It is a fact, it is much more motivating to train with your teammates than to train alone. But with summer schedules being what they are it is not always possible to train with someone to motivate you. Some times you will have to go to the track, field or gym alone. These are the times when you will discover just what you are made of. You can push yourself and work hard or you can just go through the motions, the choice will be yours. The times alone will test and build your character, these are the times when champions are built. Choose now what you want to achieve this summer, focus your thoughts upon it, and don’t let anything get in your way.

Below are some excerpts from, As A Man Thinketh, by James Allen. Read these time tested jewels before you begin this summer program, and again anytime you feel the need.

THOUGHT & CHARACTER

"The aphorism, "As a man thinketh in his heart so is he," not only embraces the whole of a man’s being, but is so comprehensive as to reach out to every condition and circumstance of his life. A man is literally what he thinks, his character being the complete sum of all his thoughts."

"A man’s mind may be likened to a garden, which may be intelligently cultivated or allowed to run wild; but whether cultivated or neglected, it must, and will, bring forth. If no useful seeds are put into it, then an abundance of useless weed seeds will fall therein, and will continue to produce their kind."

"A man only begins to be a man when he ceases to whine and revile, and commences to search for the hidden justice which regulates his life. And as he adapts his mind to that regulating factor, he ceases to accuse others as the cause of his condition, and builds himself up in strong and noble thoughts; ceases to kick against circumstances, but begins to use them as aids to his more rapid progress, and as a means of discovering the hidden powers and possibilities within himself."

"Until thought is linked with purpose there is no intelligent accomplishment."

"Thought allied fearlessly to purpose becomes creative force: he who knows this is ready to become something higher and stronger than a mere bundle of wavering thoughts and fluctuating sensations; he who does this has become the conscious and intelligent wielder of his mental powers."

"All that a man achieves and all that he fails to achieve is the direct result of his own thoughts."

"A man can only rise, conquer, and achieve by lifting up his thoughts. He can only remain weak, and abject, and miserable by refusing to lift up his thoughts."

"There can be no progress, no achievement without sacrifice, and a man’s worldly success will be in the measure that he sacrifices his confused animal thoughts, and fixes his mind on the development of his plans, and the strengthening of his resolution and self-reliance. And the higher he lifts his thoughts, the more manly, upright, and righteous he becomes, the greater will be his success, the more blessed and enduring will be his achievements."