S.C.O.R.E. for Life (R): The Secret Formula for Thinking Like a Champion

205 Pages·2006·1.26 MB·English

by  Jim Fannin

S.C.O.R.E.®
for Life
The Secret Formula
for Thinking Like a Champion
J I M F A N N I N
Contents
Foreword by Alex Rodriguez v
Prologue viii
CHAPTER 1: The Mind of a Champion 1
CHAPTER 2: The Power of the Zone 13
CHAPTER 3: Self-Discipline 25
CHAPTER 4: Concentration 43
CHAPTER 5: Optimism 53
CHAPTER 6: Relaxation 71
CHAPTER 7: Enjoyment 83
CHAPTER 8: S.C.O.R.E. Levels 91
CHAPTER 9: Why Do S.C.O.R.E. Levels Fluctuate? 107
CHAPTER 10: The S.C.O.R.E. System 117
CHAPTER 11: “WYOU, You’re on the Air” 137
CHAPTER 12: Fannin’s Final Word 147
APPENDIX A: The Toolbox 157
APPENDIX B: S.C.O.R.E. Review 159
APPENDIX C: S.C.O.R.E. for...
(and Other Closing Thoughts) 161
Index 175
About the Author
Credits
Cover
Copyright
About the Publisher
Foreword
by Alex Rodriguez
Imet Jim Fannin at the very beginning of my professional baseball
career. Our meeting was arranged by my Seattle Mariner’s team-
mate Joey Cora. I had marveled at Cora’s newfound self-discipline
and focus. And I wanted some of that. During my introduction to Jim
he asked me what I wanted out of baseball. Quickly I replied, “Hall of
Fame.” That’s a dream every aspiring baseball player has had. He said,
“What will you pay?” I thought he was talking about his fee but he
said, “My fee is chump change to what you’ll make. You’ll be able to
pay me from your front pocket. I mean . . . what will you sacrifice?” I
didn’t understand. He told me I’d miss my daughter’s birthday or a
school play or two. I laughed because I had no children. He said I’d go
days without seeing my wife. Of course at this time I didn’t even have
a serious girlfriend. He replied, “Your journey will have many ups and
downs and you’ll have to sacrifice your thoughts from friends, family,
and other life’s indulgences to reach your dream. All great things
worthwhile have a price tag of sacrifice.”
Over a decade later I have an awesome wife and a beautiful
daughter. And Jim was right. I have sacrificed. I do miss my family
when I’m on the road. But with the gift of his S.C.O.R.E. System I’ve
learned to manage my thoughts and keep everything simple and bal-
anced.
Jim Fannin has been tough, blunt as a hammer to the head, truth-
ful, relentless, cocky but not arrogant, understanding, reliable, always
well dressed, and 99 percent right in the advice he’s given. He’s been
v
my sounding board, guide, advisor, mentor, therapist, baseball strate-
gist, life coach, and Zone coach. And friend. He’s the same now as he
was when we first met. Except now he’s thinner and in better physical
shape. Jim has either left me a phone message or spoken to me in per-
son or on the phone for every game of my career. Every game. His atti-
tude has never wavered. I’ve never heard him talk in a negative way.
Ever. He has been an all-night supermarket of encouragement with
his 24/7 accessibility. He reminds me of the essence of my craft of
baseball every day. For more than 2,000 times he has said to me the
following statement...“I hit solid with an accelerated bat head.”
And I’ve repeated to myself the same mantra at least 10,000 times over
the years.
Through the S.C.O.R.E. System I’ve learned the fine art of visual-
ization and have harnessed the skill of positive self-awareness. I con-
tinue to learn to listen to my intuition and act on it immediately. This
is my biggest challenge. I apply S.C.O.R.E. to my family, friends,
businesses, baseball, and myself. I am constantly learning to think
24/7 like a true champion.
S.C.O.R.E. has many attributes. With it I feel I’m the best pre-
pared I can be. It has helped me adjust during my performances. Life
and baseball are about responding to changing conditions and cir-
cumstances. I’m making adjustments between pitches and I’m mak-
ing adjustments at home with my family. This ability has been my
biggest asset of late. Jim and the System have also helped me balance
my performances. I bounce back quickly after small failures and don’t
get cocky when I’m awesome. In fact, Jim was with me in Detroit on
June 5, 1997, when I became the fifth-youngest player ever to hit for
the cycle (home run, triple, double, and single in one game). Imme-
diately after the game he said, “You’re only as great as the day after
