November 26, 2024 • 22 mins
Coach Miracle asked if I could do a video for the players this week so that they could come back to it through out the week if needed as Westfield prepares to play in the 6A State Championship on Friday. We go through a quick review of the Focus Cycle, weekly planner, and two tools that Russell Wilson used while preparing to win a Super Bowl from the book It Takes What It Takes: https://amzn.to/3OsDRt2
Good luck to the Shamrocks this week!
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hey, welcome to the Coaching Minds podcast, the
official podcast of MentalTraining Plan.
Today I had a special request.
Coach Miracle asked if we wouldrecord something for the team,
just some reminders headed intostate championship week.
So a little bit something, alittle bit different, but
(00:21):
certainly excited to be able tohelp them out.
So, players, if you'relistening to this, there should
be a video available on Huddle,or you can certainly listen to
this.
And for everyone else, I dothink there's value in
potentially hearing hey, here'ssome of the reminders that would
give you heading into some big,meaningful competition.
(00:45):
So, without further ado, let'sjust hop right in.
First off, congratulations onmaking it to the state
championship, but also theunderstanding that the goal
wasn't to just make it.
I think we would all agree ifevery single person on your team
who stepped on that field wasable to control their mind and
(01:05):
body, was able to perform attheir absolute best.
You're going to put yourselvesin a great position to be
successful, and so what I wantto do is just take you through
some reminders of hey, here'ssome tools that we've talked
about, plus maybe a couple otherthings that might be helpful.
I know Coach Miracle gave youguys the worksheet.
If you need another copy ofthat, don't hesitate to reach
(01:29):
out to me, and if there are anylisteners that are wanting to
use this on your own, pleasedon't hesitate to reach out to
me.
Happy to get you guys a copy ofthat.
I think it's worth pointing outthe entire purpose of the focus
cycle was to overcome ourfailure in 2013 to be able to
control our mind and body to beable to perform at our best.
(01:52):
We had guys losing controlemotionally, guys losing control
physically.
There's a lot more stress,pressure.
Noise, you know whatever.
The lights are a littlebrighter, the stage is a little
bigger.
Noise, you know whatever.
The lights are a littlebrighter, the stage is a little
bigger.
And so how do we give everysingle person what they need to
control what's going on insideof their mind and body?
(02:13):
So the first thing I wouldencourage you to do is maybe
write down in the in the boxwhere it says big moment.
What is that big moment thatyou think is potentially going
to get you off track?
Maybe that's leading up to thegame.
You're going to have a littlebit more time at home.
You've only got two days ofschool this week.
(02:35):
Maybe you've got family membersthat are saying really positive
things or potentially negativethings, or friends that have an
opinion about the game.
There's more noise, it's a bigstage, there's only two teams
left in 6A football, so what arethe things that might get you
off track before or during thegame?
(02:58):
Go ahead and write that down.
Maybe it's you make a mistake,maybe it's the other team goes
up a score, maybe it's you turnover the ball, you give up a
touchdown, you miss a block,whatever that looks like.
I want to just think through howare we going to use this tool
that hopefully, by this point,you're familiar with and you've
gone through and you've utilizedthis, so we know that lower
(03:21):
part of the brain is going tohave some automatic reactions.
What are the things that you'regoing to focus on when that big
moment occurs?
Is it some of the outside noise?
Is it some of the extradistraction?
Is it some of the extra fanfare, the atmosphere, the media, fan
expectations, your ownexpectations and then the
self-talk.
(03:41):
Whether that comes from alittle voice in the back of your
mind, whether that comes fromfamily members that are in town
for Thanksgiving this week,whether that's doubts, I don't
know if I'm good enough to fillin the blank in that box where
it says automatic and thenself-talk, go ahead and fill
that out.
Maybe things like what if I messup?
(04:03):
Or what if I'm not ready forthis moment, and then think
about what physical reactionsmight be there.
You know, maybe it's you'vetightened up before or you've
had butterflies before and sounderstanding that on a big
stage like this, your body'sgoing to have some sort of
reaction, you're a little bitmore excited, anxious, nervous,
whatever than normal.
