What Do You Want To Think About?

What is the difference between thinking about what you do want to do and what you don't want to do?

When you think about what you don't want to do:

* You visualize yourself making a mistake
* You worry about what you can't control

* You feel nervous and anxious
* You are impatient

* Your muscles become tight

* Your breathing is shallow

* You shy away from the action

* You hold back and miss an opportunity

* You move slower

* You worry about how you look to others

* You take your head out of the game

When you think about what you do want to do:

* You visualize yourself making the play

* You feel more confident and composed
* You focus on what you do control
* You are patient with yourself

* Your muscles are more relaxed

* Your breathing is deeper

* You want to be part of the action

* You are more proactive

* You are looking for the opportunities

* You move faster

* You don't worry about how you look to others

* You keep your head in the game

So, what do you want to think about?  

Playing With Power
Empower Your Mind
 Elevate Your Game


If you want more clarity about how to play, 
and want to be clear about what you are doing, 
then you need a purpose.

If you want to feel more confident about yourself 
when you practice and play, 
then you need the right perspective.

If you want more control over yourself 
as you practice and play, 
then you need to have a presence of mind.

If you want to be more composed 
while you practice and play,
 then you need to be poised.

If you want to play with courage 
every time you step into the game, 
then you need to become passionate
about what you are doing.

If you want to strengthen your character as a player, 
then you need to practice and play with perseverance.


If you want to empower your mind and elevate your game, 
then you need to build the "six pillars of mental power" - purpose, perspective, presence, poise, passion and perseverance. 

Capture The Moment

Recently, I have been reading several articles about why our youth want to participate in sports. In everyone of them, the articles cited various polls that had been taken, and in each poll the same reason came in at number one. The main reason young people want to play and participate in any sport is to simply have fun.

That got me thinking. Not only about young athletes but any athlete. What is it about sports that draws us in? What is it about any particular sport that compels a ten year old girl on a soccer team or a thirty year old professional baseball player to want to play?

I would like to propose that any of us who sign up to play are doing it because we want to or are at least hoping to have fun. The challenge for all of us who are athletes is to make sure that whether we just signed up to learn a new sport or have been playing for fifteen years is that we are still having fun. And for the athletes who are no longer having fun, and enjoying the sports experience, maybe they need to re-evaluate or reconsider why they are still playing. 

So, what does it mean to have fun? It's about finding and embracing that moment when you are fully engaged in what is happening, are feeling a sense of enjoyment and excitement about what is happening, and believe that you have achieved or accomplished something that has personal meaning to you. Putting it all together, there is a strong inner sense of empowerment and elevation. You are on top of the world and nothing can bring you down.

Over time, I think that a lot of athletes have lost the "capacity" to have fun. It's now become about the expectations of others, worrying about being better than the next athlete, wanting to be popular, drowning in a desire to just win no matter what or afraid of stopping because you have already invested so much time, energy and money. And because they don't know how to recapture that feeling of having fun, many of them are mentally and emotionally running on empty.

My hope is that coaches, parents and athletes who serve as mentors, can help athletes learn how to have fun. And one approach to doing this is by teaching them how to "capture the moment". This moment can take place in a practice, playing in a game or even at a team meeting. 

An athlete can capture the moment when he or she takes the following steps:

 Be mentally present to the moment you are in

 Find one thing in that moment that you are grateful for

 Identify your personal strengths that you brought into the moment

  Ask yourself what you can learn by being in that moment

Congratulate yourself for playing in that moment 

  No matter what happens in the moment, say "thank you"

Discover how that moment made you a better athlete and person

By taking these steps, the moment becomes very meaningful to the athlete and thereby is transformed into an extraordinary experience that he or she will want to hold onto for a long time.  

PS. Still have a lot of other thoughts and ideas about this topic. Will continue writing about this in future posts.