greatness. Next.” He has said that exact line after every one of my best
games. This balance keeps me grounded.
I never wanted this book written. Now I realize how selfish that
was. It amazes me that Jim and S.C.O.R.E. have remained a secret for
vi Foreword
over thirty years. His clients just didn’t want to talk about it. Now after
so many years I realize S.C.O.R.E. is something I want my daughter
to learn. I see S.C.O.R.E. in the public school system. I envision it
taught to the disadvantaged and the unfortunate. With S.C.O.R.E.,
mindsets can change more easily. It could be used to fight the war on
poverty. And with S.C.O.R.E. I see religious, cultural, and ethnic dif-
ferences not lead to hatred and violence.
So enjoy Jim’s life work. I have. Get in the Zone. And if there are
any pitchers reading this....Ih it solid!
—Alex Rodriguez
8-Time MLB All-Star
Foreword vii
Prologue
Have you ever choked during a performance? Have you ever been
told how much talent you have, and yet you’re not using it? Do
you get nervous before a competitive interaction or business transac-
tion? Are you self-conscious or doubtful during performances? Does
your level of concentration fluctuate wildly? Do you feel over-
whelmed at times?
I’m not ashamed to say I’ve experienced each and every one of
these things.
I’ve doubled-faulted on match point. I’ve frozen before speaking
to a live audience. I’ve been intimidated before potential clients. I’ve
repeated the same mistakes over and over due to poor evaluation. I’ve
been confused as a student in the classroom. I’ve been unprepared be-
fore an important performance. I’ve failed to make adjustments. I’ve
been overwhelmed while juggling too many tasks.
After three decades of studying human performance, I realized
these things were normal...e ven for some champions. I had more in
common with them than I realized. The champions told me their
own performance horror stories. However, they experienced the posi-
tive side of a less-than-perfect performance with more regularity than
everyone else. And they reached high daily standards, a minimum re-
quirement for a satisfactory performance.
They also frequently experienced the Zone, the state of mind and
body where peak performance resides.
The Zone is the moment you perform with complete detachment
viii
from the possibility of failure. This present-tense performance style
sets aflame the physical faculties of your body. Your mind and conse-
quently your body possess full alertness and eagerness for action. In
this high-octane state of mind, you are so well focused on attaining
your goal that others would call your state “tunnel vision.”
But it’s more than being single-minded or self-centered. Consis-
tently reaching the Zone is a style of life.
My quest for a Zone formula to control how I used my talents and
inherent skills stemmed partly from my failures in performance and
my passion for excellence.
Like many youngsters, my dream was to play professional sports. I
wanted to be a world champion. Although I have competed profes-
sionally, I followed a different path as my vocation. Today I coach. My
dream manifested itself into not playing against other world champi-
ons but coaching them.
My coaching philosophy was developed under the tutelage of Pro-
fessor R. W. Ross, an 82-year-old African-American schoolteacher—
not someone you’d typically see a 12-year-old white boy palling
around with in the Appalachian town of Ashland, Kentucky. Never-
theless, the professor was my tennis coach, life mentor, and good
friend.
Professor Ross was the human model for my life work. He lived in
the Zone until he died at the ripened age of 96. The “Prof ” observed
and thought cautiously before speaking. He spoke softly in short, stac-
cato sentences. He wasted no words. Everything about him was effi-
cient, from the way he moved to the way he ate, spoke, and thought.
He used silence to trim mental waste with the skill of a surgeon. I was
an ambitious student who absorbed the professor’s every word.
The foundation for my teaching craft was laid with his skill and
acumen. He trained me to motivate five- and six-year-old children in
tennis when I was only a kid myself. Imagery, concentration, self-
esteem, and self-discipline were new concepts to me that he sprinkled
along my journey through adolescence.
ix Prologue