Ohio State Wins   **** OSU Wins  ***** Buckeyes Win

Ohio State is the only team in College Football with a regular positivity coach. How much did that have to do with their winning record this year?

If it had been a regular year the effect of intensive positivity training might be able to be dismissed but as a Wolverine fan first and a BIG10 fan second, I’m impressed with our rival this year. Not just because they won the championship—but because they won the championship despite the injuries suffered during this season.

Even before the season began Braxton Miller was taken off the roster due to a season ending shoulder injury. Braxton Miller was the BIG10 Player of the Year two years in a row so losing him is something that might have given a blow to morale.

But OSU came out rockin’ and rollin’ this year. Going into the last game of the regular season, against their rival the University of Michigan Wolverines on the Saturday after Thanksgiving they had another blow—a teammate was missing on senior day and no one knew where he was. Cardale Jones was the back-up quarterback to the back-up. I was in the stands at Horseshoe stadium when J.T. Barrett broke his ankle. No one there anticipated that a young back-up would be able to win the game—a game where the Wolverines surprised the Buckeyes by making it a real game that was tied at halftime. I was amazed at how well the team played when Kosta was missing and J.T. Barrett was injured. All the fans around me were surprised that the team maintained its equanimity.

Before the next game, the national semi-finals they had to bury their teammate, Kosta Karageorge. With their 3rd string quarterback the Buckeyes demolished Alabama.

What effect does positivity have on success?

It makes all the difference.

Positivity causes physical, mental, and behavioral changes in our bodies that help us function well. Our cognitive abilities are better when we are positively focused, we are more resilient, we make better decisions, and our immune function is better.

Their young 3rd string seems unflappable. (it’s really difficult to call Cardale Jones 3rd string because he’s done a 1st string job since the moment J.T. Barrett’s ankle broke) During the Championship game  an announcer said Cardale told him he does not let bad plays get to him, he just keeps going. The announcer’s response was he did not know if that was false bravado or if Jones just did not know any better. But it’s neither. It is possible to train the mind not to allow things to bother you, not through suppression which is unhealthy, but by taking perspectives that support success.

It’s not just the team. Coach Myers is outwardly more in control of his emotions, even during a fumble.

If you read what the greatest thinkers of all ages have written, positivity is encouraged. It is encouraged by philosophers, by the scriptures of at least a half dozen major religions, by Einstein.

What could your team do if they had intense positivity training? Not a simple speech or posters that tell you to think positive but don’t tell you how, but a real intense program and ongoing support like those offered by Happiness 1st Institute? A program that goes to the root cause of optimism and pessimism and equips individuals with tools that allow them to develop habits of thought that give them a real advantage?

OSU’s positivity coach has taught the team that Event plus Response equals Outcome and says a successful reaction is a skill that can be taught. I agree. Teaching people how to have a beneficial reaction that leads to the outcomes they desire is my passion.

They have the championship under their belts now but they have something even more important–skills that lead to success. Zig Ziglar, Napoleon Hill, and others all the way back to Aristotle, the scriptures of all major religions, and countless others throughout history have encouraged positive thinking.

Here are some of my other articles on positive thinking:

Psychology: What You Don’t Know Will Hurt You

Employee Happiness Isn’t Your Responsibility. But Should It Be Your Goal?

Stress Kills:Happiness Heals

Is Happiness Wrong?

Happiness and Stress Are Opposite Ends of the Same Continuum

No Matter Where You Go, There You Are

Here are some quotes on positive thinking you may enjoy:

Philippians 4:8 “Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.”

We are what we think. All that we are arises with our thoughts. With our thoughts, we make the world. ~ Buddha

The more man meditates upon good thoughts, the better will be his world and the world at large. ~ Confucius

Positive thinking will let you use the ability which you have, and that is awesome.
Zig Ziglar

Believe that life is worth living and your belief will help create the fact. ~ William James (considered the father of psychology)