098 The Psychology of Change: How Athletes Can Turn Intentions into Lasting Goals

 Key Takeaways for this episode for athletes and high performers:

• Reflection & Goal-Setting: Acknowledge where you’re at and use the new year as a time for intentional change.
• Brain’s Resistance to Change: Understanding how your emotional brain fights against new routines and how to push through.
• Neuroplasticity: The brain’s ability to rewire itself makes change possible with consistent, disciplined action.
• Small Wins Matter: Focus on incremental progress to build momentum and avoid perfectionism that leads to burnout.
• Breaking Down Big Goals: Learn how to set smaller, manageable steps to make large goals more achievable.
• Intentions vs. Goals: Intentions are vague, but concrete goals are specific, measurable, and actionable.
• The Intention-Action Loop: Link your intentions to clear actions for better results.
• Consistency Over Perfection: Embrace consistency and be flexible when life (and disruptions) get in the way.
• Visualization & Mental Rehearsal: Use visualization techniques to prepare for obstacles and reinforce your goals.
• SMART Goals: Learn how to turn intentions into specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound goals.

Actionable Tips:

• Break down one intention into a SMART goal this week.
• Track your progress, stay consistent, and embrace setbacks as learning opportunities.

Join the Conversation:

• Like, comment, and subscribe for more mindful tips for athletes and high performers! 
• Follow ReadySet Mindful on social media and visit the website for free resources and ways to work with Kerri

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Transcript

Hello, everyone. Welcome back to the ReadySet mindful podcast. I am your host Carey Bish gay.  And I am joined by my co-host here today. My nine month old daughter. So if you hear her, um, she, her little cute babbles might be making an appearance, but. We'll try to keep this as, uh, as.  Professional as possible. , it's 20, 25, right. 

And we all have goals and intentions and things that we're kind of looking back on, um, from the previous skier and, you know, it's a good time for reflection to see.  Where we're at, what we've accomplished, you know, and hopefully take stock of what worked and what didn't. And. Maybe you're someone that's really frustrated. 

, when it's the new year. Cause it was just a reminder of like the.  The hamster wheel that you're still in and the changes that you didn't make, which is totally, you know, It's it's normal. Our brains are wired to  seek comfort and to do the thing that we're used to doing. So change can be really hard for a lot of people, right? 

New habits and new routines, and all of that can be really challenging for. For people, but. We are going to talk in this episode about like the psychology of change, like what it actually looks like to change.  And what is needed to change? You know, to actually turn our intentions into reality, right? 

So we're going to dive into the psychology of change. Um, how to turn intentions into actionable goals and then how to make those actually stick. So if you felt stuck or unsure about how to make your intentions a reality at this, this one's for you.  So let's just talk a little bit about the.  The brain's resistance to change, right? 

Like our brains are wired, like I said, for comfort and stability and warmth, right? Like if you've ever tried to take a cold shower, your brain will just try to convince you that it's like the worst thing ever. You're going to die. Like get out. Abort mission. Um, but it's such a great exercise for people to do a it's free B at. You know, it's.  It can last for, you know, it's such a short period of time that you're putting yourself through that discomfort. 

So it's a really good entryway into. You know, getting comfortable, being uncomfortable.  You know, so, um, that means that change, especially lasting change is met with internal resistance, right? Like even if the change is something positive, like. Reaching a new performance milestone,  or breaking a bad habit, right? 

Like the brain's limbic system, which is the emotional center and prefrontal cortex, which is responsible for our rational thought. Is in conflict when making changes. Right. So we're constantly.  Fighting between our emotional brain or rational brain. So that can be really tough for folks. So something just to keep in mind. Um, You know, Try not to make yourself feel too bad for, it's helpful to kind of have this understanding that it is a back and forth when you're encountering kind of, you know, making, making these big changes. your emotional brain is always going to convince you to kind of go for the warmth. 