Bit more excited, anxious,nervous, whatever than normal.
(04:26):
Let's go ahead and write thosedown in that box.
And then all of this leads tosome sort of emotions in the
amygdala right.
So maybe this leads to feelingunconfident or anxious or
nervous, and I think, ratherthan being caught off guard by
this, just understanding.
This is a privilege.
Playing under some pressuremeans you get to do something
(04:46):
that most people don't get to do.
This isn't some negativenervous breakdown.
You're just excited, you'reamped up.
So how do we control that andregulate that and take advantage
of that?
You're going to play betterwith extra adrenaline.
This is a good thing, thisisn't a bad thing, but we got to
show up in control and ready tomake plays.
(05:07):
So working our way backwards onthe worksheet, let's go down to
the intentional section now.
So now we're using the top partof our brain, the front part of
our brain, and we're logicallythinking through where do I play
my best football?
Is it in control?
Is it confident?
(05:27):
Is it a controlled aggression?
Whatever those feelings arethat you would like to have,
where you play at your best, goahead and write those down in
that box underneath intentionalemotions.
And now we're going to kind ofwork our way backwards.
If you want to feel calm,confident or in control don't
(05:47):
just hope that that's somehowmagically going to happen Do the
things that it takes togenerate those feelings.
Physically.
How do you take back control ofyour body?
We've done the forced muscularrelaxation.
We've done the diaphragmaticbreathing.
You should know what yourbreathing pattern is at this
point.
Believe that that's going towork.
If you haven't done it for awhile, maybe go out and practice
(06:09):
it.
Get your heart rate elevated,calm your heart rate back down.
Practice tensing up thosemuscles while you're laying in
bed and practice loosening thosemuscles, forcing those muscles
to relax as you do yourbreathing.
And go ahead and write thosedown in that box where it says
intentional and then body.
We talked at the beginning ofthe season when you guys were
(06:29):
headed to team camp, about thetwo different ways that you
could use self-talk.
Hopefully you've used those,hopefully those have been
beneficial throughout the season.
If you're sitting therethinking I don't really feel
great about my self-talk, well,now's a great time for you to
take out your phone and shoot mea text and be like hey Ben,
this is so-and-so I need somehelp with.
(06:50):
And then let me know, just behonest, I'm happy to help you.
But remember my MRI story whereI was put into the MRI and I
don't like tight spaces to beginwith and I'm starting to freak
out a little bit, and I didn'thave some go-to statement ready
to go for an inside an MRImachine, so I started just I can
do all things through Christ,who strengthens me.
(07:11):
I can do all things Christstrengthens me.
I can do all things Christstrengthens me.
Just, over and over and over,trying not to freak out, and I
was like, oh man, this isactually working.
Because in reminding myself ofthat verse that you know has
power and importance in my life,not only was I thinking about
something that was a little bitmore positive and a promise that
(07:33):
I hold on to.
But I wasn't going through allthe worst case scenarios in my
mind.
Now, as soon as I stopped andthey moved the table a little
bit, I felt my arm brush againstthe side like all those
feelings of panic came rushingback in.
So just remember, you mighthave to say the go-to statement
a little bit more, a little bitmore and a little bit more.
(07:56):
You find yourself getting offtrack throughout the week.
Say your go-to statement.
You start telling yourself anegative story inside your mind.
Use that go-to statement or usethe statement that we talked
about to rephrase the situation.
And again, if you want somehelp, reach out to me.
The last piece I think can besuper powerful this week there's
space on the back of theworksheet where we have that
(08:18):
chart where you can fill inthings that matter right now and
things that don't matter rightnow, things that I can control
and things that I cannot control.
That can be a really powerfultool as you're going throughout
this week If you find yourselfthinking about things, being
distracted by things.
You've got more noise.
You've got more thoughts.
