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Coaching Mind's Podcast: Perform at your best!
Coaching Mind's Podcast: Perform at your best!
#119 - Focus Cycle Pt 1: Perform at your best in high-pressure situations
Back in 2014, my head coach, Jake Gilbert, walked into a quarterback meeting where we were doing some mental training. He looked at what we were doing and said, “We have to do this for the entire team.” I remember thinking, I don’t know how to train 130 guys all at once! Little did I know, that conversation would change everything—leading to a book, a podcast, and even a complete shift in my career.
In this episode, we’re breaking down the Focus Cycle, which has become the foundation of everything we do with athletes. This is not just a generic approach. It’s a systematic framework that helps you stay aware of what’s happening in high-pressure moments and gives you practical tools to take back control of your mind and body.
If you’ve ever been curious about what mental performance training is all about, or if you’re a coach looking for a better way to train your athletes mentally, this episode is for you.
GET THE WORKSHEET: mentaltrainingplan.com/focuscycle
Are you an ATHLETE looking to take your training to the next level? Check out our website to learn more about 1-on-1 training opportunities:
mentaltrainingplan.com/athletes
Are you a COACH looking for an affordable year-round mental performance training program? Check out the MTP Academy available through our website:
mentaltrainingplan.com/academy
Hey, welcome to the Coaching Minds podcast, the official podcast of Mental Training Plan. We help teams and individuals perform at their best when it matters the most. It has been a little while Podcast listeners appreciate you guys joining us Been absolutely blown away. We haven't had really any new content throughout the course of the summer and we're still getting all kinds of listens and downloads throughout the course of the summer. And we're still getting all kinds of listens and downloads throughout the summer. So appreciate you guys still continuing to share the podcast. The MTP Academy is alive and well. We are now officially in 11 states. The feedback has been fantastic from coaches, from the players that are going through the program. Incredibly grateful for those of you that are helping spread the word about what we do. Please continue to do that if you find value in these episodes.
Speaker 1:Today we're kicking off a little series all about focus cycle. Like I said, we have had just a a ludicrous number of individuals and teams that have been going through this, and so you know there there are. On one hand, I want to be able to send people to this resource who you know. Maybe they they were not there when their team went through this and so you know that we can send them to this podcast and say go through here, get caught up, um. I also want to be able to send perspective parents that are like well, maybe I want you, working with my athlete um, to have a better understanding of what that process looks like and what the focus cycle is all about. So those of you who are long-time listeners, this is probably going to sound familiar, but we're also going to be diving in a little bit deeper in the upcoming episodes, taking a look at okay, we've implemented this, we've been trying to do the focus cycle. Now, what are some of the difficulties that we can run into, what are some of the times where it gets hard to do this and what do we do then? If you want a copy of the worksheet, there's a link in the show notes where we can send that to your email. You're more than welcome to do that, or just take out a piece of paper and jot down some notes as you go. But objective number one we want to give you the tools to control your mind and body during big moments. And then objective two help you develop a game plan for when, where and how you will use these tools In my book called Focus Cycle.
Speaker 1:The example that I used was a rattlesnake and me and my family were walking on a trail to go back and see a waterfall and all of a sudden heard a rattlesnake start rattling. We were down in Tennessee. It absolutely froze me. I was like, oh my gosh, where is that? What are we going to do if it bites one of the kids?
