a good chance to start over again. One of the other things I love about sports is there is always another week and there is always another season and there is always another chance. As I write this blog, the Super Bowl is just a few hours away. There are always so many wonderful stories of sacrifice, courage, and resilience in the super bowl. For most people, you either love him or "not quite so much" when you think of Kurt Warner. But whatever you think of Kurt, his story of determination and faith is pretty amazing. He played at the University of Northern Iowa (near my childhood hometown) and then he started his interesting NFL career (after a little work in a grocery store, Arena football, etc.). He had a successful career with the St. Louis Rams (near my current hometown) from 1998-2003. And then because of some injuries, etc. Warner left St. Louis and I think most people thought that was it for Kurt Warner. He went to the New York Giants and then on to the Arizona Cardinals and everyone thought that was about it. But Kurt Warner and the Arizona Cardinals surprised everyone this year with an amazing year and Kurt definitely keeps getting knocked down but gets up again (both literally and figuratively!). No matter what happens at the Super Bowl, the Warner story is a great story of determination and resilience.

Chumbawamba said it best with:

We'll be singing

When we're winning

We'll be singing

I get knocked down

But I get up again

You're never going to keep me down

How Bad Do You Want It?

How Bad Do You Want It?
By Tami Eggleston (c)

I think all of us love sports because you just never know who is going to win until the game is over. Sports are exciting because it is not always the best team, the fastest car, or the team or person that is "supposed" to win that wins. Of course I love drag racing the best, but I have enjoyed watching the football playoffs because I love watching the psychology of the games. Teams that were supposedly "unbeatable" get beat and teams that were not supposed to even get to the playoffs can go all the way! And I think what it all comes down to is "How Bad Do You Want It?" The teams and the players that really dig deep and keep playing hard, practice hard, and never give up do end up coming out on top. You can see it in these players and the teams, they have that walk, they have the drive, they practice hard, they play hard, they get knocked down and get back up, and they really want it. The drag racers who race year after year know how hard it is to keep the motivation to work on the car, sacrifice other things so you can go racing, and keep trying over the years. It is always fun when everything is working great and winning, but when you have a few problems and get beat a few weeks in a row, you have dig down deep to keep trying and you have to answer the question, How Bad Do You Want It? There is a great song by Tim McGraw called "How Bad Do You Want It?" and I encourage you to buy this CD or download the song for your MP3 player, it is a great motivational song. And take a minute to really think about "How Bad Do You Want It?" What are you willing to do, what are you willing to sacrifice, how hard are you willing to work, are you willing to lay it all out on the line, and is it really something that burns you up inside? I know for sure that the winners out there want it really bad.


A few lyrics from Tim McGraw's How Bad Do You Want It:


"Been out here on this highway

Breathing diesel smoke

Driving hard for hours

Trying to make that Memphis show

People always ask me"Son what does it take

To reach out and touch your dreams?"

To them I always say

Are you hungry?

Are you thirsty?

Is it a fire that burns you up inside?

How bad do you want it?

How bad do you need it?

Are you eating, sleeping, dreaming

With that one thing on your mind?

How bad do you want it?

How bad do you need it?

Cause if you want it all

You've got to lay it all out on the line....


There's always a price you pay no matter what you do

If you're gonna climb that mountain to the top

It always comes down to

How bad do you want it??"

Michael Phelps is GOLDEN! (That is music to our ears!)

It is official, I really have Olympic Fever. In fact, it is hard to want to do anything but watch the Olympics. Even sports I didn't know anything about such as synchronized diving are suddenly my new favorite sport! OK, drag racing and auto racing will always be my favorite sport, but you have to admit that the swimming has been very exciting to watch. And if you have been watching the Olympics or following it all, you have to be impressed with the USA swimmer, Michael Phelps! I have been particularly interested in watching and learning about these athletes and what makes them tick mentally. One thing that has been very interesting is watching Michael Phelps before his events. He warms up in a pool and then he comes into the cube and has to wait. During this time you can see him visualizing and listening to his MP3 player. A lot of other athletes you can also watch as they visualize, breathe, and listen to music. And I believe what better athletes to learn from and emulate than Olympic athletes?

So watch them, read about them, and see what you can learn about their drive, motivation, relaxation, confidence, and concentration.

I went on to a few different websites trying to find what is on Michael Phelps' Playlist--certainly any music that motivates a person and keep them focused is the correct music. For some people it might be hard rock, others 80s music, others classical, and others hip hop.

One website reported that Michael Phelps enjoys the following tunes:

1. Overnight Celebrity
Twista

2. Burn
Usher

3. Roses
Outkast

4. 'Till I Collapse
Eminem

5. Smile
G Unit

Certainly these songs may not be for everyone, but they certainly are doing the trick for Michael Phelps. But all of us may just learn a listen about finding music that we can use to help us get motivated, stay focused, and GO FOR THE GOLD!!!

I have Olympic Fever!