(08:38):
A good way to compartmentalizewhat do I need to be focusing on
is by getting the thoughts thatare just swirling around inside
of your head onto this paper,where they're a tangible thing
that you can see and you canorganize and you can say, yes,
this belongs in this box.
(08:58):
This is something that I shouldbe focused on this week, or no,
this is over here in this box.
This isn't something that I'mgoing to focus on this week.
Let's have that laser focus onthe things that both matter
right now and the things thatyou can control.
In the middle of the page you'llnotice that there's some space
where you can kind of plan outyour week, where you can go
(09:21):
through, because you don't havea normal week of school.
You have, in fact, you have theprivilege to have a
Thanksgiving practice, one of myabsolute favorite practices
that you can ever have.
They're a special thing that alot of schools don't get to do
very often.
So go through your week andkind of fill in.
(09:42):
All right, here's this chunk oftime where I know I've got
practice.
Here's this chunk of time whereI know we're going to Aunt
Susie's house for Thanksgiving.
Here's where I know I have tobe doing thisie's house for
Thanksgiving.
Here's where I know I have tobe doing this.
We got you know the bus leavesat this time, and so where are
you going to get in maybe thenormal film time that you do?
(10:03):
How are you going to beintentional about making sure
you get enough sleep?
When are you going to put yourphone down, get off of social
media, quit worrying aboutoutside noise and dial in and
focus on this task at hand.
You've got less than a weekleft.
Don't leave things on the tableundone or unprepared, or shoot.
(10:26):
I just didn't get to it becauseyou weren't intentional on the
front end.
So this is another thing that Ithink can be super powerful
Just making sure that you have aplan, making sure that you
prepare your mind and youprepare your body.
You know the game plan.
Physically, you've taken careof your body.
(10:46):
Mentally, emotionally, you'reready to go.
You're ready to perform at yourbest.
Again, don't just hope.
Have a plan.
I'd encourage you to pause thisand go ahead and fill that out
the best you can right now.
And then the last thing.
There's always two quick storiesthat I love to talk about.
Whenever someone's headed intoa big championship event In the
(11:10):
book, it Takes what it Takes abig championship event In the
book, it takes what it takes.
Trevor Moad is Russell Wilson'smental coach or I should say
was and he's talking about thepreparation that they put in
going into the week of the SuperBowl that Russell Wilson won,
and the preparation and the timeand the work that they put in.
(11:33):
What do you focus on?
And there were, there were twothings that really stood out to
me.
The first was neutral thinking,and you know, when an event
happens, it's easy to gonegative, right.
Sometimes we would like to getto that point where we're
thinking positively, but there'ssome times where that just
(11:55):
feels fake.
Let me give you an example.
Let's say you're a quarterback,right, you throw an
interception.
Or you're a defensive back, yougive up a touchdown on a deep
throw Two quick, easy examples.
I'm sure you can think of oneat your position and you throw
the interception.
Negative thinking is oh my gosh, not this again.
(12:15):
I can't believe this happened.
Now.
We're not going to win thisgame.
This is going to be all myfault.
We could have these negativethoughts, we could have these
negative reactions, right.
We don't want to go tosomething fake and forced and
false like oh yay, this is sogood, now we have an opportunity
to come from behind and battlethrough adversity like that.
(12:38):
That can feel fake, and so, inan event like a state
championship, where emotions areso heightened, how do we just
stay a little bit more calm andstay a little bit more neutral?
And this was something thatRussell and Trevor talked a lot
about.
It was like, when this happens,here's what I'm going to do,
(13:02):
here's how I am going to respond.
And he talked through you know.
Russell said if something badhappens, or, you know, an
interception occurs or we getout to a slow start, I need to
trust the process.
I need to trust my mechanics, Ineed to trust my fundamentals.
I need to lead my team and getfirst downs on this next drive.
(13:24):
I need to know the situation.
If it's at the end of the game,you know what?
And I just threw a pick six,okay, well, now we're down by
three.
So I need to get first downs, weneed to go a play at a time and
we need to get ourselves downinto field goal range so that we
can kick a field goal and tiethis game, and so that that's
(13:44):
not negative, it's not evenpositive, and so that's not
(14:09):
negative, it's not even positive, it's just sort of neutral.
