“It’s only cold on one sideline,” is a favorite phrase of my high school football coach, Ralph Munger, a legend in Michigan high school football. He had a great saying for every weather condition.
“It’s only hot on one sideline.”
“It’s only raining on one sideline.”
“It’s only snowing on one sideline.”
Whatever the weather forecast, Coach had a saying for it.
When coach said, “It’s only cold on one sideline,” he wanted us to understand the power of mind over matter. Many coaches have talked about the power of mind over matter. “If you don’t mind, it doesn’t matter,” is a phrase often heard around football.
Mind over matter is often thought to be about the power struggle between mind and matter, but there is a more powerful reality. Mind over matter isn’t about a power struggle, it’s about a fact of life. Our minds create the matters (i.e., situations) of life from the inside-out.
Even though it seems like the outside world has a tremendous impact on our thoughts and feelings, we actually create our experience of the world from the inside (our minds, mindsets, thoughts) to the outside (people, things, and situations of the world outside each of us). Our experience of life is always created from the inside-out, never the outside-in. Believing thoughts and feelings happen from the outside-in is a common thing, but it’s an illusion.
Consider some common outside-in ideas a player might have in mind.
– A big game makes me nervous.
– Coach criticizing me is stressing me out.
– Winning a championship ring would make me happy.
A big game, criticism, a championship ring, or anything else outside oneself has no power to make anyone think or feel anything in particular.
Consider that for a moment because it is all you really need to know to gain incredible freedom in your life. Situations, people, and things have no power to influence our feelings. We create our experience of situations, people, and things from the inside-out.
Making the Play 
Enjoyed the article, and believe in the inside-out theory. Many of the best athletes I know, and they are at all levels of athletic competition, have told me they see, hear and feel none of the emotional connection fans experience at even the Biggest games. Whereas I knew where my parents, girlfriend and friends were sitting and fed off their excitement. I also convinced myself that I was a superior performer in bad weather. Might be my concept of mind over matter.
One thing you might want to correct is a typo in paragraph 4. Change “would” to “world.”
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Bill, thanks for reading and sharing your thoughts. I appreciate it greatly. I hope retirement is going great for you.
Also, I made that edit. Thanks for catching it.
Jared
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