Speaker 1:And what happened scientifically is basically there were intercalated amygdala clusters that orchestrate a switch in fear state. That's a fancy way of saying that. There is a switch in your amygdala and chemically it gets turned on or off between a high fear state and a low fear state. And we know that when we're in that fear state, we can't perform at our best. And so, when we're in fear mode, we need to figure out what's the fastest way to turn off that switch so that we can get back into performance mode. And what we're going to talk about today is just how what we focus on, what we say to ourselves and how we control our bodies creates those emotions. And, rather than just being held captive to how we react, what can we do to take back control? And so, like I said, if you have not downloaded the worksheet yet. I would encourage you to do that. We're going to be starting on the front side where it says Focus Cycle Worksheet at the top, and you'll notice that Big Moment is up there in the top left-hand corner. And so I want you to think about like what big moment flips that switch in your mind before or during competition. For some athletes that might be before a big tournament. Maybe for a pitcher it's after walking a batter For a quarterback, maybe that's throwing an interception. If you need more time, go ahead and pause this and fill out in that box where it says big moment, what flips that switch for you before or during competition? Next is going to be focus. So we know that focus affects performance. If you put a pupillometer on a dirt bike rider, that's just a fancy sensor that tracks where you look and you put muscle sensors on their arms. When dirt bike riders look at an obstacle that they're trying to avoid, it actually slightly takes them toward that, and so they're taught to look at where they're trying to go, not at what they're trying to avoid. Because we know focus affects performance.
Speaker 1:If we were to look at brain imaging of someone that's shooting a free throw or taking a golf swing that they've taken hundreds of thousands of times, we would see neurons firing in a certain pattern. We would call that muscle memory. When it happens over and over and over and there's almost like this highway built up and our neurons get really good at firing in a certain pattern but all of a sudden, if we're thinking, oh my goodness, this is the state finals or the NBA finals, and the crowd is now chanting at me or you know, we get distracted. We would see this nice neat pattern that's been happening over and over and over. Now looks kind of jumbled and we've got neurons that are kind of sporadically firing. We're trying to stay focused and we're trying to shoot this free throw or make this golf swing, but we just don't have access to that same muscle memory because we know focus affects performance. So in that box in the bottom left-hand corner it says bottom up is the part that we're in, in that box where it says focus.
Speaker 1:I want you to think about, from that big moment that you just wrote down, what were you focused on at that time? For some people that's maybe into the future, oh no. What's the score going to be? Are we going to win? Are we going to lose? Is this going to be a bogey, a double bogey? In some people it's going into the past like a bad shot that they had in the past or a bad hole they had, or a bad game, or oh no, the last time we played these guys. Sometimes they get worried about bad technique or past failures. What other people think. Is coach going to be mad or mom and dad going to be mad? Go ahead and write down in that box that says focus, in the bottom left-hand corner, what was on your mind. And again, if you need more time, just press pause.
Speaker 1:Next, we're going to move on to self-talk and we know the average person has about 48.6 thoughts per minute, which means when that rattlesnake started buzzing, my mind wasn't going huh, this is dangerous. No, it was more like oh my gosh, what is that? Where is that coming from? What are we going to do if it bites one of the kids? This is going to ruin the vacation. Are we going to be able to get to the hospital? Can they land in a helicopter in here? Are we going to be able to get to the hospital? Can they land in a helicopter in here? Can we even call the police or EMS, like I don't know if our cell phones even work out here. My mind was just racing and so what I want you to think about, in that box that says self-talk down in the bottom left-hand corner, what did that voice in the back of your mind say during that big moment? Was it a gosh? I can't believe I did that. Is it a? I don't know if I'm good enough to do this. Go ahead and write that down.
Speaker 1:Next we're going to talk about like, what reaction did you have physically in your body? And we know that in these high pressure situations or these big moments, that breathing increases, your heart rate increases, your mouth gets dry, you get butterflies in your stomach because your digestive system temporarily shuts down, your pupils dilate, sometimes muscles tense up, your liver releases fats and sugars. All of a sudden we got more adrenaline pumping through our body. What are the physical reactions that you notice in that big moment? And in the bottom left-hand corner, where it says body, go ahead and write that down. I'd say some of the really common ones would be like shaky hands, tight shoulders, butterflies in the stomach. But go ahead and write down those physical things that you noticed and then we're going to move on to emotions and I want you to think like were you worried? Were you stressed in that moment? Were you anxious? And where it says automatic emotions, I want you to think about, like, in that big moment, what emotions did you feel? Maybe unconfident, maybe anxious? I've got some athletes that just get angry, they just get mad. Go ahead and write that down, or write those down, and then you know what we normally do.
