Talent opens the door, but effort keeps you in the room. In this episode, Coach Pinkston dives into one of the most misunderstood truths in sports: effort matters more than raw ability. Drawing from Carol Dweck’s growth mindset research, you’ll discover why relying solely on talent can sabotage your long-term growth, and why athletes who value effort consistently outperform those who don’t. With powerful stories from elite performers and practical coaching insights, you’ll learn how to fall in love with the grind, value consistent effort, and keep improving long after others plateau. Effort is the fuel that drives growth. And when you embrace it, there’s no limit to how far you can go.

Today’s Action Step:

1. Redefine Success as Effort: Winning isn’t always under your control. Effort is.
2. Track Effort Daily: At the end of each practice, rate your effort from 1–10.
3. Fall in Love With Reps: Start finding joy in the boring reps. That’s where greatness is built.

About Today Matters Today Matters is your 2–4 minute daily boost of motivation for athletes, parents, and coaches. Hosted by Coach Steve Pinkston, each episode delivers a simple mental performance strategy to help you win the day.

Learn More & Work with Coach Pinkston 👉 CoachPinkston.com for strategies, skills, and drills to improve your mental performance.

• 1-on-1 Coaching Programs
• Team Consulting
• Leadership Development
• Sign up for the Trust The Process Newsletter, so you can wake up every Monday morning to a message that will motivate you all week.

Stay Connected Instagram: @Mental.Strength.Coach X: @CoachPinkston Facebook: Steve Pinkston

Enjoying the Show? Share this episode with someone who needs a lift today. And don’t forget to hit Follow so you never miss your daily motivation.

Champions aren’t made in their comfort zones. They’re forged in challenge. In this episode, Coach Pinkston teaches athletes how to embrace difficult situations instead of running from them. Drawing from growth mindset research by Carol Dweck, you’ll discover why obstacles aren’t signs to stop but opportunities to stretch. From underdog comebacks to training room breakthroughs, you’ll learn how the world’s best competitors see challenges as their greatest teachers. You’ll also get three practical strategies to help you lean into discomfort instead of retreating, so you can grow your confidence, sharpen your skills, and dominate when it matters. Remember: easy doesn’t change you. Challenge does.

Today’s Action Step:

1. Seek the Hard Rep: Ask yourself: “What’s the hardest rep I can face today?”
2. Redefine Struggle as Training: Start saying, “I’m training.” Training means you’re building something.
3. Choose Discomfort Daily: Growth happens when you choose discomfort

About Today Matters Today Matters is your 2–4 minute daily boost of motivation for athletes, parents, and coaches. Hosted by Coach Steve Pinkston, each episode delivers a simple mental performance strategy to help you win the day.

Learn More & Work with Coach Pinkston 👉 CoachPinkston.com for strategies, skills, and drills to improve your mental performance.

• 1-on-1 Coaching Programs
• Team Consulting
• Leadership Development
• Sign up for the Trust The Process Newsletter, so you can wake up every Monday morning to a message that will motivate you all week.

Stay Connected Instagram: @Mental.Strength.Coach X: @CoachPinkston Facebook: Steve Pinkston

Enjoying the Show? Share this episode with someone who needs a lift today. And don’t forget to hit Follow so you never miss your daily motivation.

What separates the good from the great isn’t just talent or skill — it’s mindset. In this episode, Coach Pinkston unpacks the power of perspective and why your mindset can make or break your performance when it matters most. Some athletes dominate practice but crumble under pressure when the lights are on. Others see adversity as the end of the road, while champions see it as just a bend in the road. Drawing from growth mindset principles pioneered by psychologist Carol Dweck, you’ll learn how to shift from fixed thinking to growth thinking — the kind of mindset that thrives on challenge and sees pressure as an opportunity. Through powerful stories, coaching insights, and actionable strategies, you’ll discover how to train your mind just like your body, so you can show up when it matters most.

Today’s Action Step:

1. Reframe Pressure as Practice: Pressure doesn’t define you — it refines you.
2. Celebrate Effort, Not Just Outcome
3. Ask the Perspective Question: “What’s another way to see this?”

About Today Matters Today Matters is your 2–4 minute daily boost of motivation for athletes, parents, and coaches. Hosted by Coach Steve Pinkston, each episode delivers a simple mental performance strategy to help you win the day.

Learn More & Work with Coach Pinkston 👉 CoachPinkston.com for strategies, skills, and drills to improve your mental performance.

• 1-on-1 Coaching Programs
• Team Consulting
• Leadership Development
• Sign up for the Trust The Process Newsletter, so you can wake up every Monday morning to a message that will motivate you all week.

Stay Connected Instagram: @Mental.Strength.Coach X: @CoachPinkston Facebook: Steve Pinkston

Enjoying the Show? Share this episode with someone who needs a lift today. And don’t forget to hit Follow so you never miss your daily motivation.

Words don’t just shape performance—they shape eternity. In this episode, Coach Pinkston explores the spiritual dimension of language. From God creating the world through words to Jesus teaching about the power of the tongue, Scripture reveals that words carry life and death. Discover how speaking God’s truth over your life strengthens faith and fuels growth.

Today’s Action Step:

Step 1: Speak Scripture. Pick one verse and declare it daily.

Step 2: Replace Lies with God’s Truth. Step 3: Pray Out Loud.

About Today Matters Today Matters is your 2–4 minute daily boost of motivation for athletes, parents, and coaches. Hosted by Coach Steve Pinkston, each episode delivers a simple mental performance strategy to help you win the day.

