THE QATSPY® Quapaw Aviation Tactical Sportswear Performance Yukon OUTFITTERS
HOW TO PERFORM UNDER PRESSURE; LESS IS BEST! A Sample 2- Minutes/272 Word Speech that Change the Course of American History for Ever
By: Charles W. Boatright
President Abraham Lincoln giving his Gettysburg Address- Simple, Concise, and Poignant- The Lincoln Principle of Life:
One reason why President Abraham Lincoln will go down in history as one of the most influential U.S. Presidents is his humility, his grace, his understanding of history, and his commitment to what he believed in was bigger than his own aspirations. Humility and gratitude is always an asset and not a liability in life. A man or woman can always achieve amazing success when the cause is bigger than he or she is.
One of many keys to President Lincoln’s success is contributed to being an independent thinker, gratitude, a historian, and being an autodidact, or a self-taught man from humble means. Another President that was an autodidact was President Andrew Jackson. If you want to succeed in life, do four things — BE SIMPLE, BE CONCISE, BE POIGNANT, and above all READ, especially history!
Four months after the Battle of Gettysburg had ended on July 3, 1863, President Abraham Lincoln gave his historic Gettysburg Address on November 19, 1863, at the site of this battle, to dedicate this sacred ground (see the attached photograph of Lincoln at Gettysburg, in red circle). During the same time frame of the Battle of Gettysburg, the Siege of Vicksburg was coming to a conclusion on July 4, 1863. Interesting fact: Vicksburg, Mississippi did not observe the fourth of July, like many communities did until after World War Two, because of Vicksburg being captured by General Grant on this date. Vicksburg was considered THE KEY TO THE SOUTH, which is still a slogan of the City of Vicksburg.
I have interview some of the descendants of the defenders of Vicksburg that are members of our hangar where I fly. This was a matter of a historical fact that residence of Vicksburg didn’t celebrated the Fourth of July until after World War II.
These two key events during the Civil War marked a turning point to reunite a divided nation. But there was a third event that occurred between these two events. Abraham Lincoln in midst of the ravages of a Civil War made Proclamation No. 106 on October 3, 1763 set aside the Last Thursday of November as a day of Thanksgiving. Abraham Lincoln recognized that Vicksburg and Gettysburg were turning points in American History. Even before Lincoln knew the outcome of the Civil War, he was grateful for the tremendous sacrifice made to keep this nation unified.
What is significant about gratitude and being thankful isn’t a sign of deficiency or insufficiency; but of confidence. President Abraham Lincoln realized and was confident that a great nation could actually be saved and reunited again after the events of July 4, 1763.
NOTE: President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1939 moved Thanksgiving back one week to the third Thursday of November.
The Keynote Speaker Was Not President Lincoln at Gettysburg
Believe it or not, President Lincoln was not the keynote speaker at the ceremony to dedicate the battlefield at Gettysburg. That title belonged to Mr. Edward Everett, a leading academic leader and orator of that time. To add more pressure to President Lincoln’s situation, Lincoln spoke after Mr. Everett’s remarks that contained 13,007 words that were delivered in a little over 2-hours. But who’s speech is remember in the history?
But, the key to the President Lincoln’s success and his Historical Gettysburg speech is how President Lincoln’s message was SIMPLE, CONCISE, and POIGNANT. President Lincoln to his credit did not comparing his speech that contained 272 words, and delivered it in less than 2-minutes, with Mr. Everett’s speech. Being complex and complicated doesn’t guarantee one’s success, but the reverse is true. Henry David Thoreau, a great writer and philosopher, proved that the Lincoln Principle works- That SIMPLE, CONCISE, POIGNANT is best for success. The Lincoln Principle is what we refer to as the KISS Principle- KEEP IT SIMPLE and SIGNIFICANT to the matter.
Albert Einstein had Three great quotes concerning ‘KEEP IT SIMPLE and SIGNIFICANT’
- Excellence is doing a common thing in an uncommon way.
- One cannot alter a condition with the same mindset that created it in the first place.
- Any intelligent person can make things bigger and more complex, but it takes a stroke of genius to move in the opposite direction, simple and simplistic.
After Mr. Edward Everett gave his speech, undaunted and with his humble demeanor, President Abraham Lincoln took the stage and delivered the most famous speech ever given in history, one that every fifth grader learns by heart. It was the simple, short, significant, and most modest speech that President Lincoln gave that history remembers most. President Lincoln’s speech changes the nature of the Civil War from what America people was fighting against to what America people was fighting for, the idea– this great nation that all men were created equal with freedom and liberty for all.
If you want to increase your odds for success, instead of finding reasons to fight against an objective, find motivation to fight for an objective. With the Gettysburg Address, President Abraham Lincoln changed the mindset of the American people from fighting against division to fighting for unity and the principles that founded our great nation.