Go for the easy thing. Um, the path most traveled, right. Um, I also want to talk about neuroplasticity.  Okay. The good news is our brains are plastic. They can rewire and adapt.  So it really is the coolest thing ever when we think about neuro-plasticity, it gives us so much more. Empowerment. When we think about what is possible that, you know, our brains are not. These rigid, you know, structures that are impossible to, you know, it's impossible to change our, our neurons and our makeup. 

Um, It's the really the coolest thing that we're able to form these new neural pathways that make those behaviors more automatic with, you know, when we commit to intentional, consistent actions, right. So neuroplasticity plays a role in habit formation, and that's how change is possible. Right? It's the repetitive. Consistent. Like disciplined actions over and over that make these habits actually stick. 

Right. So also want to talk about.  Small wins and the importance of small wins. I know with like goals and intentions.  Especially, um, a lot of you guys, right. Are, you know, the clients I work with are athletes and high performers. And we have a really hard time seeing the power of small wins because we have like massive expectations. Um, that we have for ourselves and a lot of us are perfectionistic. 

So it's really hard to see those small wins. Right? Oftentimes other people will point those out to us like, wow, you're doing this right. And this is working and we're often focusing on, what's not working and it's not enough. It's not fast enough. It's not.  Um, where we want to be. Exactly. So like, we don't count it, right. 

We don't count those small wins, but one of the key psychological principles for making change stick is the concept of the small wins and focusing our attention on what's working and on those small wins instead of expecting massive change overnight, which is unrealistic. Um, you know, focus on the incremental, the improvements that build momentum, right? 

Like those micro wins.  Um, also want to just talk about how.  Oftentimes again, I was like perfectionistic, like high performing people.  We have these like massive ambitious goals, which are so cool. Right. That's great. And I'm, I'm definitely, I fall into the category of, of setting those massive goals as well. And forget sometimes to break those goals up. Into smaller, you know, more manageable steps. Um, that can actually connect you to the bigger goal, like where you want to go. 

So making more achievable steps. Can help you.  With the process and help the process become less overwhelming and actually more sustainable. So it's like versus looking at the big end goal looking at all right. Like what is my day to day? What is my week to week? My month to month kind of look like in action in order to make that happen. 

Right.  So now we're going to talk about the role. Of intentions in achieving goals. So going from wanting a thing to doing the thing.  So we stop, we start with.  Good intentions. Don't we all, we want to improve our performance. What eat better? Want to stay focused? Um, but the intentions alone, like those thoughts, like aren't aren't enough. Right. 

So what's missing is the action piece. And oftentimes I. You know, when I ask clients about what their intentions are and what they really want. Oftentimes, like they have this like boxed, like pocket response of like what they feel like they should say, or like what society expects them to say. Well, I, you know, should be eating clean or like, I should.  Want to now do a marathon or like, what's the next thing? And.  When we dig into it a little bit and figure out the why. You know, sometimes there's just like a disconnect there. 

So it's like, they're not super connected to what their goal is. You have to make sure that it's coming from the right place. Right. Otherwise the action's going to be. Missing.  Throughout the whole process because you're going to be resistant. Um, to doing the work because it's not something you're super connected to, or like, passionate about. 

So just make sure, like, okay, cool. Like where is this goal actually coming from? Why did it make the list? Is this something that I'm connected to, or is this something that someone else wants for me? Or what I feel like should be the next step, right? Should an air quotes. Um, so.  Um, the difference between intentions and actual goals just want to touch on that for a little bit. 

Intentions are vague. They represent a desire, like what we want goals on the other hand are. More concrete, specific, measurable, have a clear timeline, right? This is where the rubber meets the road.  Where we put things into action, right? So I want to discuss how setting specific intentions, like I want to, I want to be. Uh, improved my mental toughness. 

Right. Um, how can that be translated into like a concrete goal? Okay, cool. Well, and I do this all the time with my, with my athletes. I want to improve my mental toughness. I want to improve my performance. Okay. What's a small, reasonable, actionable goal that we can set. Well, I will practice mindfulness for 10 minutes a day. 