Of course auto racing and drag racing in particular is my favorite sport, but I actually like almost any sport. In the fall I love watching the World Series, in the winter I love watching the Super Bowl, and during the entire year there is always some interesting college or professional sport to watch. Psychologists say that a lot of us love sport because we can "bask in the reflected glory" of these outstanding athletes. In other words, we can feel good about ourselves by identifying with outstanding people. It is funny when you hear a fan talking about a Cardinals baseball game and they say, "Yeah, we won last night, we beat the Cubs." As if that person were playing shortstop for the Cardinals. But I certainly do this as well--I feel good when my favorite teams or athletes win and there is no better time to feel good then when it comes to the Olympics! Of course those of us living in the USA will be cheering for our USA athletes! Because I have completed the course work and necessary supervised hours working with athletes, I am an Association for Applied Sport Psychology Certified Consultant (AASP CC). And because of my status as an AASP CC, I was able to apply to be on the United States Olympic Committee Sport Psychology Registry. My name is now on the list that any Olympic or Paralympic athlete could contact me for mental performance enhancement consultation. So I am definitely rooting for the USA Olympic athletes as they perform in China! And since I now have Olympic fever, I think it is a good chance for all of us to watch the games and see what we can learn in our own sport or exercise endeavors. First lesson, determination and perseverance--every Olympic story is a story of self-sacrifice and sticking with their sport through the good and the bad. Second, practice, practice, practice--the amount of time and energy that Olympic athletes dedicate to their sport is inspiring. And finally passion--never forget the love of the sport and the intense desire to be the best that we can learn from these Olympic athletes. It is exciting to watch all of these great athletes from around the world come together and compete. They keep adding new sports every year and I am just waiting for the year they add Top Fuel Funny Car to the list of Olympic events!

Part of a winning attitude is a sense of gratitude...

Part of a winning attitude is a sense of gratitude...
By Tami Eggleston

Most of the time I post sort of "fun" "teamwork" have a "good, positive attitude" on my Blogs and in my articles. And 99% of the time I am a pretty positive, upbeat person. But sometimes bad things happen to really good people. And sometimes it is hard to see the glass as half full. In the past few months I have seen floods and tornadoes hit the Midwest, innocent people have died, and homes and property destroyed. I have seen the death of an outstanding drag racer--I did not know him personally, but I feel like in the auto racing world we are all part of a big huge extended family and I pray for his friends and families. And a close friend and neighbor passed away after dealing with a terrible illness. So I have experienced some sad things that I think make you think about your own life. And I think at difficult times it is easy to feel sad and sort of wonder what is life all about? But I think you come out of difficult times when you think about all of the things you have to be thankful for in your own life. And I know that my friend enjoyed his life to the fullest and was a happy guy and I think there is a lesson when you lose someone--you better be happy, you better do the things you want to do, you better be good to the people who matter the most to you. Mike and I are happy at the races and we really like the people we race with--it is a great community of people and I am thankful to be part of that community--in the good times and in the bad times. Part of a winning attitude is taking some time to be thankful for the things, the people, and the opportunities you have in your life.

Who Cares Who is in the Other Lane?!?

Ask any drag racer in the world when they are the happiest to get a bye run and the answer is always, "at three cars." A few weekends ago at the Gateway International Raceway Spring NHRA Open, we were running super comp and I was able to take a look at the ladder. I quickly saw that if Mike could keep cutting good lights and if the car wanted to keep cooperating, then we had a chance at a bye into the finals. When the winlight came on at 12 cars, I was excited. And when the winlight came on at 6 cars I was really excited! I knew that at 3 cars we would have the bye into the finals and we did. As we were rolling into staging at 3 cars, Mike and I felt this surge of confidence, this surge of joy, this surge of "we are going to the finals." And Mike cut an awesome light and the car ran a great number. And I started to think how many times I have seen good runs when people have bye runs--they often hit a good light (.005-.020) but they rarely seem to go red and they rarely seem to cut a crappy light. And it made me think--you should always run like it is a bye run, you should always try to have the best run you can. Of course when you are racing someone you need to think about their ET, their MPH, but the number one thing is to focus on your light and your run. I do some sport consulting with athletes in other sports (e.g., tennis, softball, volleyball, bowling, etc.) and I encourage them to think about their competition, but to keep the focus on their own game and the things that they can control to help them win. So who cares who is in the other lane if you perform the best you possibly can?

(Photo from www.bretkepnerphotos.com)

No whining in racing!

No whining in racing!
By Tami Eggleston (c) - www.DrivingSecrets.com

In the movie "A League of their Own," Tom Hanks playing a coach says to his softball players, "There is no crying in baseball!" Well, the same thing applies to all sports in my opinion. I am not saying that sometimes really bad things happen in sports, there is bad weather, there are bad officials, there are annoying opponents, but you know what? Great athletes know how to learn from things, control what they can, make the best of bad situations, and they don't whine. Instead of focusing on whining, focus on winning!

