Dr. Jerry Lynch has been recognized as one of the top 5 in his profession nationwide. He has worked with teams, coaches and athletes in the NFL, NBA, MLS, men’s and women’s basketball, lacrosse, and soccer at many of the top universities across the country. He is the author of 14 books on coaching, leadership, spirituality of sport and peak performance. He is also the founder and director of WAY OF CHAMPIONS, a human growth and performance consulting group to help others master the mental and spiritual game in sports.
Dr. J starts by speaking about the power of the heart in his work. Consumed with fear and worry, people are playing out lots of “what-if” scenarios during this current pandemic. He encourages us to consider moving from the head into the heart. The thinking mind is often “the cause and genesis of so much of our pain.”
For Jerry, the current pandemic is a spiritual crisis. Interestingly in Chinese, the word crisis means both danger and opportunity. Jerry says: “Yes there’s a lot of fear but also there’s a lot of opportunity.”
Jerry distinguishes between mind-set and heart-set. When we are up in our heads all of the time – in our thinking minds – we can get caught up in fear. Our focus is on getting and the fear of not having, which causes lots of pain.
However, the heart is a source of faith, strength & courage. In fact, the French word for heart is “Coeur” and it is the root of the word “courage.” Lao-Tzu also reminds us that “from caring comes courage.”
Jerry talks about his new book The Competitive Buddha. The title may sound paradoxical, but he explains that the Buddha was a competitive student athlete who competed in wrestling, archery and horse riding. He learned many of his most valuable lessons from sports, such as letting go, detachment, compassion, selflessness and integrity.
Win The Day is a powerful concept in Dr. J’s work. He explains that there are two ways to show up each day in life. The first way is to try to control the outcome and win a result. But here’s the downside: “what happens is you get tight, tense and tentative.” This cuts off circulation to the brain, so you don’t think as clearly. In turn, you lose confidence, and your performance suffers.
However, the other way to show up in life is to win the day. In this way, you focus on “the little things” that you can control. And big things come from these little things. Focusing on the little things also helps you stay calm and focused, which ultimately increases confidence and improves performance.
For anyone feeling powerless and hopeless about their life and future, Jerry suggests giving up three things: #1 Give up judging events and circumstances. #2 Give up controlling others or outcomes. #3 Give up trying to be right.
Looking back on his many years of writing books and teaching athletes and coaches all over the world, Jerry shares this lesson: “Back 50 years ago, I was too concerned about doing. We’re human beings not human doings… too concerned about doing this and doing that, instead of being present, being in the moment and being yourself.”
You can learn about Dr. Jerry Lynch and his work here: https://www.wayofchampions.com/
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