Make a Decision…To Get Out of Your Way!

Mindset Made Simple Tip #244  - Watch or listen HERE.https://youtu.be/jcxN7tKdaZI

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Raise your hand if you’re an over-thinker. I assume most of you have one hand, if not two, in the air! I used to (and probably still do) drive my former assistant crazy because I had to “think about it” before we did most things. This annoyance was usually related to team decisions and personnel moves, but “thinking about it” doesn’t stop there for most of us.

We think about it too much, too often. Why? Because it makes us feel in control. Because we have a great distain for UNCERTAINTY!

We can do hard. Yet, we have very little tolerance for uncertainty!

My mom (and each of her siblings) read the end of the book before they finished. I thought this was crazy until I heard someone talk about our need for control if we grew up in an uncontrolled environment. My grandfather, who I never knew, was an alcoholic and every day was an adventure, according to Fought family stories. They never knew if he was going to come home drunk or if they were going to go to church for the third time in the week.

Uncertainty. Yuck!

The crazy thing is that when we feel the sting of uncertainty, we try to alleviate it by thinking…and thinking some more…and second-guessing…and, in the case of performance, this makes our ability to dial up our best even more uncertain!

This overthinking tendency takes us out of our game. It keeps us from using our talent and training to their fullest. As I mentioned in Tip #232, we lose the advantages we trained in practice because we are trying to control our movements or split-second decisions instead of letting our training take over.

Performance = Potential – Interference, says Tim Gallwey, author of The Inner Game of Tennis.

Guess what qualifies as interference? Thinking does (at the wrong time, of course!).

I work with a Big Ten soccer athlete whose coach told her she was too indecisive. In other words, she is thinking too much and it’s slowing her down. It’s also making her look and play a bit timid. After a long discussion about who she is and what she knows, we came to a conclusion. She’s afraid of making a mistake, but mistakes aren’t the enemy! They are part of the deal. Fear of making them is!

SHE NEEDS TO COMMIT!

Indecision can be one of our greatest obstacles as we work to play at our peak. When we fail to commit fully to an action, hesitation, doubt and mental clutter take over. As they say, “a full mind is an empty bat”!

Indecision costs us time. Delayed decisions mean missed opportunities. When we are still analyzing while trying to execute, we are less efficient and prone to mistakes…because we aren’t focused on W.I.N.! Hesitation erodes trust…of self and others. Doubt seeps in and we question our ability. And thinking and attempting to control every aspect of our movement or the game pulls us out of rhythm, turns us toward self-judgement and breaks momentum. No flow for us!!

A fully committed action is much better than a ‘half-in, half-out, I wonder what they are thinking about this decision action’!

But what does this look like in real life, and is it that simple?

When it comes to the mental side of the game, nothing is simple. Everything takes discipline and work, just like physical training. But some frameworks can help us determine when to think and when to trust and go!

In Tip #241, I introduced Dr. Dan Abraham’s concept of the Think Box and the Play Box. The think box is the place where decisions are made. What are my options? Which one is best? What is my next best move? The Play Box is a no-thinking zone! It’s time to act. No more analyzing. This is where we take positive action. That means we TRUST OUR EYES and let them lead us!

What happens if we need to adjust, you ask? You know what to do. You’ve seen these variables in sequence before. You have felt these emotions before. If you stay out of the way, your eyes will tell your hands when to launch or your weight when to shift!

I thought about this as I was playing catch with my son the other day. He launched one over my head. I jumped and came down with the ball. I didn’t think. I didn’t even watch it into my glove, but my eyes and my well-trained catching skills (almost 50 years in the making) knew what to do. Had

I thought about it, I most certainly would have screwed this automatic process up…worrying about coming down wrong or pulling something as I jumped!

Our automated systems work…they are trained. And if we just PLAY in the Play Box. We are better.

But what I did not mention a few weeks ago about these boxes line that delineates the two.

THE DECISION LINE! THIS IS THE SECRET. When we fall into uncertainty and overthinking

mode.

This is the COMMITMENT.

As I was talking about this with a team last week, it made me think of a song we sang in Sunday School that goes like this: “I have decided to follow Jesus. No turning back. No turning back!”

The DECISION LINE means, “No turning back. No turning back!” We thought through the variables and our options. We know what to do. Now it’s time to jump in, full go!

We adjust as our eyes tell us, of course, but that was all a part of the plan! Even if it’s not perfect, full commitment will always outperform hesitation!

Our commitment to action shifts our focus to EXCECUTION, not judgment or fear.

Uncertainties and thinking are resolved in the Think Box, preventing disruptive thoughts during performance. This separation reinforces self-trust and confidence. We have agency. We know what to do. And no matter how we feel, we are going for it…because, as Dr. Jonah Oliver says, all we need is an “ordinary performance on a special day”, meaning it feels more special than practice, but an ordinary performance like those we do day in and day out in training will do the trick!

The framework is simple. Define your boxes. And be disciplined on what takes place in each of them. If you think in the playbox, turn back to gain certainty. Even Jesus’s followers ask questions on occasion.

Establish your Decision Line. This may be marked with a specific cue or action or it could be adjusting your physical space, like a catcher standing in the Think Box and as she gets into her squat, she has now entered the Play Box. Or a pitcher is in the Think Box until she puts her hands together. After that, no turning back!

Like every other skill, this takes practice. Find ways to continuously practice moving from the

Think Box, across the Decision Line, into the Play Box. Reinforce the habit of leaving doubts behind…no turning back!

Hindsight is 20/20, and looking at it from the perfect lens after the fact can help us determine whether or not we are staying in our boxes.

But perfection isn’t required! COMMITMENT IS!

Most mistakes happen before the mistake happens because we aren’t fully committed! Pressure and mistakes are part of the game, but hesitation makes them worse. The more we can evaluate our ability to think and then play, the more competent we become at COMMITTING and utilizing all that work we do before the game begins!

The Decision Line is more than just a concept. It’s a commitment to ourselves and our craft! If we train ourselves to decide, commit and trust the process, we win!

Manage the moments!

Julie

P.S. Get your team started with a mental performance training program! Are you a high school coach? Check out our 5-week program to help you get to and through your conference play at your peak! You can find out more about it HERE.

Julie Jones

Mental Performance Coach

SSB Performance

www.ssbperformance.com

juliej@ssbperformance.com • 234-206-0946