Case in point, last weekend we went out to racing for the first drag race of the season. Now there were lots of things to whine about. First off, we had troubles with our generator, took it to a shop, and of course the person did not get it fixed in time for us to take to the track--so we have to get electricity for our battery charger from our friends and we have no generator in our motor home (not fun!). Then the weather was typical spring weather and it was cold and rainy--(also not fun). All the racers were complaining about the cost of fuel and race fuel (and yeah, that is definitely not fun). But you know what, if you can't control it, learn from it, and then deal with it...and at the end of the weekend, we not only didn't whine, but the tuffpaw.com dragster went to the winner's circle in super comp (and yeah, that was definitely fun!)

Mental Tool Box!

Mental Tool Box!
By Tami Eggleston (c) - www.DrivingSecrets.com

Every year I conduct a workshop at the Drag News Magazine Expo. In January, 2008 I did a workshop called, "the Mental Tool Box." We all have a tool box we take to the race track full of tools we need to work on the race car, but we also need to make sure our mental tool box has the right tools. At the Expo I asked the racers who attended my seminar and completed the survey the following question, “If you could give just one piece of advice to a racer to help them win, what would that piece of advice be?” I thought this would be a pretty interesting question and I received a wide range of answers and I want to share some of them.

1.) Stay Focused. Concentrate. Stay in the present. Focus on the task at hand. Be in the here and now! Don’t be distracted. Don’t let your surroundings interfere with your concentration. Take it one round at a time.
2.) Be positive. Have a positive mental attitude. Give it all you got!
3.) Race your own race. Never be intimidated by the other car or driver.
4.) Be the same all of the time. Be consistent. Have a good routine.
5.) Practice. Seat time.
6.) Preparation. Prepare everything. Check and recheck everything!
7.) Visualize. See what you are going to do.
8.) Be comfortable in your car. Know your vehicle. Have the best car you can.
9.) Relax. Stay calm. Don’t get stressed. Don’t choke. Keep cool (have a cool head). Relax and do your thing!
10.) Have confidence. Believe in yourself. Learn to trust your gut. Make your moves on instinct.
11.) Have fun.
12.) Don’t give up. Be Patient!
13.) Don’t be afraid to lose. Deal with losing. Learn from failures.
14.) Listen to people that know what they are doing.

The above list was really pretty darn good and I think it is good to remind ourselves about the above list. I would also like to point out that at my seminar there were some fantastic racers, some of these people have won a lot of races and some have raced for a long time, so I think this list is pretty complete.

So what's in your mental tool box? What do you need to work on and add to your tool box to help take you to the winners circle?

Time to celebrate, think and refresh!

Time to celebrate, think and refresh!
By Tami Eggleston (c) - www.DrivingSecrets.com

Doesn't it just seem like the world keeps going faster and faster (and I am not talking about the race cars!)....With so much to do and so little time to do it, sometimes it seems like the world just won't slow down. I constantly hear people say that they need more hours in the day! Well, guess what, we won't get more hours in a day and this life we have is all we have. I am encouraging everyone to take a little time out of your busy, hectic, crazy lives to celebrate, think, and refresh. Think about all that you have to celebrate in your lives, your health, your friends, and families, and the things you are passionate about. Don't only celebrate your life when you are in the winner's circle--try to celebrate small things as well. Also think about your goals and things that you need to work on and improve. And finally take a little time to refresh and take a break. Sometimes when you feel overwhelmed with too much to do, the best thing you can do is to take a little break to refresh. After the break you will come back mentally, physically, and emotionally stronger and ready to take on anything! So get out there and celebrate, think, and refresh so you can compete even stronger later!

Avoiding YIPS, flinches, and jerks!

Avoiding YIPS, flinches, and jerks!
By Tami Eggleston (c) - www.DrivingSecrets.com

I was recently working with a bowler and she explained that sometimes at the last second right before she releases the bowling ball she will sort of hold on or flinch at the last second. She says she does this if her gut instinct is telling her to do something right before she bowls (like move to the left, etc.). I have talked with golfers and they call this the Yips. And I think auto racers call this flinching. Like a drag racer will flinch before they cut a light. Basically when this happens your brain or your instinct are trying to hold back because you did not listen to them before you go to perform. So take a deep breath, listen to your brain or your gut instinct, and make the necessary adjustments before you perform so when you perform you can do so without any unnecessary flinches, yips, or jerks at the last second. Sometimes we try to control our brains or our instincts so much we don't listen to them, but most of the time they are correct and if you don't listen and adjust before you perform your brain or instinct will take over at the last second. Sometimes your brain or instinct can make good split second adjustments, but often times your brain or instinct will overreact resulting in missed spares, missed putts, and poor driving. Practice hard, have confidence, listen to your instincts and brain, make smart adjustments, breathe, and perform the best you can!