I'm going to do two minutes of breath work in the morning, and then maybe a journal before bed. Um, putting a timestamp to that. And really setting a goal to increase the focus and resilience, um, you know, for competition for performance. So that's what it would look like in action. We turn that intention into something concrete and actionable.  So then there's something. Called the intention action loop. 

Right. Uh, the key to successful change is the linking the intention to the action. So when you make a clear plan and attach it to an intention, you're setting yourself up for success, right? Um, so planning and intention really do go hand in hand. We need both of those things. So writing down intentions, creating a roadmap.  

Hi.  Um, creating a roadmap for achieving them and scheduling a specific action or actions that align with that goal is super important. Right?  Um, so let's talk about how to make changes stick. What is that? What does that look like? This is the, you know, uh, Step that a lot of people struggle with myself included, right? 

So it's the power of consistency over perfection. It's the work versus the, you know, the perfectionism that we often expect from. Um, from ourselves and I can use myself as an example since becoming a mom, right? Like my,  I can't control.  Um, what my workouts look like. Um, you know, when I'm at home, so, um, my daughter will crawl on me. 

She'll, you know, she'll need something I'll need to change her diaper. Like whatever it is. So, but all of these things that come up or opportunities for me to take a breath. And realized like, okay, it's the, it's the consistency over perfection? Like I'm doing the work. I'm going to get my workout in. 

It's just going to look different like day to day and that's and that's okay. Right. Um, and I do gym workouts too. And then I can schedule, you know, in my, my husband watches her, then I can have more of, okay. I need to actually do. Uh, six miles or whatever it is, whatever it is and make sure that I get that stuff, you know, that done. Um, so that I could put myself in a good position for my races and my goals.  But sometimes, you know, from just doing at home workouts or whatever I have to be okay with that, them looking different. 

And the important thing I have to keep coming back to is the consistency. I keep showing up, knowing that I'm going to like have this disruption or something's going to come up and that's okay. Like it's not going to be perfect. And we have to look at these opportunities. Um, look at these disruptions as opportunities and not get fixated on my workout, didn't go exactly. 

Or my practice or like, whatever it is, did not go exactly how I thought it was going to go. And, and that's okay. Right. Like one of the most important aspects of lasting change is consistent. Is consistency showing up. Just keep showing up. Too often athletes aim for perfection and that leads to burnout, right? 

Like when we keep beating ourselves up for what we can't control and the disruptions and the frustrations that come with. You know, making mistakes and things, not being in our control more so hard on herself, like that leads to burnout because we're just feeling inadequate all the time. Like what we're doing is not enough. 

So it's the small, consistent efforts day in and day out that really do create like that lasting change. Right.  Um, so I want to embrace, you want to embrace the good enough. Approach, which is so many athletes and high-performers are so resistant to like, this is good enough. And then maybe even attaching, like, this is good enough for today. So that you're not giving yourself like an out, like, all right, well, this, I didn't really. Put in a ton of work today, but that's good enough. 

Like sometimes your brain will be resistant to that. And so sometimes I find that you need to attach, like, this is good enough for now, or this is good enough for today. Right. Like something short term that you can kind of latch onto so that your brain can  kind of wrap its wrap itself around like ma tomorrow's a new opportunity and tomorrow can be better. Right. So today is good enough, or this is good enough right now and using that approach and it could focus on, you know, just focusing on that continuous improvement rather than the perfectionism. Right. So.  Creating sustainable habits is another piece of the puzzle when it comes to intention and goals, right? 

Like creating new habits as essential for making lasting change. So retreat research shows.  That it takes, you know, we used to think a month right now, it's, it's really 66 days to form a new habit. So if you want to change a behavior, you really.  Adamant about that. You need to stay committed for the long haul, right. 