Speaker 1:Next is we watch this video and it's a really cool video that's out there on YouTube and it talks about how the lower part of your brain, or, in their diagram, the red part of the brain, does some things automatically. You don't have to think about it. It makes your heart pump it, you know, it helps your intestines digest food, all of the things that just happen automatically and sometimes in that lower part of the brain you know. Let's say, for example, like a car lays on its horn, you don't have to think lays on its horn, you don't have to think, oh, I should get back up on the sidewalk. No, it's just like an automatic reaction. If you're stepping off the curb and a car lays on its horn, you just jerk back up onto that curb and similarly in a high-pressure situation.
Speaker 1:A lot of times our brain just says threat, it doesn't like it, it's uncomfortable, and it kicks off this fight or flight reaction in this middle, in this green part of the brain, the, what you know, the, the amygdala is in there and basically we feel these emotions. Maybe now we're unconfident, maybe now we're scared, and then what we want to do with the rest of the time is figure out how can we use the top and the front part of the brain and their diagram it's the blue portion of the brain to really think through and say, hey, it's all right, we're good, like we don't need to freak out, let's just get back to playing the sport that we love. Obviously, we can't watch the video on a podcast, but what I really want you to understand is what you've written down so far on this worksheet down at the bottom, what you were focused on, what that little voice in the back of your mind was saying, how your body reacted, the automatic emotions that you felt. That's just a reaction and just like when the car lays on its horn, our body reacts and some things just automatically happen. But then we can calm ourselves back down and say it's okay, I'm going to pay more attention, I'm going to look both ways. All right, we're good, let's go ahead and cross the street. What are those tools that we can use in that big moment to help you take back control?
Speaker 1:And so where I want to start is with emotions, and I want you to think about, like, where do you play at your best? What emotions help you perform at your best? What emotions help you perform at your best? And in that box where it says intentional emotions, like I want you to write down is it calm, is it confident? Is it in control? Go ahead and hit pause if you need a little bit more time, but just fill those out for how you want to be feeling in that box that says intentional emotions.
Speaker 1:And then next we're going to talk about the body. And you know, if I were to just say, hey, the next time you're stressed, just take a deep breath, that just feels like fluffy unicorns and rainbows, like, yeah, okay, why don't you give me something that's actually going to work? But if, on the other hand, I can say, look, the vagus nerve connects to that lower part of your brain and it goes through every major organ in your body and you can't control your heart rate, at least not directly. You can't control how much fat and sugar your liver is releasing, you can't control how much blood is in your stomach or if it all gets pumped into your muscles and you've got butterfly feeling now in your stomach. But you can interrupt that, basically kind of a fire alarm signal that's just pulsing up and down that vagus nerve by controlling your lungs.
Speaker 1:And so what we do next is you know we'll teach athletes how do you inhale. I want to make sure that your you know your belly button is sticking out. You don't want to suck in your stomach and then try to take a big deep breath, because that reduces lung capacity. And you know, a lot of people will teach, teach you to inhale through your nose, because that slows your breathing down a little bit. Um, some athletes have allergies and that just doesn't work. So take a big, slow, long, deep breath and we'll have them inhale for four and then we'll have them hold for four so that the lungs have time to absorb that oxygen that's in there, and then we'll have them exhale so that we can get rid of that carbon dioxide, and then we'll have them pause, because if we can stretch out that time between inhales. We're going to be able to stretch out that time between heartbeats, and so we'll. You know, just like what the US military does. We'll teach them inhale for four, hold for four, exhale for four and pause for four for four, and you can do, you know you can do that on your own and you'll feel, hopefully, your heart rate start to slow down. Or you know, if you've got like a Fitbit or an Apple watch or you know some other device that you're wearing and you can track your heart rate, maybe you can watch this. Or you can hop on a treadmill and you can practice getting your heart rate up and then bringing it back down. We'll actually walk people through.