20/20 Driving Secrets

20/20 Driving Secrets
By Tami Eggleston (c) - www.DrivingSecrets.com

In March, the www.tuffpaw.com and www.racingsecrets.com Dragster landed in the winner's circle by getting runner-up at the Gateway Super Comp Open. A close 8.88 to a 8.89 led to double brake-out loss, but it was still a GREAT way to start the season. It always feels good to start off the season on the right foot. Once you get the momentum going, you have to keep it. Now, as a psychologist, I KNOW that hindsight is always 20/20 and there have been plenty of races where we did the same things we did this weekend and then were loaded up on the trailer first round, but here are my thoughts on why this race went so well:

1.) Hard work! This was our first race of the season and to get ready was a lot of work. Mike worked on the dragster and everything else for weeks getting ready. Even if you have all winter to get ready, there are still a million last minute things to do to get ready. Behind every happy winner's circle picture is hours and hours of work!

2.) A positive attitude! Both Mike and I were really eager for this season to start. We have mapped out most of our tentative schedule and we were excited and ready for the season to start.

3.) Goal setting and past season analyses. Mike and I went through our log book from last year and spent some time really trying to figure out what we were doing right and what needed to be improved. We made some changes to the dragster to try and help consistency (that is still being tweaked) and we set some new goals for our racing season.

4.) Practice! Not everyone is a big fan of the practice tree, but as a psychologist, I think it is the best thing we have to get a drag racer's mind ready for the actual thing. For the two weeks before the race, Mike and I spent some quality time on the practice tree complete with me logging in his averages and we had some really intense practice tree competitions at home.

5.) Luck and Fun! Finally, it just has to be said, we got the luck when we needed it. I don't think hardly any win can come without a little luck just when you need it! We also were enjoying every round we won. The plaque and the winner's circle photo are now on our fireplace to remind us of the great start to the year. Hopefully we can keep doing what we are doing, tweak the car a bit, and keep the momentum going.

Get your Racing Priorities Straight

Get your Priorities Straight to Keep your Head on Straight!
By Tami Eggleston (c) - www.DrivingSecrets.com

So the Tuff Paw Dragster started off the season HOT and we hit quite a few races in April and May, but then life just got in the way. Mike started to get really busy with the Tuff Paw Aluminum Products. And I got really busy with teaching at McKendree College, presenting at a psychology conference, attending a sport psychology conference, and being asked to do some sport psychology sessions with a semi-pro women's soccer team. All of a sudden we were both so busy and we started feeling stressed out. We were up one night at about midnight as Mike was working on the race car and I was trying to load the motorhome, when we finally decided we just needed to take a couple of weekends off of racing! Yes, I said it! Take a couple of weekends off of racing! Am I losing my mind? What kind of driving secret is that? Well, here is the deal--racing is hard work and it is hard to win. We all know that. And if your life gets crazy, there is no way you are going to have the time or the mental energy to perform your best. There simply may be times in your life when you just need to take off a weekend, organize your life, get caught up, do some work, get your head on straight, and then mentally you will be ready to go racing. If you go racing when your brain is stressed out about all of the other things you have going on in your life, it will be much more difficult to focus on the racing at hand. So get out your calendar, look at the races you HAVE to go to, the races you really WANT to go to, and then if there is an off weekend, that might just be a good weekend to get your priorities straight!

Time to Play Ball!

Time to Play Ball!
By Tami Eggleston (c) - www.DrivingSecrets.com

I love auto racing...but I also love other sports. I like to see the skill, the passion, the competition, and the lessons that can be learned from other sports...here is what I have learned from watching college basketball and how I think it applies to auto racing:

Don't ever, and I mean ever, think you know who is going to win! It doesn't matter what the record, what the rank, what the skill level, what the experts say, anybody can beat anybody at anytime. There have already been some big upsets in the March Madness college basketball tournaments, sure there might always be some power house schools who always have good programs, but there are plenty of upsets. In auto racing, don't ever think you can easily beat your opponent just because you are "better" than they are, don't ever take someone too easily. In addition, don't ever think that someone else is going to beat you because they are supposedly "better than you." In any sporting event the team or the driver that wins is the one that performed the best that day!

OK, it is time to play Ball...I mean go Racing!

What's Your Dream??

What's Your Dream??
By Tami Eggleston - www.DrivingSecrets.com

Here are a few questons to wake you up and get you thinking! Race season has started for some of the lucky racers who live in warm temperatures and it is just around the corner for many of us. So here are some questions to get you thinking.....

1.) If you could wake up tomorrow morning and things could be different for you in terms of your racing, how would they be different?

2.) Think of some times in your life when things were going really well for you in terms of your racing, what were you doing during those times?

3.) On a scale of 1-10 with 1 being things are not going well to 10 being things are as good as they can be, where are you in terms of your racing, your driving, your car, your race program?

4.) What would YOU have to do to bring yourself up 1 number on that 1-10 scale?

5.) What things can you start to do right now to start being the racer you want to be? Make a commitment to start doing some things right now! What can you do next month? What can you do this summer? What can you do this year?

Now is the time to make your racing dreams come true!

