A Better Way!
I recently posted a poll on Twitter and asked the question "which mentality will lead to more success:"
I love what I'm doing.
I'm going to just grind this out.
I wasn't surprised to see that 50% of the people thought "grinding it out" would lead to more success. People actually think that the "grinding it out" mentality is leading to their success. In fact the opposite is true. This mentality is hindering performance, limiting success, and ultimately leading people down an unhappy path.
Want proof? Have you ever heard a coach say "we had to grind out that win?" Do you know what that actually means? It means "we played terrible and still won." It doesn't mean we had a great performance.
Do you practice your best when you are "grinding" you way through practice? Of course not! I once saw one of my players taking free kicks after practice. 10 minutes went by. 20 minutes went by. 30 minutes went by. She didn't make one free kick. The frustration grew. But she was determined to "grind it out." What scenario was more likely: (1) she hits a free kick after 40 minutes, or (2) pulls a quad.
See how this mentality is literally hurting us?
The good news is I believe there is a better way!
To quote Garret Kramer from his books Stillpower and The Path of No Resistance it is the "stay in the game" mentality. By the way notice the titles of the books. Not willpower but stillpower. And The Path of No Resistance not least resistance.
According to Kramer the "grind" feeling comes from a cluttered brain. Those cluttered thoughts lead to "feelings" like not wanting to workout. Or frustration from not being able to hit a free kick.
So what are we supposed to do? Well the world around us tells us through motivational posters, images and hashtags that we should "grind it out."
I don't agree. Let me suggest a different mentality. Take the player working on free kicks. What if after about 10-15 minutes she decided that's enough for today. She recognized her frustration. Understood it was natural. And simply "stayed in the game" by doing the next thing on her schedule? Perhaps going to dinner or going to class. Her mind would be cleared in about 5 minutes. Her quad would not be pulled. And she would be ready to try again tomorrow.
Another example are these blog posts. My friend Dan Tudor tells me I should post more often. I'm pretty sure he is just being kind. However, I find that I post when I feel inspired. If I had to post every single day it might start to feel like a "grind."
So what if we don't have a choice? How do we avoid the "grind it out" mentality and perform our best on game day when kickoff is at 7 pm. We can't just walk away after 10-15 minutes. Or can we?
I'll cover that next...