Speaker 1:How do you come up with a customized breathing pattern? You know, take out a stopwatch and time your inhale and then write that down and then time your hold. Make sure that those two numbers, you know, at least add up to eight. Make sure that the inhale is at least four seconds, and then we'll do the same thing for exhale and pause, and we'll have them. You know, take that big, deep breath and then hold and then start the timer as you exhale, as you, you know, get rid of that carbon dioxide. How long is comfortable for you? We want it to at least be four seconds. And then the pause. You know we'll inhale and then hold and then exhale and then start that timer and figure out how long until we need to breathe again. And make sure that those you know the first two the inhale and the hold at least add up to eight. Make sure the next two the exhale and the pause at least add up to eight. And then you know there's some space on the back of the, on the back of the worksheet. If you're following along on there and you'd like to pause the episode, take out a stopwatch and come up with what's comfortable for you.
Speaker 1:And you know the next one that we'll do is called forced muscular relaxation.
Speaker 1:And so if you make a fist and take a big deep breath and hold and then, as you start to exhale, loosen up your hands, kind of shake your hands out, this time we're going to do it again, but we're going to clench our fists and then we're going to roll our forearms and then squeeze our biceps and shrug our shoulders and take a big deep breath and then hold and then, as we exhale, we're going to shake out all those muscles and relax all those muscles. So that's called forced muscular relaxation. So just like the lower part can control your breathing or you can decide to take back control with that top part of your brain, we can do the same thing with muscle tension. You know, my wife, for example, when she was taking a test or when she's really stressed now at work, sometimes she'll just get like this tension in her shoulders. She's not even paying attention to it, it's just the lower part of her brain is thinking this is a threat, we got to be ready to fight or we got to be ready to it. It's just the lower part of her brain is thinking this is a threat, we got to be ready to fight or we got to be ready to run. And so now you know we can use that top and that front part of the brain to say no, it's all right, we're good, we're going to relax, there is no threat, let's just, let's take back control of this muscle tension, let's force these muscles to relax.
Speaker 1:So you know, right there in the top right hand corner on your worksheet, where it says body, what tools can help you control your body. Really, we've got two of them. So you know, number one, write down whatever your breathing was, whether that was four, four, four, four, or you know, I like to inhale for six, hold for two, exhale for eight and then pause for one, whatever that was, write that down. And then also in that body box, in the top right hand corner, write down FMR, or forced muscular relaxation. But you know, now physically, we're starting to take back control of our body. We're turning off that fire alarm that's telling every organ in our body to panic. We're creating, we're getting some blood flow to the top and the front part of our brain so we can think clearly, we're taking back intentional control of muscle tension, we're releasing that tension and kind of relaxing those muscles. So that's, you know, that's the next step in creating these intentional emotions. We're not going to just hope that we will feel confident, like, let's do the things that it takes to create that confidence. And so that's, that's.
Speaker 1:The first part is taking back control of your body, and the second is let's address self-talk. You know cause we've got those 48.6 thoughts per minute. So you know, if I, if I, miss a putt, all of a sudden it's oh my gosh, I can't believe I did that. Was it? Did I not make a good enough read? Was my wrist not locked? Like what? What happened? Coach is going to be so upset. Gosh, that's another bogey.
Speaker 1:Like, what are we going to do? We're going to lose, it's going to be all my fault. And instead of listening to all these negative thoughts, what we're going to do is speak positively to ourselves. And so, you know, I've got some athletes that you know we'll use a Bible verse like I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. That's going to be their plan. When that little voice of negativity starts whispering in the back of their mind, they're just going to speak truth, you know, or like a mantra I can, I will. Or you know I, I have what it takes, or something like that. And then I've got other athletes that like to use what we call a go-to statement.
Speaker 1:And so, really, there's two parts to this. The first is go ahead and write down why are you, you, great? And if you're following along on the worksheet, on the back side there there's a box where you can write down, like list, the, the reasons why you're great. And you know if you're a, if you're a golfer, don't put things on there like I can drive the ball really far, because what happens if you're playing against an opponent who can drive further than you? Or I'm really good at making three-point baskets? Like we don't want those results or those outcomes, because if you're having a bad shooting day on the basketball court, this, this whole thing kind of goes out the window.