Remember you LOVE this stuff!

When the going gets TUFF, remember you LOVE this stuff!
By Tami Eggleston (c) - www.DrivingSecrets.com

My primary interest as a sport psychologist is the field of auto racing, but I also meet with a variety of other athletes including softball players, bowlers, golfers, volleyball players, and a few soccer and basketball players. I was working with a very good bowler the other day and he talked about how sometimes the pressure really gets to him, sometimes his coach can make him nervous, sometimes his teammates cause him stress, and sometimes it is hard to regain focus. As I talked to him and many of the other athletes, I find that the thing that can really get you through the tough times, keep you going, and help refocus your brain is to remember why you are there....and ultimately you engage in your sport because you LOVE it....To help you remember why you love your sport to help you do the work that needs that to be done, to help you keep making the sacrifices that any sport requires, and to help you keep focused when the going gets tough, here are some things to ask yourself:

1.) Think back to your earliest memory of performing your sport, how did you feel about your sport, why did you want to keep doing it?

2.) When you are playing your sport, how do you feel about yourself?

3.) What other things in your life give you as much feelings of pride, joy, and confidence as your sport?

4.) I love my sport because.....

When the going gets TUFF, remember you LOVE this stuff!

Cardio for The Track

Cardio for The Track...
By Ilya Feynberg (c) - www.RacingFitness.com

Your cardio training is one of most crucial elements of your training…so listen up!

As you’ve already read above (or should have anyway); cardio training will strengthen the muscles that are involved in respiration thus greatly improving your ability to get oxygen into the needed muscles, heart and lungs. This combined with the fact that cardio training increases your ability to expel waste (CO2) and you’ve got a training method that will greatly improve your endurance. Now remember that huge muscles are not needed to drive a car on the limit, not to mention that the added unnecessary weight gain will hamper the cars ability to perform. Instead the goal has and always will be to increase muscles strength to just enough, and then to get your muscles to work to the maximum for an entire race weekend under intense pressures.

There are three main types of cardio exercise techniques that a driver can utilize to his/her advantage. These are:

Cycling/Mountain Biking/Gym bike

Running/Jogging/Walking/Sprinting/Treadmill

Gym Stairmasters/Swimming

Each exercise technique has its own advantages and disadvantages, which are dependent on the driver’s preferences and safety issues. For example:

Cycling is great way to gain more endurance and can be fun to do as well. But it can have its drawbacks; bikes can get expensive (but you don’t need an expensive bike), it can also get boring and mundane when your constantly riding alone in the same cycling venues.

With mountain biking, boredom is not a problem that you’ll have to worry about, as a good deal of adrenaline is involved. While mountain biking is great for building endurance, muscles and conditioning, it too has its drawbacks. The bikes like cycling can get expensive, and injury is something of a bigger risk when mountain biking then when simply cycling, after all your almost never on level asphalt. One point that I do want to make on equipment costs is that you do not need a top of the line cycle or mountain bike to perform your these exercises. While $5,000 bikes are wonderful, they’re simply not a requirement. I started out with a $280 mountain bike that I used and enjoyed for almost 2 years.

The gym bike is always easy to get to and use and with a gym membership, very cheap in comparison. Using the gym bike also holds a very slim chance of injury; you’d have to perform the exercise totally wrong for this to happen. However the gym bike is probably the most boring exercise method known to man kind, and as a result your motivation to constantly hop on and do your cardio for the day might diminish rather quickly. However, if you’re more disciplined and focused then average and enjoy the bike…well…by all means.

Running, jogging and sprinting are all a great ways of getting your cardio exercises, but too have their drawbacks. Running puts a decent amount of strain on the muscles, tendons, ligaments and bones of the body and can lead to injury or overtraining quickly enough if not balanced out with other exercise techniques. However these exercises are the cheapest to perform and have the highest cost to effectiveness ratio, just make sure you set your cardio training up just right to avoid overtraining and injury.

While swimming is nothing new to cardio training, the use of the Stair Master or Stair Climbing machine is a rather new trend that’s catching on rather quickly. While the Stair Master Machines can be found in just about any decent gym (in the cardio room/section) they too have they’re benefits and drawbacks. The Stair Master is a great tool for your cardio workouts and will definitely help get you into great cardiovascular shape, not to mention a good workout for your legs and calves. Even this exercise technique has its drawbacks however. For instance, the Stair Master should not be the only cardio exercise that makes up your cardio routine, since it can cause excessive knee and joint wear overtime. Also, gym cardio machines like the stair master, treadmill, gym bike etc… while great exercise tools can be a boring and tedious way of going about your cardio training.

Swimming is a fantastic exercise for building up your cardiovascular endurance and unlike other exercises has fewer and more simple drawbacks and is also a rather inexpensive exercise to perform. Swimming is easy on the muscles and joints and the only real drawbacks are going to be a lack of variety in your routine, and some safety issues (which we will go into in the swimming portion). Swimming also will not work the legs and calves as extensively as other cardio exercises will.

