The Fire Fades…Unless We Reignite It: A Conversation for Leaders Who Want to Keep Day 1 Energy Alive
- Julie Jones
- 3 days ago
- 5 min read
If you haven't started school yet, pass this week's episode of Game Changers: Athlete Edition on to your incoming freshmen. Michigan WSOC player, Josie Owen-Kren talks about the realities of the freshman year! It's great for anyone preparing to start their career! iHeartRadio ApplePodcasts Youtube Podbean Spotify
We’re either close to or just had the first day of the season! Everyone’s fired up. New gear, new goals, new energy.
It’s all smiles, big plans, team love, and “best season ever” vibes.
But wait for it! If we fast forward a few weeks or months, sometimes something shifts.
That same crew that once couldn’t wait to be together now seems…tired. Disconnected. Frustrated. Less fired up. The spark has faded.
Sound familiar?
It happens to all of us. The energy we start with feels like it should carry us all year, but it rarely does. And it’s not because our team is lazy or unmotivated, it’s because our brains are wired to adapt, we like to be comfortable…and we like things to go the way we think they will – no exceptions 😊.
But here’s why the shine wears off. Psychologists Brickman and Campbell (1971) call it hedonic adaptation: the tendency for us to return to a baseline level of satisfaction no matter how exciting something is at first.
That new season? That new job? That new team culture you worked so hard to build? It feels amazing at first, but eventually, our brains stop treating it as “new and exciting” and start treating it as “normal.”
The “woo-hoos” fade. The commitment slides. The edge dulls. Not because we’re doing anything wrong, but because we’re human. We get that new car. It’s so exciting. Then it’s not. Our experiences are no different!
Here’s where it gets even trickier.
As the year progresses, expectations mount. We start feeling the pressure to perform, to win, to prove ourselves. And that pressure can suck the joy out of the process.
Then there are disappointments, losses, injuries and roles that don’t match expectations. And as we hit those inevitable bumps, our negativity bias kicks in.
We pay more attention to what's going wrong than what's going right. We forget how much we once wanted this. This is what we worked for…even dreamed of…or so we thought!
We stop seeing our teammates as allies and start seeing them as obstacles or competition. We isolate. We complain. We coast.
Our behavior drifts from that “Day 1” version of ourselves, the one that was committed, connected, and fully in.
So what can we do about it?
I was talking with one of my coaches mid-way through the year last year and we talked about the difference between the beginning and the present. They were drastically different. All I could think about was how we could recreate or reignite that “this is going to be the best year ever” energy.
Here’s what I came up with: Record your athletes for the start of the season. Literally. Pull out your phone. You know they love a camera and videos 😊. One by one, ask each athlete to answer these prompts on video:
What are you most excited about this season?
What do you see for yourself and the team this year?
What are you willing to sacrifice to get there?
What will it mean to be your best self as a teammate and contributor?
What mindset are you committed to bringing every day?
Why does this matter to you?
Then…save those recordings. Label them. File them away.
And when the fire fades (because it will), bring them back.
When you need to help an athlete find herself…or when you need to hold up a mirror, have each athlete watch their own video and ask them:
“Does your current behavior reflect what you said mattered most?”
“Are you living out your ‘why’?”
“What’s pulling you off track?”
“What do you need to recommit to being the teammate and competitor you want to be?”
This reflection isn’t about guilt or shame, it’s about realignment. It’s not about what you want. It’s about what they want (or wanted). It’s not your voice. It's their own!!
We all drift. But we can help our people come back to themselves.
Here’s why this works….
This “video mirror” strategy taps into several science-backed tools.
Seeing a past version of ourselves helps us compare who we are now to who we wanted to be. This self-comparison, also known as self-discrepancy theory (Higgins, 1978), where we compare our "actual self" to our "ideal self" and "ought self can reignite motivation and clarify our goals.
When athletes tell the story of their season's beginning, they create a personal narrative or narrative identity (McAdams, 2001). Revisiting that story helps re-anchor them to their purpose and values.
According to Cialdini’s (2009) research on behavioral consistency, people are motivated to act in line with their past commitments, especially when those commitments are made publicly or on record.
Finally, we’re pulling out tools from motivational interviewing! By guiding athletes to revisit their reasons for change, their words, not ours, we’re using one of the most powerful drivers of sustained motivation: self-concordant goals.
We need to remember…and remind those we lead…that this, too, shall pass. We usually use that phrase for things we want to change…but good things change, too!
We never assume the excitement will last. But if we plan for the fade, we can have a tool to fight it.
We can use “Day 1 energy” as fuel later in the year, when adversity and adaptation creep in.
We can make reflection part of your culture and ask often: “Are we living our values? Are we still connected to our mission?” (I wish I had done this more…starting with myself!!)
We can normalize the drift. And then help athletes reset their compass.
The truth is, excitement is easy when everything’s new. But commitment is hard! And that’s what matters when the novelty wears off. It’s not about motivation or discipline…it’s about
COMMITMENT no matter what the circumstances are today!
So, let’s help our athletes (and ourselves, too) stay connected to why they started in the first place, because that version of them is still in there. Sometimes, they just need to see it again to remember who they are and where they’re going.
Let’s keep the fire lit.
Julie
P.S. I wrote a book to help you include mental training in your everyday practices! Keep your eye out for more information COMING SOON!
P.P.S A new academic year is about to begin. Let’s get your team tuned up for the year. Choose a 3-session plan or one that lasts all year! Shoot me an email or text – juliej@ssbperformance.com or 234-206-0946
Julie Jones
Mental Performance Coach
SSB Performance
juliej@ssbperformance.com • 234-206-0946
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