Monthly Archives: December 2009

The first program on MTV worth watching?

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Ok, sure I’m shocked that MTV is actually producing a show I am really looking forward to; but let’s move right along.  The more important point is that the new “The Buried Life” show (scheduled to first air January 19) is about something pretty simple but powerful (Why do I feel like I have to write “but” between the words “simple” and “powerful”?) idea:  “What do you want to do before you die?”.

This kind of show (especially being that it is produced by MTV) could have easily become another kind shallow show covering topics from our consumerism based society, but I am pleased that the show’s producers have realized people (I guess even MTV fans) are interested in more deep human experiences.   In one of the show’s stories, for example, the show flew, via airplane, a daughter who could not afford the travel costs to visit to her parent’s grave that she had yet to visit; and that she wanted to visit before she died.

passed this level of skill, advantage is all in the head

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I am not sure if the idea I describe in this post is radical or even original, but I think it important enough to write about, so here you go.

I am watching the “Top 5 Best of Worst Calls” production on the Tennis Channel, and the commentators  just mentioned how Blake went from being ranked #4 in the world going into the Beijing Olympics, but then has struggled to stay in the top 20 rankings ever since he lost a Beijing Olympics match, wherein the 5th worst call was made against him.

The tennis match sportscasters and sports psychologists say that it is not uncommon for a player’s performance to deteriorate relative to his opponent’s  when a the judges/referees fail make a poor call against him.   This made me think that this kind of event illustrates the importance of a player’s state of mind is to his winning matches.    Then it made me think that, of the worldwide set of professional tennis players, a smaller subset of the top tennis players is established–on average–by the skills of these top players being markedly better than the non-top players; but that within the subset of top players (where the variability of player’s physical skill level is small), it is the top player’s mental state of mind and his ability to control it that more greatly affects his ability to beat another top player.

As I write this entry, I am also polishing up MBA application essays, and I thought that business managers and leaders can be segregated in similar fashion.  First, by a task based skill level, and then by mental state of mind, and more importantly, by their ability to control it.   That is, mental toughness is the most distinguishing trait amongst top managers because all managers are bound to encounter challenges, defeat, and failure.