If you’re following my blog then you probably have bought in on positive coaching. You get it, you practice it, believe in it, and pray that your own kids’ coaches model it too! But what if we’re missing one more piece? What if through all this belief in developing and encouraging our athletes we’re still missing a huge mark that’s holding us back from being better coaches? What if we still face occasional blocks, burnout, frustration and are not sure why? We think we’re positive, but are we practicing it as much as we think we are?
Assuming that you are already practicing positive talk to your athletes every day, consider this: How do you coach yourself? What are the words you use on a minute by minute basis throughout the day when you reach for your own goals? What kind of self-talk is going on? How do you talk about yourself out-loud to other people? How would you describe yourself? What do you feed your mind?
Think about the amount of time you spend daily with self-talk. That’s a lot of practice that could be either feeding your ability to be negative or positive minded. If you’re talking negatively to yourself, doubting yourself, holding yourself back every single day and then trying to do the opposite with your athletes, then you’re going to struggle to make the transition fully.
Talk to yourself the way you would coach. Talk about yourself the way you would talk about an athlete on your cherished team. Work on your own growth mindset and believe in your ability in all areas of your life. Then carry that core belief out to your athletes and see how much more real it feels on all levels. Don’t just transform part way. Go all in and fully embrace a lifestyle that believes everyone has incredible value and purpose, that we are not the sum of our mistakes, that anything can be overcome with perspective and that means YOU too. The more you practice positivity, the more you can give and receive from this incredible honor and responsibility called coaching.
I have seen what coaches like you have done for our youth, you are changing the world.
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