Speaker 1:So instead we're thinking maybe it's the insane amount of time that you put in, maybe you just put in more time than other athletes your age, or maybe it's you work really hard and that's you know. You're just going to write down like the hard work is is why I know I'm great at my sport, even on the days where things aren't going well. I'm having an off day, like they can't ever take that away from me. Or maybe you're just gritty. You're tough, you're never going to quit. Whatever, whatever those things are for, you go ahead and fill those out in that first box and then in the second box, where it says what I will achieve, you're writing down like what are the things that you want to believe in that moment, the things that you're working towards? You know some athletes are trying to be the best at what they do, so I'm the best quarterback in the state, or something like that. Other athletes need to believe, like they have what it takes, something like a I belong out here on this court, you know, or I've earned this spot on the field, or something like that. Other athletes maybe need to believe that they're not going to be defeated by their opponents. Like I have what it takes, I will not be stopped, or I'm an unshakable force, something like that. That's just you're believing that you have this powerful presence, that you belong out there and you're not going to be just pushed around by your competition. And we're going to write it down as if we've already accomplished it. So I am the best player in the state, not, I will be the best player in the state, and then we're going to take those two and we're going to combine you just a quick story I was I was in my second year as offensive coordinator, so I'm I'm the guy that's called, I'm the coach that's calling the plays for the offense, and on our high school football team and you know we were playing this team that their defensive coordinator had been coaching longer than I'd been alive and my self-talk was not in a great spot.
Speaker 1:It was like I don't know if we're going to be able to beat these guys. I don't know if we're going to score any points against this team. I don't know if we're going to be able to win this game. And I'm in the middle of, you know, getting my master's at the time and I'm in this sports psychology class and I'm reading this textbook about a statement that you can go to when negativity starts to creep in. And so you know, in that first box, my list was literally I put in a lot of time and I'm organized. That was it.
Speaker 1:And then in that second box, I wrote down I'm the best coach in the state. And it was like there was this little voice on the side of my shoulder going best coach in the state, you're not even the best coach on your staff, what are you talking about? And then it said you're going to combine those two and come up with your go-to statement. And so I wrote down, I put in the time, I put in the work, I'm the best coach in the state. And then it said say it 50 times a day. And I'm like 50 times a day, is this actually going to do anything? And it was like well, I mean, I don't really have a lot to lose, so started saying it I put in the time, I put in the work, I'm the best coach in the state. I put in the time, I put in the work, I'm the best coach in the state. And you know what happened at the end of that day? Absolutely nothing. And so I did it again on Monday and I was like I put in the time, I put in the work, I'm the best coach in the state Nothing. And again on Tuesday, nothing. And at this point I'm like all right, am I like? Am I being punked? Is somebody going to pop out with a video camera and be like ha ha, gotcha idiot? And I kept saying it.
Speaker 1:And on Wednesday, by the end of the day, something changed and all of a sudden in the back of my mind, that little voice of doubt was like you know, you do put in a back of my mind was like forget those guys, like let's go play. And we scored like 42 or 48 points, something like that Great showing for the offense, especially for a high school football game, and we lost. So you know, on one hand there was some good parts. On the other, there were some bad parts, like Neither one of those had anything to do with. Was this successful? Those were just results. What determined was this successful or not was could I just get out of my own head and do my job? And the answer was absolutely. And so from there it was like, oh my goodness, this actually works. So that's what you kind of need to put together.
Speaker 1:Next is, how do you combine those, those thoughts from the first part of the reasons why you know you're great, like what separates you from other people, what have you done to earn the right to be confident, and then combine it with that second part, what you will achieve, what you're working towards? Because if I would have just said I'm the best coach in the state, I'm the best coach in the state, the part of my brain that wants to fix things would have said, no, you're not. But instead, if I was to say I put in the time, I put in the work, I'm the best coach in the state, over and over, that same part of my brain that wants to fix things can't throw out the whole statement because it knows, like the first part of that is true, and so eventually it starts to come around to all right, well, I mean. I mean, maybe the second part is true. So if you need some more time to think about it, go ahead and pause the video and come up with your go-to statement. And then at this point I always tell the athletes it's really up to you.
