Becoming a better athlete, building a better physique, or becoming a better person starts with having the right mindset. The first thing I talk to any athlete I work with is mindset. I mention certain principles I want to instill in them numerous times over the course of a week in hoping that they stick. Here are the things I talk with them about.
The Drive Pyramid
I stole this from Tim Mcgraws book “Grit and Grace” and I’m sure he stole it from someone as well. This pyramid gets down into the Why you are doing something, how you are going to get there, and then deeply diving into it.
The base of the pyramid is Drive and this is your “why”. I usually try and get to “why you are here” (at the gym). I usually get the answer “to get better, or to lose weight”, but what I am really looking to find is the deeper internal motivation. Why does a dad of 2 want to work out and eat right? Externally due to the fact that he wants to look good and be healthy. Internally he wants to be there for his kids and set a good example for them, 2 different Whys. Try and find your external and internal drive.
The disciple becomes what you do to get there. If your drive is to be the starting 3rd basemen for your high school team, the discipline is what steps are you taking to get there. The drive forms the base of the pyramid, and the discipline is the next rung up. The top of the pyramid is “deep focus”, this is when you really put all of your resources into your why. Someone who may want to lose wight to be healthy but does it half heartedly may all of the sudden go strict and put all of their energy into it. Generally this drives them to their goal further. Think about this with your goals.
Humble and Hungry
Humility is having a growth mindset and knowing you can learn anything from any situation. People who are not humble think they are the best and have it all figured out. “Once you’re done learning, you’re done.” Staying hungry is having the mindset that there is always work to be done. Knowing that no matter how good you have become at something, there is always someone out there better than you. People tend to like you more when you have these two characteristics.
GRIT
There are a ton of definitions of this out there. To me Grit means embracing the difficult path no matter how impossible it may seem. Determination and perseverance are two things that come to mind with this. These types of people never feel sorry for themselves or their situation. They know they are in full control of their situation. This means when you are down 3-1 in the finals to a great team, you hunker down and play your best. The 2016 cavs teams had true grit.
“When the going gets tough the tough gets going”
-Some gritty person
Controlling Controllables
This is one of my favorites, because its very easy to control (pun intended). Umpire or referee makes a bad call and you yell and scream at them and it effects your play. This is focusing on things outside of your control and its wasted energy. There are many examples of this, but once you have the mindset of not worrying about things out of your control, life becomes simpler.
Quit Complaining
This goes hand in hand with the last one. I hear people complain about the weather and their jobs very often. This behavior becomes contagious. Once you complain about one thing you tend to complain about everything. I can tell you with almost 100% certainty that most people do not want to hear your complaints. You cant do anything about the weather so no reason to complain about it.
Being able to reframe any situation is a huge asset on your side. Put this into effect this week.
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