Learn More & Work with Coach Pinkston 👉 CoachPinkston.com for strategies, skills, and drills to improve your mental performance.

• 1-on-1 Coaching Programs
• Team Consulting
• Leadership Development
• Sign up for the Trust The Process Newsletter, so you can wake up every Monday morning to a message that will motivate you all week.

Stay Connected Instagram: @Mental.Strength.Coach X: @CoachPinkston Facebook: Steve Pinkston

Enjoying the Show? Share this episode with someone who needs a lift today. And don’t forget to hit Follow so you never miss your daily motivation.

The power of words isn’t just for athletes—it’s for life. In this episode, Coach Pinkston shows how the language you use in everyday life—at work, at home, and in relationships—shapes your reality. From replacing complaint with gratitude to turning doubt into belief, you’ll discover how small changes in language lead to big shifts in perspective and success.

Today’s Action Step:

Step 1: Audit Your Daily Dialogue. Step 2: Swap Complaints for Gratitude. Step 3: Build a Daily Declaration.

About Today Matters Today Matters is your 2–4 minute daily boost of motivation for athletes, parents, and coaches. Hosted by Coach Steve Pinkston, each episode delivers a simple mental performance strategy to help you win the day.

Learn More & Work with Coach Pinkston 👉 CoachPinkston.com for strategies, skills, and drills to improve your mental performance.

• 1-on-1 Coaching Programs
• Team Consulting
• Leadership Development
• Sign up for the Trust The Process Newsletter, so you can wake up every Monday morning to a message that will motivate you all week.

Stay Connected Instagram: @Mental.Strength.Coach X: @CoachPinkston Facebook: Steve Pinkston

Enjoying the Show? Share this episode with someone who needs a lift today. And don’t forget to hit Follow so you never miss your daily motivation.

Crowds roar, fans cheer, critics boo—the words from the outside world impact athletes in powerful ways. In this episode, Coach Pinkston unpacks how to handle external voices, tune out negativity, and amplify encouragement. You’ll discover how to anchor yourself in your own voice when everyone else’s words get loud.

Today’s Action Step:

Step 1: Create Your Anchor Phrase. Step 2: Practice Under Pressure. Step 3: Filter Feedback.

About Today Matters Today Matters is your 2–4 minute daily boost of motivation for athletes, parents, and coaches. Hosted by Coach Steve Pinkston, each episode delivers a simple mental performance strategy to help you win the day.

Learn More & Work with Coach Pinkston 👉 CoachPinkston.com for strategies, skills, and drills to improve your mental performance.

• 1-on-1 Coaching Programs
• Team Consulting
• Leadership Development
• Sign up for the Trust The Process Newsletter, so you can wake up every Monday morning to a message that will motivate you all week.

Stay Connected Instagram: @Mental.Strength.Coach X: @CoachPinkston Facebook: Steve Pinkston

Enjoying the Show? Share this episode with someone who needs a lift today. And don’t forget to hit Follow so you never miss your daily motivation.

A coach’s words can be fuel that drives athletes forward—or fire that burns them out. In this episode, Coach Pinkston explores how intentional language builds trust, resilience, and confidence in athletes. From John Wooden’s short and positive corrections to modern coaches who inspire belief, you’ll discover how to use words as the ultimate coaching tool.

Today’s Action Step:

Step 1: Replace Labels with Lessons. Step 2: Use the 3-to-1 Rule. Step 3: Build Signature Phrases.

About Today Matters Today Matters is your 2–4 minute daily boost of motivation for athletes, parents, and coaches. Hosted by Coach Steve Pinkston, each episode delivers a simple mental performance strategy to help you win the day.

Learn More & Work with Coach Pinkston 👉 CoachPinkston.com for strategies, skills, and drills to improve your mental performance.

• 1-on-1 Coaching Programs
• Team Consulting
• Leadership Development
• Sign up for the Trust The Process Newsletter, so you can wake up every Monday morning to a message that will motivate you all week.

Stay Connected Instagram: @Mental.Strength.Coach X: @CoachPinkston Facebook: Steve Pinkston

Enjoying the Show? Share this episode with someone who needs a lift today. And don’t forget to hit Follow so you never miss your daily motivation.

The loudest trash talker isn’t always your opponent—it’s often your own mind. In this episode, Coach Pinkston breaks down how negative self-talk sabotages performance and how truth talk can flip the script. Using stories from elite athletes, brain science, and practical coaching tools, you’ll learn how to silence the inner critic and speak with confidence when it matters most.

Today’s Action Step:

Step 1: Identify Your Inner Trash Talker. Step 2: Rewrite Them as Truth. Step 3: Speak It Out Loud.

Step 4: Anchor in Action.

About Today Matters Today Matters is your 2–4 minute daily boost of motivation for athletes, parents, and coaches. Hosted by Coach Steve Pinkston, each episode delivers a simple mental performance strategy to help you win the day.

Learn More & Work with Coach Pinkston 👉 CoachPinkston.com for strategies, skills, and drills to improve your mental performance.

• 1-on-1 Coaching Programs
• Team Consulting
• Leadership Development
• Sign up for the Trust The Process Newsletter, so you can wake up every Monday morning to a message that will motivate you all week.

Stay Connected Instagram: @Mental.Strength.Coach X: @CoachPinkston Facebook: Steve Pinkston

Enjoying the Show? Share this episode with someone who needs a lift today. And don’t forget to hit Follow so you never miss your daily motivation.