And not get discouraged. Um, but just. Jump back on the horse and keep, keep going. Even when it feels super hard and it's okay to have those missteps, but just, you know, just, just keep, keep, keep going. All right. Um, so how to build new habits, we want to anchor new habits, right? And so by anchoring.  Anchoring means that we tie these new behaviors to existing routines. 

Right? So meditating after your morning workout. So doing something that you're adding something small to something that you're already doing. So you want to anchor these new habits and some, you know, in a, in a habit that you already have.  And we want to really start small. So don't do too much at one time. 

Your goal is to. Meditate in the morning. Okay. We're going to attach that to your workout routine and we're going to do before or after, but maybe we're just going to do for five minutes and we're going to start super small, right?  Um, and I want you to track your progress. So that's, you know, step three. 

So one is anchor new habits. Two is starting small three would be tracking your progress, keeping a small journal. Um, you can keep a note in your phone journal is better. Um, to get that extra therapeutic value with the writing. Um, so keep a simple journal or tracker or tracker to really keep track of those micro wins. 

Right. And the fourth thing would be the accountability. So tell someone what you're doing, writing down your goals. Um, and intentions is awesome, but like, tell your, tell your teammate, tell your coach, tell your friend, tell your, you know, your husband, your wife, whatever.  The accountability piece, um, we know is super important when we say that out loud. Um, we don't want to, you know, sometimes we're okay with like breaking those promises to ourself, but we're not okay with breaking those promises to someone else. 

So that's something that really helps people.  So make sure that you, um, have an accountability partner, right? And, you know, embrace those setbacks as learning opportunities. Like look at those disruptions as opportunities. It's really about like, shifting. That.  Excuse me, like shifting that mindset, right. 

Looking at something that can be frustration. Or that can be frustrating. And that could be looked at as a setback.  Um, and just turning it into an opportunity, like, okay, this is a moment where I normally would get super frustrated or this would be annoying, but I'm choosing to like, take a breath. And acknowledged that. This is an opportunity like it's inevitable setbacks and missteps are gonna happen. 

Um, but it's just not focusing on them as failures, but just as opportunities. Um, so we got to reframe those mistakes and those obstacles as like a part of the process and as our stepping stones. Right. So be kind to yourself when you're not seeing instant results, like that's normal, it's part of the process. 

Okay.  So let's talk about setting intentions, like with, um, precision, right? Like with. What does that actually look like? We've talked about smart goals. Um, and one of the most powerful tools for turning your intentions into reality is using smart goals. Right? So smart goals are. You know, the assets for specific M is measurable, a is achievable, R is relevant and T is time bound. 

So rather than saying, you know, I just want to eat clean or just want to be better, eat better. Like, cool. What does that look like in action? And how can we measure that? Right. So.  If your intention is to be more mentally tough. Um, you had to break that down into, okay. I will meditate for 10 minutes every morning for the next 30 days. 

And, you know, doing that will increase my mental focus and reduce stress. So. Attaching the, you know, the action, um, and the timestamp to your goal. So, um, and it's so important to regularly like review and adjust your goals like as progress is being made. So maybe you need to.  Um, adjust that. You know, you, you crush it after 30 days and now your 10 minutes can, how do you feel? 

Right. Like just taking stock of where you're at with that goal. Do you want to like, be able to meditate more? What do you want to attach? What will meditating more do for you? Right. So if you you're already noticing improvements in your mental focus and stress reduction, maybe you want.  Um, a little bit more mental clarity and more concentration. 

Like what, what do you think that that will do to you? Don't just increase it, like just to increase it. Um, but you know, what do you, what do you feel connected to? Um, so taking stock over how that's, that's working for you and then adjusting your goals like as needed, and maybe you didn't make your goals small enough, like maybe needs to be five minutes every morning for the next 15 days. 

Right. And you can work up to the 10 minutes for 30 days. Um, so visualization is another, I talk about this all the time. Like with my, with my clients, with my athletes. The visualization and mental rehearsal of like, what, how you want to, how you want to show up, like what you, what you want your performance to look like, what you want your. Uh, day-to-day interactions to look like. 

