Fuel your belief and determination with a "Finish Strong" attitude...

As New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees playfully hoisted the championship trophy into the celebratory skies of Miami last month in Super Bowl XLIV, and with it power-lifted an NFL franchise, and a city from the depths of despair no one had ever dared to imagine, a nearly year-long philosophy had delivered the ultimate tangible gift...

The "Finish Strong" mantra was adopted by Brees for his team in the Spring of 2009 as they prepared for the mental and physical grind of another NFL season...

  The Saints "Finish Strong" mission statement came about when Brees ran across a book by author Dan Green with the catchy two-word title.

The inspirational book is filled with stories of people overcoming adversity with courage. 

"Every member of our team received a copy of Dan Green's book Finish Strong at the beginning of the off-season," Brees told the book's publisher, SimpleTruths.com. "It then became a mantra for our team throughout the off-season program, the pre-season and regular season. We recognized that if we could indeed 'finish strong' in everything we did, we could achieve the lofty goals we had set for ourselves."

The book's author, ironically a longtime Colts fan, is proud of what the Saints have accomplished with their "Finish Strong" mindset.

"When you adopt the finish-strong mentality," said Green, "you create a level of personal accountability that guides you through critical decision points - the finish strong moments - the points in time when you must decide what path to take.  Will you lie down, settle and quit, or will you move forward toward your goal to the best of your ability?"

"Sometimes these moments come in a split second, and sometimes they come over a long period of time. Regardless, you and only you, have the power to choose how to respond to the challenges in front of you."

It is not a stretch to say the New Orleans Saints upset victory changed the world, when you consider for a moment the record number of people who watched the game -- more than 106 million -- and the percentage of those viewers who woke up the next morning with a renewed sense of purpose for their life...A countless number of people no doubt made a personal pledge to be better at their jobs, or who made the courageous decision to finally pursue their true career calling.

The once laughingstock football franchise, and the hurricane-ravaged city of New Orleans, took personal responsibility for creating a new world order for their lives, and the results are amazing...

Saints Assistant Head Coach Joe Vitt (pictured left) calls it, "coming early and staying late," but however you choose to describe it, the finished product is one of total transformation.

Finish Strong. The New Orleans Saints proved it's more than a catchy phrase; it's a lifestyle for winners.