Applying the Lincoln Principle of Simplicity to Your Life and your Mental Golf Game
Pressure is external, while stress is an internal component and mindset as a reaction to one’s surroundings. We all will experience pressure from time-to-time, it’s a given; but stress is how we let pressure affects us. You will invariably be in a situation where you are paired with someone successful. But trust your training and experience and believe your message. Use the adrenaline to focus and engage your subconscious mind. Here are two things: ONE- Use the conditions and pressures give you the confidence, TWO- Focus on the objective and re-channel the pressures to intensify their focus on the essentials elements. And Third- Slow your mind down and rely on your cadence, everything has its internal rhythm.
Use the Abraham Lincoln Principle, minimizes the effects of external pressures of competition and maximizes the confidence in their skills and experience in life. The Abraham Lincoln Principle is simple- Focus on what you can do, instead of thinking about what you can’t do. Avoid comparing yourself with other. Including comparing your abilities with the abilities of others.
Approach your opportunity like your luggage for trip; you just want the essentials where your luggage is light- weight and manageable and can be carried to your destination without stressing. If you don’t need it, don’t carry it with you. Keep your approach to life as being SIMPLE, CONCISE, and POIGNANT as possible.
There is a great quote in business that helps managers stay focused on success: Successful people are paid for results and not for their efforts. Success isn’t based on how complicated you can make something, but how simple and simplistic you can make IT to be repeated flawlessly. Take Golf for example- Regardless of how athletic and talented the golfer is, if their golf swing isn’t sequential, natural, and repetitive, it will not hold up under pressure. Like Yogi Berra stated about theory and practice- “In theory, there is no difference between theory and practice. But in practice, there is.”
So the next time you are face with challenges, follow these five simple techniques. The Lincoln Principle, KEEP IT SIMPLE and SIGNIFICANT:
1. Visualize and focus on what your objective is, and don’t think about the conditions or your opponent.
2. Stay within your natural abilities, cadence, and game plan, and don’t play beyond yourself.
3. Keep it simple, repetitive, and sequential (or simplistic); less is best when performing under pressure. The golf swing should be instinctive, with a defined, simplistic sequence. Remember Albert Einstein’s quote- “Anyone can make something complex, but it takes a genius to simplify it.”
4. Don’t let others or the situation intimidate you or your abilities. Realize that pressure is external and not internal. Always give your full measure to all that you do.
5. Focus on the objective and cadence, not effort. Effort will come naturally, it is the cadence that will put you into your sequence.
There are many similarities between giving a speech, like in Lincoln’s case, your life including sports. Keep a simple structure, Memorize the components, key in on the Initial element or each component, establish your cadence, and visualize the expected results.
If you keep your speech simple, it will be easy to: memorize, initialize, synchronize, and visualize. The KEY to a good speech is the initial element and the cadence, slow down. If you can focus on the first sentence or phrase of your speech, your memorization will take over. And the second key is cadence. Speeches should be slower than how you normally speak. Cadence and the first phrase are triggers.
The only other component that I use given a speech or training lessons is remember my cadence and slow your pace. The slow pace will prevent me from being quick and saying gap words that are distracting and takes away from the emphasis of your speech. This provides me confidence, the ability to engage my subconscious mind, which is 90 percent of my effort is derived from, Remember the movie Caddyshack where there is a FORCE in the universe. The force in the universe is your confidence in your subconscious mind’s ability:
There’s a force in the universe that makes things happen. And all you have to do is get in touch with it, stop thinking, let things happen, and be the ball.
By the way, President Abraham Lincoln penned the Gettysburg Address the night before the dedication, and finished drafting the speech on the back of an envelope, while riding on the train from Washington to Gettysburg, PA. Remember, you don’t have to be complex to be effective, but the simplicity is the fascination of success. Remember even in challenges, be: SIMPLE, CONCISE, and POIGNANT.
The Gettysburg Address:
Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent a new nation, conceived in liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal. Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great battlefield of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field, as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that this nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this.
But, in a larger sense, we cannot dedicate, we cannot consecrate, we cannot hallow this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced.
It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us—that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion—that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain—that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom—and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.
THE QUAPAW AVIATION TACTICAL SPORTSWEAR PERFORMANCE YUKON OUTFITTERS
Your confidence is critical to your performance just as your fitness and your image are. The healthier you feel the better your performance. I don’t go anywhere or meet clients or on a leisure adventure without my US WINGS U.S. Military issued A-2 Leather Flight Jacket with either blue jeans or khakis pants and button-down oxford shirts. They are my image that provide a professional look:
Our Quapaw Aviation Tactical Sportswear Performance Collection:
Part of my success is my fitness, detailed my diet and fitness into a book that is on KINDLE, below:
After one of our photoshoots, I did an AB Challenge photograph for my book above on May 12, 2022
