There are books that reside on the bookshelf and there are books that remain bedside. Dr. Bob Rotella’s How Champions Think represents the latter. As a whole, the book can be a guide in teaching the methods and ideas used to help some the greatest athletes of our time prepare for mental success. But when time is limited and information can only be consumed between work, errands, mealtime, or the drive from one game to another, Dr. Rotella’s book becomes a masterpiece. Taken one chapter at a time, a simple phrase or passage can bounce around the mind for hours and provide the key to either unlocking a current problem or reinforcing the path to lucidity.

For decades, Rotella has been known among golf circles as one of the premier sports psychologists. Though golf and sports are an accurate metaphor for life, one doesn’t need to be a golfer or an athlete to find the value of his lessons. Insert work, family, relationships, hobbies, or passions, the comparisons are endless and the messages remain the same. Performance of the mind can be as important if not more important than the performance of the body.

The conversational tone and ease of Rotella’s writing makes it feel as if the reader is on a couch in his basement office surrounded by dozens of photos of the champions he’s helped reach the top. With my athletic days behind me, I’ve found the lessons applicable with the transfer of mastered soccer concepts toward everyday principles in teaching, coaching, writing, and real estate.

Mental health has been a hot-button topic for obvious reasons, but one doesn’t need to be dealing with failure, rejection, or depression to seek mental clarity. A healthy mind can lead to a greater quality of life, but if one’s goal is to be exceptional in a given field, Rotella makes the case that a positive mindset separates the champions from the contenders on a consistent basis.

There are many valuable quotes and passages, but here is one of my favorites:

It’s no coincidence that Phil Mickelson has been a highly successful, exciting golfer, and that he likes to say, “The birdies are in the woods.” What Phil means is that he remains optimistic even when he drives the ball off line, into the woods or rough instead of onto the fairway. That optimism is one reason he sometimes hits amazing recovery shots, like the one he hit off the pine straw to the 13th green en route to taking the 2010 Masters.

The opposite of this sort of situational optimism is an attitude of fear, concern, and doubt. In a word, pessimism. Pessimism tends to rouse the conscious brain and get it engaged. Our minds are programmed to work that way. In certain kinds of difficult situations, it helps to think things out calmly and rationally. I wouldn’t want my financial consultant, for instance, to pick investments for me without engaging it. But the conscious mind isn’t good for shooting or putting. It tends to make basketball players and golfers move stiffly and awkwardly. Balls clank off the rim and putts lurch past the hole.

“The birdies are in the woods” is a phrase that applies to all facets of life, and the message is the foundation of Rotella’s latest book Your Best Shot is Your Next Shot. We make mistakes. We call bad plays. Make the wrong substitution. Hit bad shots. Lose games. But many of us who possess an athlete’s brain continue to command our quest for improvement. Remaining in the present and focusing on the next play (shot/conversation/deal/test/moment) could be the single-most important piece of advice from a legendary mentor whose clients include the exceptional.

As a soccer player, I dabbled with visualization, meditation, progressive relaxation, goal-setting, and self-talk. I consider myself confident, but in hindsight, had I embraced the full power of mental clarity—performing without interference, accepting mistakes, finding and maintaining a flow state, loving the grind, achieving learned effectiveness—I would have spent as much time training my mind to reach its full potential as I did running, lifting, or shooting into a goal. Following Mickelson’s advice, we don’t need to look back to move forward. Whether standing over an approach at the par 4 16th at Five Ponds or preparing for the next sales call, the next moment represents a new opportunity to display that champion’s mindset.