Speaker 1:If you like this idea of the go-to statement and you want to use it, great. If you'd rather use a Bible verse or you'd rather have some other kind of mantra, that's just short and sweet, totally up to you. What matters is you have a plan. What we don't want to do is just hope that we're going to somehow be positive and speaking confidence to ourselves in this big moment or the next time this big moment pops up. So tool number three go ahead and put it on the front of the worksheet in that top right corner where it says self-talk. Go ahead and write down, you know. Are you going to say confidence and refocus? Are you going to say control the controllables. Are you going to say your go-to statement? Are you going to pick a verseables? Are you going to say your go-to statement? Are you going to pick a verse Like go ahead and write that down, come up with your plan. And then the last one is what are you going to focus on.
Speaker 1:And so, again on the back, you've got four boxes there and we've got things that are in your control and things that are not in your control. We've got things that matter right now and things that don't matter right now. And you know, just kind of thinking through, fill out each one of those boxes. What are the things that you can control? And that would be maybe attitude, maybe effort, maybe what you're focusing on. What about things that you cannot control? How good your opponent is, how good your teammates are playing? Is the coach upset with you? Did the ref make a bad call? What's the weather? Like All those things.
Speaker 1:And then, with the things that matter right now, one of the examples I really like to use is if you're a golfer and you want to be the best golfer that you can be and you're slicing your long irons, does that matter? Well, yeah, of course it does. Like, do you need to fix that? Yeah, but do you need to fix that right now, in the middle of a tournament? Like, should you be three holes in still worried about slicing your four iron on the second tee? No, absolutely not. So what are the things that matter right now versus, maybe, the things that you can fix in the future. Maybe you can go see your swing coach or maybe you can get some extra practice in, you know, next week or you know, maybe you can do some things to improve that outside of this moment, right now.
Speaker 1:And then, what are the things that do matter right now? Maybe your pre-shot routine, maybe your free throw routine, maybe that's focusing on this play or this pitch or this serve, and as you fill out the back of this worksheet, what this really does is it gets things out of your working memory where they're kind of imaginary and you've got all these ideas floating, imaginary and you've got all these ideas floating around. You've got all these thoughts floating around and we really start to see them now show up on paper and it's like I can either control this or I can't. This either matters right now or this doesn't matter right now, and we start to realize like some of the stuff that we're focused on during competition is making things way worse. And so what is your plan? Moving forward? You and maybe that's I'm going to focus on this shot or this play, this series, this possession, whatever, maybe it's I'm going to control the controllables, the things that I can control. I'm going to do those to the best of my ability. But go ahead and fill that out, come up with your plan, and so hopefully at this point the athletes are feeling pretty good about objective Number one. Give you the tools to control your mind and body during big moments. And you know, to be honest, everything that we've done up to this point isn't going to make you a better athlete, unless you go find some way to do it during competition.
Speaker 1:And so the bottom half of the worksheet, there where it says game plan, what we want to do on the left hand side is figure out like what are all the situations that might try and flip that switch. What are some of the big moments? Like you know, for golfers sometimes it's that first tee box, or for pitchers that that first pitch. All eyes are on you. How are you going to set the tone here? Maybe it's after you screw up, you shoot an air ball, you throw an interception. Maybe it's after you screw up, you shoot an air ball, you throw an interception. Maybe it's something that should be easy to do, like sinking a three-foot putt or making a free throw, or maybe it's. You know you can handle adversity once or twice. But if you walk a batter and then you give up a hit and then you give up a home run, like now, all of a sudden you're rattled, maybe it's, you know, after after multiple bad plays, the wheels just kind of fall off.
Speaker 1:And so list all of those events down the left-hand side, and then we've got to figure out, like, what are you going to do about it? So we talked about four different tools that you can use to take back control of your mind and body. You know, what are you focused on? What are you going to be saying to yourself? How are you going to control your heart rate, your muscle tension? And so some athletes like to think of it, you know, maybe, as like first aid.