Visualization is such a powerful tool for reinforcing your goals.  So, yeah, athletes often use it to rehearse like their ideal performances or what they want their practices to look like, because they know that that's how they're going to perform, but it's equally effective in seeing yourself overcoming obstacles. 

Right. So if you can.  Imagine like the things like the barriers that are going to get in your way. Um, that you have all these reference points of, of barriers that have come up before, right? Like, um, your boss needs you to do something or your kids jumping on you for a workout or. Like you run out of time at the end of the day. 

Cause you're, you know, you're not managing your time effectively. Like what are these. Yeah. What are these barriers that are getting in your way from you achieving your goals, right? Maybe your coaches like yelling at you and that like causes you to not have a ton of confidence. And so therefore you're, you. You kick that goal out the window or whatever it is. I want you to see the thing happening. 

See your coach yelling at you. See yourself looking discouraged, and then you can see yourself taking a deep breath. And, you know, Sloughing off whatever negative emotion that is. Right. And then focusing, re, resetting and focusing on your goal. Um, so. A simple, that's a simple exercise that you guys can do. 

Close your eyes, visualize yourself.  With your, with your goal in mind. Um, how do you feel? What steps did you take? Picture yourself facing that challenge, whatever that obstacle is and see yourself taking a breath resetting, and then refocusing coming back to. Um, whatever that goal is. Right. So if you're trying to meditate, I want you to see yourself.  Close your eyes. 

Visualize yourself meditating. Okay. It feels super peaceful, really relaxed, really connected. Now someone's knocking on the door. My phone's ringing. Oh, that's super frustrating. Like, why won't people leave me alone? Like this is, you know, I'm never going to be able to meditate. There's it's just not in the cards for me. So all those, like the thought spiral coming in. 

Okay. Now see yourself. Taking a deep breath resetting, you know, turning off your phone or turning it down.  And you're just resetting and you just keep coming back. You keep coming back. Right. So this mental rehearsal can help you feel like the change is more real and attainable and make you feel like you've been there before. Um, and it also really normalizes that it's not a perfect process. 

Like these challenges are gonna come up and it's like, okay, these disruptions are here. I've rehearsed that they're going to be here. I've prepared for that. And it's a part of it. It's all a part of it. Right. Um, so. Yeah. These ideas of turning intentions into reality. Um, through specific goals, consistent effort, and really through that growth mindset, super important. So to make lasting change, you really need to move from the vagueness of setting an intention to setting a specific, actionable goal. 

So stay consistent. Track your progress. Don't be afraid of setbacks. They're all, it's a whole, a part of it, right? You're exactly where you're supposed to be. If things are popping up, disrupting, getting in your way. Like that's that's life. Like that's a part of it. How do you handle it? When those disruptions come in? Are you going to crumble and fade and cry and curl up into a ball? 

Or are you going to like reconnect with your goal and know that being mentally more tough is going to help you? Right. It's going to help you. And every aspect of your life. And when we keep promises to ourselves and we're disciplined in our day-to-day action. Like man, we show up as like, you know, such cool, amazing people. Right. 

But when we break promises to ourselves and we.  Tell ourselves that we're going to do something and we never do. We don't have that follow through it, really chips away at our ability to trust ourselves. Right. So I want to challenge you to implement one new action step from this episode. So think of one area in your, in your training or your life where you want to.  Create a sustainable change and break that intention down into a smart goal and commit to it this week. 

Remember like the small micro steps leads to the actual, you know, the big, big results in your big goal, but we have to have those small micro steps to connect us. Right. So, thank you so much for tuning in to this episode. Let me know in the comments, what you guys thought of this episode, and I will see you on the next one.

Thanks so much for joining us on this episode of the ReadySet Mindful Podcast. With me, Kari Bge, if you like what you hear, make sure to like, comment and subscribe to the podcast. You can also follow us on Facebook and Instagram or visit ReadySet mindful.com for free resources,  and other ways to work with me.