Mental Performance Reflection – July 8

Mental Performance Reflection – July 8

The Trinity Tree, Discipline, and the Walk to Joplin

Quote of the Day:

“Discipline is choosing between what you want now and what you want most.”

— Abraham Lincoln

(Or someone with an early morning routine and a very determined chin.)

At 4 a.m., I walked. Same ground. Same tree. Same silence. But I wasn’t the same man.

This morning marked the start of a 10-hour drive to Joplin, Missouri with Barbi and Bella. That kind of drive demands something deeper than gas and GPS—it demands presence. And presence starts with alignment.

So I did my routine.

• Movement.

• Breathwork.

• Scripture.

• Hot mineral water (like a fasting samurai monk).

• Then out the door and into the field.

And that’s where I met it again: The Tree of Grace.

Only today… I renamed it.

The Trinity Tree.

One trunk. Three branches:

– The Father: deep-rooted, holding everything together

– The Son: stretching outward, offering grace

– The Holy Spirit: reaching upward, dancing with the wind

It’s not just metaphor. It’s memory.

And this morning, I saw it clearly:

The tree didn’t change.

I did.

🎯 The Principle That Sticks

The quote that shaped my day:

“Discipline is choosing between what you want now and what you want most.”

Walk into any school I’ve taught in—or any gym I’ve coached in—and you’ll know exactly what I stand for: Discipline.

And not the rigid, joyless kind. I’m talking about the kind of discipline that creates vision. The kind that builds people.

Nick Saban, one of my mental mentors (even though he doesn’t know me), explained it best:

“You’ve got two voices on your shoulders. One whispers, do what feels good right now. The other says, do what you know is right long term.

And usually, the one you’re supposed to choose is the one you don’t feel like doing.”

That’s the game.

That’s the gap.

That’s mental performance.

I tell Bella this often: your greatness lives in the choice between now and most.