At the last swim meet my oldest daughter Aliya was going through some thought processing. Specifically she and I had talked about racing faster and what it takes mentally to race better. I commented to her that her attitude was meek - it appeared to an outsider that she was scared and that in turn bolstered her opponents. I told her that it didn't look like she had a killer instinct and that at the level she is playing the game, how she thinks is almost as important as how she swims.This is how our conversation went...A: do you think I have a killer instinct?Z: I don't know, do you?A: How do I get it?Z: I'm not really sure, how do you think you can get it?A: Well, if I knew I'd do it. I though you knew.Z: I do know.A: So what do I do.Z: You pretend that you are brave. You pretend you have a killer instinct.A: You pretend... are you serious?Z: Yup. Your mind will forget you're pretending. Give it a try.This text message exchange took place before her first event.She swam lights out in all of her events and in the highlight of the weekend she dropped 26 seconds in her 200 meter IM (that is a BIG deal)!As we drove home I asked her what she thought the reason was for her great swimming and she said, "...I was pretending to be brave. You're right, it worked..."Teach your children what you have learned through your life experiences. You will bless them and they will benefit.