When the season is just around the corner, coaches plan. They plan practices and travel schedules. They plan to peak their athletes at the right time. After the season they plan the off-season training.

The fact is you have to have a plan.

Here’s the rub.

To paraphrase President Dwight Eisenhower, planning is essential but plans are useless.

And here’s why.

You’re going to get punched in the mouth. And as Mike Tyson said (I hesitate to quote Mike Tyson for his wisdom but here goes), “everyone has a plan til you get punched in the mouth.”

You will get punched in the mouth.

Something will go wrong. You will get in an accident, lose your job, get a call from your child’s teacher, get in an argument with your wife, even lose a loved one.

And it’s going to change your plan. Rock your world. Knock you off course.

How will you react when you’re dazed and bloodied? Because you WILL be dazed and bloodied. What will you say? To yourself? To your wife? To your kids? To your boss?

The fact is, the other guy is going to get punched in the mouth too. That successful guy that lives down the street… him. It’s very likely that you won’t know it because the grass will look greener over there but he’s also dealing with something unforeseen that knocked him down and is trying to keep him down.

So will I. So will the guy next to you. So will your kids. So will your co-workers.

So what do you do?

You plan for turmoil. I’m not saying that you have to have a crystal ball, carry a spare spark plug and double your insurance policy. You’ll never be prepared for everything. What I’m saying is that you have to be mentally prepared for the challenges that lay ahead. The ones you’ll never predict.

Because this isn’t a sports thing. It’s a life thing.

Here’s the only guaranteed way to plan for the unforeseen.

Ready….?

Practice saying what you’ll say to yourself when you’re down. Practice it.

You may want to say, “s&*t, that sucks”… “I can’t do this”… “This was way tougher than I expected and I just can’t do it.”

Sure… that’s natural. That’s what the people around us say and have programmed us to say. But that’s not what a champions says. That’s not what a winner says. That’s not what any ultra-successful person, whether in athletics or business or politics or otherwise, would say.\

Say this instead…., “I knew something like this was coming. I have to adjust. I will be successful. I will get up and be better for it. I can do this.”

Say it.

Say it to yourself.

Say it outloud.

Just say it. Over and over.

Then and only then, will you believe it.

And then you will succeed.