Let’s take a more in depth and detailed look into the different variations of cardio training…

photo by maHidoodi

Your To Do: Do a To Do List!

Your To Do: Do a To Do List!
By Tami Eggleston, (c) DrivingSecrets.com

OK, I get it, To Do lists get a bad reputation. When you even hear To Do list, you think of awful things that you really don't want to do like "exercise, clean the gutters, go the grocery store, clean the garage, etc. etc." But here is the deal, you need To Do lists and no other time do you need a To Do list more than at the beginning of a race season (well unfortunately with busy racers, we need To Do lists all season, but you really need a To Do list now!).

So to try and take some of the agony out of the dreaded To Do Lists...here are few suggestions:

1.) Don't confuse your To Do list with your long term and short term goals. To Do lists are things you need to get done and do. Your long term goals should be written on a separate piece of paper and then break that down into some short term goals. I also like to put some things on that list of goals that are more future oriented (e.g., get a spare transmission).

2.) Then on your To Do list, put short specific things that ABSOLUTELY must get done. These things should be very specific (not goals like get the trailer organized). Rather you should write things like buy case of Oil from CarQuest, buy oil filters from Car Quest, get first aid kid from Walgreen's, buy 24 Qt Oil holder online from http://www.tuffpaw.com/, check the air pressure in race car trailer tires, etc. Be very specific on what needs to be done. If it really doesn't need to be done ASAP then put that information back on your goals page.

3.) Group your To Do list by things you can do at home, things that you need to buy in town, things you need to do online, things that have specific dates, etc. Then you can knock out the things at the same time. For example, try to get all of your things in town done on one day, don't keep running to town everyday for one thing.

4.) Try to put enough things on a To Do list for just one day or one week, depending on how much you have to do! If you put too many things on one list, it gets overwhelming and you will just want to give up.

5.) Don't put things on your To Do list that you automatically do and won't forget. For example, saying load fuel into the trailer is a good idea (you might forget that), but don't put load race car on your to do list, (you won't forget that!).

6.) Finally, reward yourself! If you complete everything on your To Do list for a week, then you deserve a reward! Many people just keep plugging away at their To Do lists and never reward themselves for the work they are completing. Think of somethings you would like to buy or do for rewards (e.g., buy more aluminum products at http://www.tuffpaw.com/, buy some new race car parts, tools, race clothing, etc.).

There you go, now go make that To Do list and Get 'R Done!

What's Your Driving Force?

What's Your Driving Force?
By Tami Eggleston (c)2006

So what really motivates you? What really gets your motor running? (Pun intended) To be successful in auto racing or in life, you have to find something that you are really passionate about, something that really gets your blood pumping, something that you just love. I am currently watching the new reality series "Driving Force" on A & E. If you haven't watched it, you should check it out. First, I love John Force, who doesn't? Second, who can deny his success? And third, you see some examples of positive psychology in action (John is doing practice trees before he races!) and you also see some less than positive examples (he screams, swears, and doesn't take the best care of himself). The best thing that John Force reflects is his LOVE of drag racing, he eats it, sleeps it, breathes it...it is all about Drag Racing all of the time. His main goal is to get his daughters to have the same passion that he has about drag racing. So take some time and figure out what really fuels you....auto racing doesn't have to be the ONLY thing in your life, but if you want to be successful it sure better be in your top five list.
What is your Driving Force?

Tami's Drag Racing Tips

A successful drag racer needs to THINK and FEEL

A successful drag racer needs to THINK and FEEL
By Tami Eggleston (c)2006

In my last post I introduced the Myers-Briggs personality type survey. If you didn't try it then because you didn't care if you were a Judger or Perceiver, well now I want you to think about one of the other categories in the MB--The Thinker or Feeler.

For some people whenever they make a decision they want to think, they want to analyze, know the facts, and use logic to come to their decision. In general, being a thinker is a good thing when thinking about what is the most logical race to attend, what type of racing is the best for you, planning your time and money, and then even maintaining your car and determining a dial in for your race car. However, when it comes to life and drag racing, you also do need to be in touch with what you feel and your basic values or your "gut instinct." The ability to feel may also give you the passion and energy to keep you motivated. So you need a combination for true success. The best racers would be able to rely on logic and thinking when necessary but yet still stay true to their integrity. For example, Mike and I are both pretty logical thinkers, we consider what races to attend each year based on entry fees and payouts, however, we also still allow ourselves some to think about what sounds fun and where some of our friends and family members may be racing at. This is combining our thinking and feeling. In addition, knowing your basic preferences for thinking and feeling and the basic preferences of your pit crew could help you know how to better work with each other and motivate each other. Take sometime to think about how you feel and feel what you are thinking!

Tami's Drag Racing Tips

You are your best friend and your worst enemy!

