Three Things You Need to Get the Most Out of Your Talent and Training!
- Julie Jones
- 7 days ago
- 5 min read
Game Changers: Athlete Edition Podcast iHeartRadio ApplePodcasts Youtube Podbean Spotify
It has taken me FOREVER to write this Tip! In my mind, summer means more time…but I’m not so sure that’s true!
What summer does give a little more time for, whether while driving around as a professional Uber, doing yard work, sitting at the pool or even while we’re out recruiting, is time to think! And in this thinking…back and forth…from moments of distraction to moments of focus (no matter how brief), is either ironic or coincidental because the ridiculous amount of time this Tip took to write proves I need to continue to work on my mental game! (Is it ironic or coincidental? I’d ask Alanis Morissette, but I think she got it wrong 😊).
As you mosey…or run…through summer, here’s something to ponder during all your summer tasks!
Do you, and those you lead, truly have the three essentials we need to play at our peak? And if not, what’s your plan to build them with your next group? Whether your roster’s undergone a major overhaul or you’ve got a core of seasoned returners, these tools make the difference between squeezing every ounce of talent and training out of your team…and leaving hard work on the table.
In Called to Greatness, author Alex Auerbach stresses three essentials, strikingly similar to the Three Power Moves, that allow us to extract maximum performance.
What does Coach Belichick mean by “stop losing” to win? He means, control what you can control. Stop letting the other team get ahead by capitalizing on our mistakes, such as pre- and post-snap penalties. Or in the game I'm coaching right now (rec baseball), I'm throwing the ball to 3rd base to get the runner on a steal, which usually ends up in LF with the run scoring or swinging on a 3-0 pitch.
In other words, stop doing stupid stuff!
Where does stupid stuff begin? It begins with pressure. It begins with fear. It begins with frustration, doubt and distraction!
BUT we can set ourselves up to WIN MORE if we stop losing…IT! And when I say, “it”, I mean our bodies and minds!
Whether your roster’s undergone a major overhaul or you’ve got a core of seasoned returners, these tools make the difference between squeezing every ounce of talent and training out of your team…and leaving hard work on the table.
In Called to Greatness, author Alex Auerbach stresses three essentials, strikingly similar to the Three Power Moves, that allow us to extract maximum performance.
You know the THREE POWER MOVES. #1 – You can always choose one thought over the other. #2 – You have a response-ABILITY and #3 – You can manage your state.
Auerbach sets up his non-negotiables similarly in his book. He says, to be our best, we must have tools to #1 – regulate our nervous system (a.k.a – manage our state). #2 – Direct your attention (a.k.a., be response-ABLE) and #3 – get your mind to work for you (a.k.a., choose one (helpful) thought over another).
What are you doing to get these three performance non-negotiables down? Need help? I know someone 😊!
Here’s why it matters!
First, we must learn to self-regulate our nervous system. We must OWN THIS. Regulating our nervous system is OUR JOB if we want to be our best!
Short of someone threatening physical harm or inflicting it, not much anyone does or says “makes” our nervous system do anything. Of course, there are exceptions to this, but just because someone pushes you out of bounds does not “make” you shove them back! Easier said than done, I know! Think about how many times a week your blood pressure rises before you even realize it, based on things someone says to you, around you or even because of you!
If we look at it from Coach Belichick’s perspective, the “loss” behavior is letting tension build until you’re reactive, yelling at a mistake, gripping too tight, breathing shallowly and fast and acting as if it’s “their” fault. Those spikes in arousal are a recipe for unforced errors…and missed opportunities and information!
The winning behavior is to catch rising stress and reactions early. It’s finding Viktor Frankl’s “pause” or SPACE between stimulus and response. What’s your mini “physio check” or “catch it before it happens” cue between bad calls, big plays or big recruiting calls?
This “wins” because when we stay calm and in the moment, when things get messy, our voice stays steady, our cues stay clear and people mirror our composed energy. Next week’s Tip will reiterate why what others mirror is SO IMPORTANT in today’s portal roster world!!!
Next, we must learn to direct our attention. Sometimes this is SO easy. And then it’s not!
The loss behavior here is a distracted mind or hyper-focus on the wrong target, thinking about past failures, reading social media notifications, listening to fans or obsessing over “what ifs.” That split attention costs us our reaction speed, decision quality and situational awareness.
The winning behavior is to cultivate “attention anchors” that pull us and our team back to the present. What’s your simple cue that you use that helps you and everyone around you lock in, slow the game down and refocus?
This “wins” because we eliminate the mental noise that leads to sloppy execution and missed reads. A group that refocuses instantly wastes zero seconds and zero opportunities.
Finally, we must have strategies to make our minds work for us! And since we don’t control our thoughts…oh boy!
The loss behavior here is reaching for mental tools when stressed or distracted, trying to mentally rehearse a perfect swing while your heart’s pounding at 180 bpm, or repeating a motivational phrase when your attention is splintered. It’s like building on wet sand.
You have the tools, but not the environment to allow them to do their thing!
The winning behavior is sequencing strategy deployment after regulation and focus when you’re physiologically ready and mentally locked in, what we might call “bottom-up” management.
Or, are you ready to work from the “top-down” à managing your thoughts with your thoughts (predetermined, of course) with a script that calms your nervous system and gathers your focus?
Either way, you’re “winning” by stacking calm + focus, then moving to your rehearsal, self-talk, and routines plugged into a brain that’s primed, not panicked.
Or you’re plugging in those thoughts that take that panicked body and pull it back with that predetermined plan.
This “wins” because we can be consistent…and stick to the plan! (We’re not doing stupid stuff!)
We can bring it all together with a few simple tools to let our talent and training shine!
We can kick off practice with a 30-second breathing drill, a group cue-word exercise and a 5-second team mental rehearsal of success to help regulate our nervous system. We can teach athletes and our staff to “pause” at natural breaks, timeouts, halftime, media breaks and run through regulation → attention → strategy in under 10 seconds.
And we can use these downtime moments (driving, yard work, walks between fields) to mentally rehearse how we’ll coach regulation and focus and regain our own!
By embedding these three steps in order—calm → focus → strategy—we’re not just plugging leaks; we’re constructing a fortress of performance. And as Belichick warns, if you don’t stop
losing, you can’t win. Start this summer by mastering what trips you up and watch how it changes the game.
Manage the moments!
Julie
P.S. I have a few openings for teams for 2025-26. Let’s work together! Shoot me an email or text – juliej@ssbperformance.com or 234-206-0946. We can build a program that fits your team!
Julie Jones
Mental Performance Coach
SSB Performance
juliej@ssbperformance.com • 234-206-0946
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