Mindset Made Simple Tip #17
Happy Monday! As we await our new directives from government officials, we all hold our breath for what is to come. Regardless of what each of our States decide, we know it will bring the need for some sort of an adjustment.
Last week we talked about change and how to incorporate a SIMPLE new habit – 60 seconds or less as our first step to a larger change. (Don’t forget to register here for my upcoming 30-miniute webinar on Thriving in a Pandemic: Simple Actions to Promote Positive Change.)
I guess we may as well continue this path since uncertainty and change is how we live during a pandemic.
The truth is our worlds are always changing.
One week we have a healthy team. The next week we have a pulled hamstring and a shoulder injury…or more frequently now, a group in quarantine.
Yet, it is imperative that we continue to move forward, to grow, to improve, no matter what obstacles we face.
This may be one of the most important lessons we teach our athletes.
How can we get our kids to improve when everything is so haphazard or plain screwed up?
I just heard this morning that 1/3 of college students are failing something this semester.
Clearly, all of the change and uncertainty we are facing is not producing good habits.
So how can we keep our athletes out of this statistic?
As we encourage our athletes to work, study, rehab, drill, practice, condition, rest, recover, etc. and do it consistently, sometimes on their own, we need to consider all of the things that could keep them from doing what they need to do to improve – no matter what obstacles they face!
You know as well as I do that if something is not easy to do, we tend not to do it.
We have touched on our frustrating brains numerous times, and taking that path of least resistance is a wonderfully built-in feature that we must manage to perform at our best!
At one point in my career, I could not figure out why our kids would not do more individual hitting in their free time.
Then I realized that sometimes I even got lazy about carrying out equipment that was not easy to access nor was it convenient!
I always envied those programs who had hitting facilities where everything could stay out so kids could just walk in, get a bucket of balls and hit!
If I arrange my practice schedule to avoid the hassle of setting up the pitching machine, my athletes are definitely not going there either!
So, to get our team to do what they need to do, we must make things simple.
We need to ask a few questions and then figure out how to make things more appealing
…and frankly…EASIER!
Here are a few good questions to ask!
1. What is keeping you from doing the task or moving forward? What makes it hard?
2. Do you have enough time to do the behavior?
3. Are you physically capable of doing it? Does the environment allow for it?
4. Does the behavior demand a lot of energy either mental, emotional, creative or physical?
5. Does this behavior fit into your current routine?
You may not know the answer to all…or any of these. Maybe they are rhetorical and you can figure out how your athletes would answer in your own head…or your staff can?
But if you think back to the things you know that you should do but don’t, I bet you have an answer to at least one of these that make that behavior uninviting!
I don’t know what you need your team to do today…or when they leave you in a few weeks for break.
But I do know that making whatever they need to do a bit SIMPLER will get them (at least a few more of them) to do what they need to do!
It is so easy to have an excuse right now!
Figure out a way to take the excuses out of things! I know as well as you do that we will never get all of our kids to do everything we want.
But if we take a few minutes to figure out how to make what we want a little closer to the path of least resistance, we will get more action and consistent habits!
One more time…click here to register for my November 30th webinar (or you can register through my website). Even if the time does not fit your schedule, register and I will send you a link that you can watch at your convenience!
Until next week when we touch on gratitude, of course, is wish you, your team and your families good health!
Be well!
Julie
Julie Jones
www.ssbperformance.com
Certified Mental Performance & Mindset Coach
Positive Performance Visualization Specialist
SSB Performance, LLC
@SSBMindset
juliej@ssbperformance.com • 234-206-0946
Be strong and courageous. Joshua 1:9