Turn the Off-Season into the On-Season for Mental Performance
- Julie Jones
- 38 minutes ago
- 6 min read
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College semesters have wrapped up. Most schools are out in a week or two and summer is almost upon us! Whether we work in an academic year or a fiscal year, summer is different. If we’re lucky, we can find some time to rest, reset and recharge. And even if it’s not your “off-season”, it feels different!
Rest and recovery are vital. A change of scenery is necessary. But let’s not miss what the “off” in off-season really means. It doesn’t mean we go dark. It doesn’t mean we pause our growth. And it definitely doesn’t mean we stop leading our teams and ourselves toward excellence.
It means something better: OPPORTUNITY.
The off-season is not the “off” switch. A break doesn’t mean we stop. In fact, it can be the most powerful time to sharpen the tools that make or break performance under pressure.
That’s why smart leaders and coaches use the off-season to build what I call their Mental Performance Operating System (MPOS) and help those they lead to do the same.
Before we dive into why this time is our ON-season for mental performance, register HERE for a FREE 30-minute MPOS session for coaches and leaders. And keep your eyes peeled in next week’s
Tip for a FREE session in June for your athletes!
Before we dive into how to build your MPOS in the off-season, let’s talk about something people like us often resist! TRUE RECOVERY!
Neuroscience and high-performance psychology both agree: that our brains need rest to grow. According to research from the University of Michigan, downtime isn’t wasted time. In fact, some studies suggest that recovery is where the real gains happen. It’s when adaptation occurs. It can help us find that space between stimulus and response to better use our RESPONSE-ABILITY! It helps us slow down and choose one thought over another and it is the ultimate management of our state (our Three Power Moves!)
But as we chase the next recruit, big deal or win, we’re afraid to take a day off…or slow down. As we push and push, we need to be aware of research from the American Psychological Association and Stanford’s Center for Compassion and Altruism Research and Education shows that rest isn’t lazy, it’s essential for optimal performance.
When we give our brains space to breathe, we improve decision-making, creativity, memory and emotional regulation. Rest allows us to integrate what we’ve learned, both physically and mentally. It’s when our brain consolidates memory, builds connections and turns learning into lasting change. Studies from the Harvard Business Review show that intentional reflection during rest phases improves performance more than continuous effort without reflection.
For coaches and athletes, this means we need to chill on the CONSTANT grind. Constant output without intentional recovery leads to burnout, injury, and mental fatigue. I’ve read a ton lately about how some of the world’s most brilliant minds found that doing nothing was often the key to thinking deeply.
Leading thinkers like Albert Einstein, Winston Churchill, Virginia Woolf and Steve Jobs were known for carving out time to step away from work, not because they were avoiding responsibility, but because they recognized that stillness fuels clarity. How many great ideas have you stumbled on in the shower or as you walk across campus?
Einstein famously said that many of his greatest ideas came while he was playing the violin or taking long walks. The best came to him at times when he wasn’t actively trying to solve problems.
Steve Jobs was known for taking long, quiet walks when he needed to think creatively or make a big decision. These weren’t breaks from productivity, they were essential parts of the process. In fact, researchers from UC Santa Barbara found that people are significantly more likely to come up with creative solutions to problems after taking time to let their minds wander.
This idea is supported by the concept of default mode network activity in neuroscience. When we’re not focused on an external task, our brain enters a mode that supports reflection, idea connection and meaning-making.
That’s why some of the world’s top performers and innovators schedule in silence, space and solitude. And we should, too! As coaches and leaders, we often think we need to be doing something to be productive. But sometimes, the most powerful thing we can do, for our thinking, our leadership, and our long-term clarity, is to STOP! To get quiet. To walk. To let the mind breathe. Because it’s in the gaps, in the stillness, where genius and strategy are born.
Again, it’s not turning off. It's not stepping back. It's preparing for the leap forward.
Recovery doesn’t mean being idle, it means being intentional. And that’s where your MPOS comes in.
The off-season may not be “off”, but it does present us with an opportunity to change our focus a bit. In the chaos of the in-season, it’s hard to build our mental tools. We’re usually too busy using them (or wishing we had them!). That’s why the off-season is your golden window to experiment, reflect, tweak, and train our mental game. Because there's space. The pressure’s lower. There’s room to experiment, reset and practice without the noise of wins, losses and schedules.
Here’s how to turn our downtime into MPOS prime time. We can start with an MPOS Audit.
What Is Your MPOS?
Just like your phone has an operating system, your brain does too. Your Mental Performance Operating System is the foundation that supports how you lead, compete and show up when it matters. It starts with awareness, then we move to incorporating our Three Power Moves: 1. Choosing one thought over another 2. Understanding our Response-ability and 3. Our ability to manage our state – each with its tools to help us perform at our peak!
Try this quick system to evaluate your current MPOS and identify where to grow. Rate each area from 1 (weak or inconsistent) to 5 (strong and consistent):
Pre-Practice/Pre-Work Routine: Do you prime your mindset before stepping into work or workouts?
Focus Reset Tool: Do you have a go-to method for regaining focus after distractions or mistakes?
Self-Talk System: Are you aware of your inner dialogue? Do you practice directing it?
Confidence Stack: Do you intentionally build confidence through action and reflection?
Presence: Are you able to be where your feet are and observe the cues around you that matter?
Personal Recharge Habits: Do you protect your own energy so you can lead effectively?
Reflection Practice: Do you have a system for evaluating what worked and what needs to grow?
Where are your most important Off-Season Growth Zones? I’d love to know so we can direct next week’s discussion toward our greatest areas for growth! Shoot me an email!
Because if we make progress in only ONE of these areas, we will come back stronger than we left! But like anything else in life, if we are going to do it, we need to make it as simple as possible.
Here are some simple questions I sent home with one of my teams to help them set up and tweak our most basic MPOS tools that can help us all: (Again, I told them that if they use only one of these tools, their game will grow!)
Mental Rehearsal: What skills, moments or emotions will you rehearse this summer? When and where will you do your mental reps? (be specific)
Self-Talk Upgrades: What phrase will you use when you struggle?
Confidence Jar or Evidence Tracker: What will you track each day? (e.g., effort, growth, small wins) How will you reflect on this weekly?
Once we know what we want to see, say and do, it’s time to measure it. Because we know that if we don’t measure it, it doesn’t matter! Here is a VERY simple checklist to help us stay on track and measure our progress!
What mental reps did I do this week? What did I visualize?
What did I notice about my self-talk this week? One thing I said to myself that helped:
What went well this week (effort, attitude, behavior, growth)?
Confidence level this week (1–10): _____ Why?
What do I want to improve next week? What is one simple way I can do this?
Repeat 😊!
The “off-season” is a great time to work on things we don’t have time to do in the rush of the season….and we know mental training often gets pushed to the side in the craziness of the year.
But our mental performance doesn’t magically improve when the scoreboard lights up. It grows through reps, just like strength or skills. So, while others are taking the off-season off, let’s use it to build something better.
We want to show up more intentionally next season. We want to lead with clarity and energy. We want our athletes to respond, reset and rise when things get tough.
Start now! (or next Wednesday with me - Register HERE)
Let’s make “off-season” the most productive season for our growth and our team’s mindset. Because elite leaders know that the season doesn’t start when the games begin. It starts with what we do right now.
So, rest, recover and reset this season and be ready to be your best when they turn the scoreboard on!
Manage your mindset and the moments!
Julie
P.S. Register HERE for a FREE 30-minute MPOS session for coaches and leaders.
Thinking about next year? 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