Tension refers to being "stretched tight". Obviously, when things are overly stretched, they may break and that could be bad. However, some things in our lives need to be stretched in order to allow room for growth or to grow themselves. Tension in life is not only inevitable in certain areas, but it is necessary for growth to occur in other areas. We should not avoid tension in every aspect in life, but instead, we must recognize when tension is beneficial to us and then embrace that tension. Often times, such as today, life puts us in a situation where we are stretched and forced to respond to that tension and that response to the tension is how we reach our full potential.
0 Comments
As a coach, one of the most frustrating occurrences to witness among athletes is an athlete who works extremely hard all week and then allows something to get into the way of executing in competition. I can't imagine that anyone would go to work for an entire week and put in a solid eight hours a day and then when pay day rolls around at the end of the week, they refuse to pick up their paycheck. What a waste. That is what it feels like when watching an athlete work hard and do the right things on Monday through Friday and then they allow the opportunity to compete pass them by on Saturday. We must first EARN the paycheck during the week (this is essential) and then PICK UP THE PAYCHECK on competition day. This is true in life. We work hard to learn and grow, most of the time through failure and trials. Then there are times to implement what we have learned, especially resilience. Now is a time to not only continue to learn but to implement what we have been learning for many years prior to this challenging time.
Be Intentional. Don’t wait for good things to happen tomorrow. Make good things happen TODAY.
"Contentment" and "Satisfaction" are often used interchangeably, but they are not the same thing. Satisfied refers to being "pleased or full". When we are satisfied, we no longer want or feel the need for more. As an athlete (and as a human who desires to reach their full potential), satisfaction prevents us from pushing forward when pushing forward is what we should be doing. When we determine something as full, there is no need to do more. More causes overflow which becomes a waste. If we are satisfied, we lack motivation to get better. On the other hand, contentment refers to peace in our current situation. Peace allows us to see the good in what we have accomplished but doesn't limit our desire to achieve more. We should be content (have peace) but we should never be satisfied unless we are finished with the process of getting better. Whether we win or lose, post a personal best or perform poorly, we must praise God for where we are and what we have been able to accomplish (contentment) but also allow the win or loss, success or failure to fuel us to become even better and to not settle (satisfied) for where we are.
The "Flight or Fight" response is a physiological reaction to a perceived harmful event. In other words, our BODY gets full of adrenaline so it can either run away from the charging saber-tooth tiger or stand and fight the big kitty. Our body has been conditioned to react to fear. Fear, however, is an emotional response to a perceived danger or harm. That emotional response exists because of the lack of trust. When we trust ourselves or others, we don't perceive events as being harmful to us. Few people have fear about sitting in a chair as they trust the chair will hold them. Many people fear public speaking because they don't trust how the audience will respond to what they say and/or they don't trust their own ability to deliver a coherent message. We need to identify our fear and learn to control them by understanding what it is that we don't trust in the situation. When we can understand the psychological response to fear and control it, we can then allow the physiological response to help us to FIGHT and not FLIGHT. Allow fears to be a fire that fuels you and propels you forward and upward, but don't allow fear to be a fuel that burns you up.
There is a solution to every problem - The biggest problem is that we may not like the solution.
In March of 2018, everyone's bracket was busted on the first day. How does a #16 seed beat a #1 overall seed? Sports Happens. How do 15 lower ranked teams beat higher ranked teams out of 48 total games (nearly 1/3)? Sports Happens. How does a US curling team or a US Hockey team win the Gold medal when it was said it would be a "Miracle"? How does a team down 25 points come back in the second half to win a Super Bowl? How does someone drain a putt from 100 feet and in the next hole miss a 4 foot gimme? Sports Happen. Sports are a part of life and in life, nothing is guaranteed. How does a virus shut down the world? Stuff Happens. Life is full of countless variables and many of them we are not in the position to control. However, we do have control of our attitude. We have the choice to control our attitude DURING a situation and we have the ability to respond with the proper attitude AFTER the situation. When we enter into any situation, we need to control those things that we can control and then pray about the rest.
Success! Victory! Achievement! Winning! Peak Performance! Reaching your Full Potential! All of these goals are worth pursuing. Four words that are often cited as being essential to the accomplishment of these goals: Composure. Concentration. Confidence. Commitment. On a scale of 1 to 10, how would you rate yourself on these four important skills? Composure: How much self control do you have during practice and competition? Concentration: How well are you able to focus on the task at hand during practice and competition? Confidence: How much do you trust/believe in your ability to perform a given task in practice or competition? Commitment: How willing and able are you to press through adversity and "stick with it" during a practice and competition? All four of these skills will help us to be Competitive. Competitive people enter competition with the attitude to win. Competitive people do not enter into a competition with the attitude that they hope that they don't lose. There is a huge difference between "playing to win" compared to "playing not to lose". How can you improve on each of these four skills (composure, concentration, confidence, commitment) today so you can be more competitive tomorrow?
|
AuthorCOACH. FATHER. HUSBAND. SON OF THE KING. WHITWORTH UNIVERSITY. Archives
November 2023
Categories |