David Carr
Meet the Author
David Carr’s background and life experiences gave him the perspective that prompted him to write this book. Early in his life, he became involved in youth sports. Competing through the years, he became keenly aware of the elements necessary to perform at the highest levels, what is often referred to by coaches and commentators alike as the “intangibles.”
The “intangibles” would come into play in nearly all his athletic experiences, whether it was from personal involvement or from watching sports events from the bleachers or on TV. To him, chief among the various intangibles and planted firmly at the top of the heap, common amongst all the winners and championship teams he observed, was an element he described as mental toughness. It trumped everything else. It was the difference maker.
He went on to coach at Quitman High School during the middle - 80’s, in the piney woods of East Texas near where he grew up. As a football, basketball and track coach, he incorporated these principles into everything he did. After winning several championships and experiencing success with some truly great, hardworking coaches and kids at Quitman High School, David was prompted to change careers and put his thoughts and ideas to work in the business world.
With his extremely flexible schedule, he was able to adapt his schedule prioritizing time around his expanding family. Coaching his sons became one of the highlights of his life. Through working with his sons and their teammates, he witnessed once again the tremendous need for athletes to develop the intangibles it takes to win consistently, specifically mental toughness. This quality was missing in most kids and needed strengthening in the few that had it to some degree. It was at that time in his life that David felt prompted to begin working on this book. The book became a family project and took nearly ten years to complete. David’s wife, Kelly, and their four sons, Chris, Colby, Caleb & Cass reside in East Texas. As the boys were growing up, the family literally traveled all over Texas to hundreds of high school state playoff football games, including a large number of state championship games. During basketball season, the Carr’s loved going to the Texas UIL State Basketball Tournament. This event became an annual family goal. Teaming up with, and dragging as many other boys and families as possible, they would load up their suburban and head to “the Drum,” in Austin, Texas. This nostalgic colosseum was the home of the Texas Longhorns and was the perfect vignette for the high school state championship basketball tournaments. A couple of months later, it was back in Austin all over again for the UIL State Track & Field Meet. During and after these various events, on the drive home, over a meal at IHOP or some other restaurant along the way, they’d find themselves engrossed in electric conversations about what they’d seen all the while noting examples of mental toughness and sharing potential content for this book.
A lot transpired during the time it took to write the book and much more has been accomplished since it came out. There have been many highlights over the years representing these principles in action, some of which are featured in this book, even more will be featured on our website, an ongoing work in progress. However, YouTube, is of course a tremendous resource that does serve as an archive for some of the examples provided in this book. Some references made can be traced to actual highlight footage, etc., if one wants to take advantage of using that medium to revisit some of these moments in time and feel the effect in that way. Chief among some of the personal highlights which occurred after this book was published are the back-to-back [2012 & 2013] Texas UIL Boys Basketball State Championships, held at the previously mentioned landmark, “the Drum; in Austin. With a team of mentally tough, fiercely competitive teammates, third son, Caleb, played an integral role in leading the White Oak Roughnecks to a 37-1 record and the state title in 2012, winning over the tradition rich Brock Eagles, and earning MVP honors in the championship game. The very next year, youngest son, Cass, and his slew of likeminded teammates were right back at “the Drum” again, for a crack at “back-to-back” state titles, with a rare rematch title game against a determined Brock High School Eagles’ team once again. White Oak held off a tenacious effort by the Eagles, breaking a high drama, low scoring, 54-54 tie with a “floater” that dropped in the final few seconds of the game, sealing the victory for the Roughnecks and completing another 37-1 season record. There are many things that could be said that describe what was special about these two Roughneck state championship teams, but the one thing that will always stand out, the main ingredient they had in common that elevated them above other great teams was their mental toughness. David Carr is currently an Investment Advisor Representative with Carr Capital Advanced Planning, Inc., an asset management firm he founded with his son, Cass Carr, a Certified Financial Planner. Located in downtown Longview, Texas, they specialize in tax-favored retirement income planning. Applying the same principles of this book in the business world has been another case study altogether, and it has been proven time and time again that everything taught in this book can be applied to life beyond the arena. It has endless applications. David has proven it day after day, successfully competing in the business world for the last 38 plus years.
What the Author Says...
"If you want to achieve a different result–you must change what you’re doing. It all starts with changing how you think. Most competitors focus way too much on the physical aspects of competition and far less than necessary on the mental disciplines. I’ve been saying this for years–mental training is the last frontier of dynamic, measurable change in all competitive arenas."
Hello–my name is David Carr, and whether you are a coach, a parent or a student athlete—this website and the book, Winning Through Mental Toughness–The Key to Success in Sports and in Life, are resources you’ll want to take advantage of. In the day and age in which we live, most everyone can stand a larger dose of mental toughness. What about you?
Even the most physically blessed and developed young athletes have a tendency to self-sabotage, choke, and blow opportunities. Does this ever happen to you, or your kids? Are you, your kids, or the kids you coach continually underachieving? Do you know why? If you want to know why this is happening to you, or athletes you’re directly involved with, know this: you can learn how to achieve peak performance, under all circumstances, and win on a consistent basis. If you’re a coach, it can be modeled and taught. A culture of mentally tough warriors can be established over time. Winning can become the norm. With proven concepts and strategies, one can readily learn how to eliminate the psychological weights that literally destroy the hopes and dreams of all involved.
If winning is important to you, then take advantage of the opportunity to delve deeper into the content of this website and by all means, obtain a personal copy of this book: “Winning Through Mental Toughness–The Key to Success in Sports and in Life.” If I were a coach today, I’d do everything in my power to get a copy to every athlete I coached. It would become a part of my program. We would all get on the same page, figuratively and literally.
Remember, though this content is coming from a sports perspective, everything taught within this book and website can be applied to real life, enabling you to deal with every difficult, intimidating, unpredictable situation you will ever face in this world. The performance enhancing tools you will be encouraged and taught how to create will be invaluable. They will pay dividends to you in all kinds of ways for years and years to come.
Winning starts with a simple, but resolute, action-oriented decision. Start your journey now by obtaining a copy of this book to read, dissect, fill with notes and apply to your life. If you have it within you right now, to be a consistent “winner” then why put things off for another day? There will always be lots of reasons not to do just about anything that would be good for you, however I’ve found that it only requires ONE good reason to take positive action to do something special. It’s true, one good reason why you want or need to see yourself heading in a new direction is all it takes.
I don’t know what your one good reason might be. That always varies from person to person. I do know this– whatever your motivating reason is, the principles I’ve shared in this book will be a great help in your quest to reach that goal. Come up with your “why,” and the most important factor will be in place. The journey awaits. Say “yes” to your dreams.
-David Carr