Speaker 1:If my daughter trips and falls and she has a boo-boo on her elbow, like daddy can kiss it and in her two-year-old mind, boom, everything's fixed. But you know, maybe she falls and actually scrapes it on the concrete and so now she needs a band-aid. Or, you know, maybe it's pretty bad and we need to go get stitches, and it kind of escalates as things get worse. So, you know, maybe for some of the situations you just need to take a deep breath, or you just need to say your go-to statement and maybe for others it's you need to focus on this play and do your forced muscular relaxation and then maybe, when things get really bad, like you're going to pull out all four tools.
Speaker 1:But there needs to be a plan and you know I've got some golfers who will literally do all four of these in between every shot and it's just part of their pre-shot routine. And you know that's a little more plausible for, like a football game where there's a play and then there's a stoppage in action, or golf, you hit the ball, now you have to walk up and go find your ball, get ready for the next shot, versus like a basketball game where there's just constant motion. So you know you've really got to figure out what is it going to be for you that puts you in control of your mind and body and that bottom half of the worksheet I always like to tell athletes. Like when I was coaching quarterbacks, my high school quarterbacks hung that up on their locker so that I knew what their plan was. They knew what their plan was. Their teammates knew what their plan was and we can all kind of help hold each other accountable. Like what are you going to be doing in this situation? And then after the game, we can evaluate well, did you do it and did it work? Did it not work? And that's where you know, in the next episode we'll be starting to look at okay. Well, if things aren't working, why are they not working? Because you know, I always like to give this example.
Speaker 1:If scenario A is you hit a golf ball and you slice it off into the rough and the whole time you're walking up to golf ball and you slice it off into the rough and the whole time you're walking up to that ball and you're like gosh, I can't believe I did that. I did it again. I've been working so hard at not slicing the ball. Why is this happening? Coach is going to be so frustrated. I'm so frustrated. I just don't understand why this isn't working. I'm probably going to get a bogey or worse on this hole. We're going to lose. It's going to be all my fault, and then you've got to take the next shot. Like that's scenario A.
Speaker 1:If scenario B on that same walk up to the golf ball, you thought about literally anything else. Up to the golf ball, you thought about literally anything else dump trucks or cookies, anything else that's not so stinking negative, that's not so stuck in the past and just putting you in a foul mood and creating all these negative emotions. And you got these negative thoughts swirling around in your head like anything else is going to be better than that. I mean scenario B. You're going to be in a better spot to go hit that ball. But what if instead, like, there was scenario C and the whole time up to that ball, you were reminding yourself of all the time that you've put into developing your game and all the hard work that you've put in, and the fact that you've earned the right to be confident and one bad shot in the past doesn't override the hundreds of thousands of great shots that you've had during practice and the fact that you're prepared for this moment and you have what it takes. Now you're ready to hit that ball, and so scenario C is always going to be better than scenario A.
Speaker 1:But sometimes it's difficult and things just don't automatically work and it's hard, and so then what do we do? And you know, that's what. That's what we'll get into next. That's where this starts to go a little bit deeper. You know, that's where I've been doing this with individuals for a long time and they need help working through those scenarios. But you know, at this point hopefully we feel good about objective number two help you develop a game plan for when, where and how you will use these tools.
Speaker 1:We don't want to be evaluating Is this working? We don't want to be thinking about do I need to practice, do I need to change, do I need to tweak this? We just want to go, do it, preferably in a competitive setting. I probably wouldn't do this right before a state championship, but maybe earlier in the season, some scrimmages, maybe in the off season. Find some time where you can try this and see how it goes and figure out what works and what doesn't work, so that we can continue to make progress. You know, this isn't about perfection. This isn't about making every single negative emotion go away. It's just the journey towards being in a better spot so that you are more prepared emotionally, mentally, physically, so that you can do your best and you can perform at your best when it matters the most. As always, if you've got questions, please don't hesitate to reach out. Really appreciate you guys joining us for this episode. If you've got questions, send them our way and, until next time, make your plan and put it to work.