You are your best friend and your worst enemy!
By Tami Eggleston (c)2006

Did you know that your personality helps you in many ways to be a successful racer and successful person? But these same personality traits may also make you prone to doing things that get in the way of your success and being all that you can be. Of course we can try to change our personality, but this is very difficult. Instead it is usually better to figure out what strengths we have and what things we may have to work on to improve. One of the most well known, easy to administer, and fairly reliable and valid personality tests is the Myers Briggs. There are many of these forms online, but here is a quick and easy one below that will score your personality type. There are four main dichotomies on this scale (Extrovert or Introvert, Intuitive or Sensor, Thinker or Feeler, Judger or Perceiver).
You can take the quick scale below and find out your basic personality type. Answer the questions with your true first instinct.

http://www.humanmetrics.com/cgi-win/JTypes1.htm
http://www.teamtechnology.co.uk/tt/t-articl/mb-simpl.htm

For this post, I want to focus on the Judger versus Perceiver and how that influences you as a person and a racer. The judger (not to be confused with someone who is judgemental!) is someone who likes their life to be planned, stable, and organized. These people like to have to do lists and calendars. This time of year Mike and I have a million to do lists to get ready for racing around the house. We also are getting our schedules together for the race season. This is because we are both judgers. While this is good for many things, you have all heard the saying, "the best laid plans..." A perceiver tends to be better able to roll with the punches, deal with the unexpected, and doesn't get as frantic if things don't go just so. In sum, both of these personality types have advantages and disadvantages when it comes to racing. At the beginning of the year, however, it is probably good to try and organize your time and your race season and start getting everything done to go racing. The judgers probably have a bit of advantage getting things ready for the race season. However, when a transmission breaks on Saturday night and it starts raining and the tow rig gets a flat tire, the perceiver will be much better at dealing with the unexpected. It probably isn't suprising that two high scoring judgers really enjoy the Tuff Paw Aluminum products to organize our trailer! We won't like it if we break a tranny or get a flat, but we know we will be prepared if it happens!

Tami's Drag Racing Tips
Tami's Stock Car Tips

The best predictor of future behavior is past behavior...

The best predictor of future behavior is past behavior...
By Tami Eggleston (c)2006

The winter months are flying by and it will be spring before you know it! This weekend Mike is off picking up the engine from our engine man, "Big Block Shawn!" For some people they think of the start of spring when they see birds or flowers, but for most racers we think of the start of spring when we get our new or freshened engines in the cars! So it is time to really "get it in gear" (pun intended) and start to get the race car, tow rig, and trailer ready for the race season. As you are getting the car ready, it is time to get your brain in gear too. One thing that can really help is to spend some time thinking about past successes. Too often our brain will spend time replaying negative experiences (bad driving examples), but often our brain won't spend time thinking about past success and good driving experiences. Psychologists love the phrase, "the best predictor of future behavior is past behavior." In other words, if we don't change anything we will probably continue to act as we did in the past. For most of us, we had good and bad experiences in the past racing seasons. Learn from your mistakes and then move on. But take time to think about your successes and what you did correctly. A good sport psychology tip is to actually make a "success poster" with pictures of wins, your favorite sayings (e.g., Get 'R Done) and other memorabilia of your wins (e.g., time slips, entry forms, pit passes,etc.). This way by looking at your success poster you will remind your brain of past successes that will hopefully bring future success!

Now's the time to make your own LUCK!

At the races some people call certain drivers, "Lucky!" And of course we have all heard the saying, "I would rather be Lucky than Good!" Well, as a psychologist, I would much rather be good and figure the luck will come along eventually. If you are good, you can always be good. But if you just rely on Luck, well that will inevitably come and go. I also don't really believe that some people are Lucky or Unlucky, I simply believe some people are just smart, work hard, and probably having a few extra bucks to buy some good parts and do some maintenance! ;) So the winter months are the time to make your own luck! What you do now can make you lucky later when it actually matters--work hard in January and February so you can be lucky from March-October!

Doing some maintenance to the car is one thing that needs to be done. Those "lucky" drivers are in their shops working on their cars right now. This way their cars will be ready for the race seaon. These "lucky" racers are also probably working on their own mental game by doing some practice trees, thinking about their driving strategies, and maybe really taking some time to analyze their racing program.

By doing some things now, you will also have that feeling of being totally prepared and ready for the race. It is impossible to get in the flow and drive well when you are worrying about a technical, mechanical, or other problem.

If you are working hard now, maybe you will be Lucky next season, or maybe you will just be good...but either way you are preparing yourself now to win later!
GOOD LUCK!

A new year, a new you!

