Seahawks Coach Pete Carroll on Visualizing to Win

I had a chance to meet Coach Pete Carroll in his office at USC right after my son graduated there and Carroll was still coaching the Trojans.  I was so impressed how he was warm and open to strangers.  He focuses on you, and makes you feel good about yourself.  This is also attributed to his style of coaching.  They say he builds players up, rather than tear them down when they make mistakes.

It's no wonder that he has eased into coaching the Seahawks, because he makes players want to be the best you can possibly be.

Carroll could have rested on his laurels as being the highest paid university coach in the nation, but he chose to advance himself.  

ESPN reporter Shelly Smith says this about Carroll Coaching the Trojans in Los Angeles, "Carroll and his staff and the players were rock stars, A-listers even among the usual A-listers. The environment was contagious and hyper-charged."

But, even though Carroll who was at the top of his game at USC , he left for a bigger challenge to return to the NFL. Some say it's because he saw the controversy of Reggie Bush coming down the pike, but I choose to believe that he is following his philosophy to keep challenging himself and to be the best that you can be.

Against naysayers who say Carroll can't have the success in NFL like college, and that he is to "nice" for the NFL, he is proving them wrong, leading the Seahawks to victories.

One of his coaching techniques, is Carroll believes in visualization, one of the keys to win not only on the field, but in life. This is a key component in our lives no matter who we are.

Charles Haanel, author of the Master Key System (1912) which inspired the book, "The Secret" said this:

"If you desire to visualize a different environment, the process is simply to hold the ideal in mind, until your vision has been made real; give no thought to persons, places or things; these have no place in the absolute; the environment you desire will contain everything necessary; the right persons, and the right things will come at the right time and in the right place."

You can click on my pages tab on the top left to read an entire Visualization chapter in my book "Sporting the Right Attitude."

Here is Pete on winning and visualizing big: