Would you hire this coach?
‘You are terrible at this, why are you bothering?’
‘I guess you might have a chance in hell, if everything went your way’
‘You’re just not as good as the other player/team/opposition’
‘Why bother, you will lose anyway’
I was listening to a podcast with Bob Rotella, he is a sports psychologist. He was discussing the mental game in relation to golf but all of what he said applies elsewhere.
Pay attention to your self-chat and ask yourself ‘would I hire this coach?’. If the answer is no, why are you talking to yourself like that?
I have been using this on myself a lot. It really works. When you get negative, stop and change the framing. It doesn’t mean blind optimism, it means coaching. Don’t be afraid to pick yourself up.
If a new coach came into your team and said:
‘yeah I guess we could be ok, mediocre at best, would be pleased with a middling season’
that doesn’t get anyone excited or inspired.
Frame things the way a great coach would. Adopt a growth mindset.
‘Yeh we aren’t where we want to be yet, but we are constantly improving and doing the right things’
‘I can improve every day’
‘If we work our ass off, control what we can and try our best, we can be proud’
‘You deserve this moment, you are capable of winning’
Now, would you hire this coach…?