A new year, a new you!
By Tami Eggleston(c)2005

When I am not at the drag races, I am a professor teaching psychology at McKendree College. The end of the year always seems like such a very busy time with so much work to be done and getting ready for the holidays. But even during this busy, hectic time, it is also the perfect time to think about the new year and a new you! I have never liked it when i hear an athlete or racer say they are not "in season" or this is the "off season." I think that during the winter months when most racers aren't racing, this is one of the most important time periods to really make some signficant changes. Of course we make some significant changes to our race cars (new engines, new transmissions, entirely new cars!, etc.), but what I think is even more important is to do some changes to your routine and to your brain game. Once the race season is really undeway and you are busy just making it down the track, then you dont have much time to think about what needs to change and even less time to practice these changes. Now is the time to think about trying some new things like stress management, time management, money management, healthy lifestyle changes, focus and concentration, etc. In my next few posts I am going to focus on some things to change to improve your brain game and maybe the new you will help you be a new more winning you! Happy New Year! Oh the possibiliites....

Now if we only had Jets for the brain...

Now if we only had Jets for the brain...
by Tami Eggleston - DrivingSecrets.com

In my last post I emphasized the BRAIN DYNO and taking some time to analyze YOU and your strengths and weaknesses. Most sport psychologists would agree that this is a very important step in helping you achieve your peak performance. But again, just like an engine, there are certain situations beyond the engine that influence performance. For example, we all know that the weather has a huge influence on performance. On really hot days, for most folks their cars will run a bit slower than in the better, cooler,less humid weather. And sometimes it is necessary to make adjustments (for example changing Jets in the Carb) to accomadate the external environment. Most engines also need an internal temperature to perform best and consistently (that is why racers warm up their engines in the pits). These are external factors that influence the performance of the engine. Similarly, there are also external things that influence driver's performance. For example, do you need to "warm up" in the pits before racing? How do you or could you do this? Some racers find it helpful to practice with practice trees, video games, visualization, or some just try to relax and others listen to music. What other external things influence you? Does the weather, the track, the time of day, etc? Just as we keep records about how the engine and car performs under various weather conditions, time of day, and at different tracks, take some time to think about and record the external factors that influence driving performance. Just because the engine performed well on the dyno, we don't race on dyno machines. Some tweaking to deal with external factors is sometimes necessary.

Time for a brain DYNO!

Time for a brain DYNO!
by Tami Eggleston - DrivingSecrets.com

Many racers have either thought about or actually taken their engine to the Dyno room. At the dyno room you can put your engine to the test and learn all sorts of great information about horsepower and even try changing carb settings, timing, intakes, etc. etc. to get the best performance out of your engine. In other words, you get to learn a lot of information about your engine, the performance potential, and ways to fine tune your setup.
How I wish there was a dyno room for your head, but in a way that is exactly what sport psychologists try to do. Of course, we can't quite hook you up to a machine and get some great print outs about your behavior, but you can use this analogy to think about your own brain and your own head when it comes to racing and life in general.

1.) Be honest and think about the strenghts you have when racing and in life in general. It might be good to even write them down (just like the Dyno printout). Maybe you are competitive, hard working, and really love racing. These are your strengths and should be capitalized on. Even in the engine Dyno room we find out some information that shows where the engine has the maximum horsepower. So where do you have your maximum horsepower?

2.) Most of us like to "toot our own horn" at least a little, but for many of us it is harder to be honest about our weaknesses or drawbacks (on the Dyno report this is where the engine dips or plateaus in perfomance). So where are your dips? What things hold you back on the track or in your life? Maybe you procratinate and don't always get things done, maybe you can't manage your money to get the most out of your life, maybe you can't control your anger and have a bad temper, etc. So write down the things that need to be fine tuned.

3.) And finally, start tweaking with your brain. Look at your list of weaknesses and start working on them one by one. Just like in the dyno room, you can't change everything all at once, instead you make one small adjustment, take a dyno pull, and see what happens. Look at your racing and your life as a series of dyno pulls, you just keep tweaking until you reach your maximum horsepower!

Get your motor running!

Get your motor running!
by Tami Eggleston - DrivingSecrets.com

It doesn't matter if you are already a successful race car driver or you have just decided to think about obtaining your first race car, you need to set goals. You can't get to where you are going if you don't know where you want to go or have a plan to get there!
Take sometime right now to think about and write out your goals using this SMART method:

S--Goals should be specific. Try to think about exactly what you want to do. For example, is your goal to buy a racecar and get it out to the track by May, 2006? Or is your goal to attend all of the points races at your local track next season?

M--Goals should be measurable. Think of things that you can clearly measure and therefore be able to track. Saying that you will attend all of the points races or half of the races is measurable. Saying that you might try to attend a few big buck bracket races is not measurable.

A--Goals should be aggressive yet achievable. You should always aim high, yet they should be realistic enough to acheive. In our racing we can set an aggressive goal of attending all of the Super Comp races next season, but it would be unrealistic to beleive we will be campaigning a Funny Car next year (unless we get a big sponsor quick, what about the www.blogger.com funny car?!?)

R--Goals are meant to be revisited and revised. After you set goals, look at them, see how you are doing and revise as needed.

T--Goals must be time-bound. You should have short-term goals (what are you going to do this month) and you should also have long-term goals (what are your goals for this year, for 5 years from now).

Take some time now to set some goals and get your motor running! Nothing motivates a person like a good goal!