Here's, you know, here's here'ssome negative thinking that
I've I've gone to in the pastand instead here's some neutral
thinking that I'm going to focuson in the future.
You know, I will say I thinkkind of that next step is even
well, how do we turn this into apositive?
At the end of the day, this isnow an opportunity to fight
(14:33):
through some adversity and showmy teammates and show myself
what I'm capable of.
And I don't think that's fakeor false or forced, but in the
moment, if you're not ready forthat or you're not there yet, I
think you can at least get tothat spot where you're neutral.
So if you want to pause thisreal quick and fill that out
down at the bottom of the page,certainly feel free.
(14:55):
Or if you want to come back tothat throughout the week, that's
certainly an option.
The last piece is what is goingto put you in position to have
success.
And for Russell Wilson, youknow they talked about how do I
prepare myself to play at mybest and give my team the best
(15:18):
chance to win this Super Bowl.
And they did.
And, granted, there are a tonof distractions in those two
weeks leading up to the SuperBowl, all eyes are on you from
all around the world.
There's more noise, there'smore thoughts, there's more
opinions, there's more media,there's more social media.
(15:38):
Anybody that's talking aboutfootball is talking about you in
those two weeks.
And so how do you stay dialedin, what do you even focus on
and how do you get yourselfready to perform at your best?
And for him, there were threethings, and these three things
weren't just hey, here's how Iwin a Super Bowl.
(16:00):
These three things were whatthey had focused on in August so
that he could be at his best,and what they focused on week
one so he could be at his best,and what they focused on through
the playoffs so he could be athis best.
There were three things.
Number one great fundamentals.
Number two great balance.
Number three be engaged.
(16:22):
And you know, maybe for youthose fit, those work.
But what I would encourage youto do is think back through this
season.
When were the games where youwere playing at your absolute
best?
What did it take in thosemoments, or maybe those weeks
(16:42):
where you had a great week ofpreparation?
You had a great game on Fridaynight.
What did that look like.
Was it some element offundamentals?
Are there certain coachingpoints that you know you really
need to dial in on throughoutthis week and then focus on
(17:02):
during the game?
Was it?
You know?
Balance, you know.
For Russell, the second one wasbalance.
He wanted to have his bodyunder control at all times not
get too high, not get too low,not get too crazy.
Stay grounded in his decisions.
Avoid unnecessary risks.
Don't try to make some hugesuperhero play.
(17:24):
Just do what needs to be done.
Execute the game plan.
And then the last one for him beengaged, being present in the
moment, being locked in in themoment, immersing himself when
it was time to be at practice,to be all in on that and to be
at practice.
And when it was time to bewatching film, be all in on that
(17:47):
preparation piece For you.
When it's time for you to go bepresent with family and enjoy
Thanksgiving, go do that, goenjoy the time with your family.
And then, when it's time tocome back and prepare, then come
back and prepare.
When it's time to rest, turnoff all that noise, get your
(18:07):
mind and your body ready to goto sleep.
Whatever it is that you're doingat that moment, maybe you need
to be fully engaged in that.
So there's some space for youto think through some things
down at the bottom.
You could talk with other guysat your position group.
You could talk with your coachpotentially.
Position group you could talkwith your coach potentially.
(18:31):
But I think that having thosethings that you're focused on
throughout the week and thenhaving those things that you're
focused on in game are thingsthat you can control.
They're things that matterright now.
They're things that areultimately going to help you
play at your best and put you inthe best chance to be
successful.
Help you play at your best andput you in the best chance to be
successful.
Best of luck to you guys.
Dream big, be great, go outthere and play with passion.
(18:55):
Enjoy the moment.
No-transcript.
No-transcript.
Hey, welcome to the Coaching Minds podcast, the
official podcast of MentalTraining Plan.
Today I had a special request.
Coach Miracle asked if we wouldrecord something for the team,
just some reminders headed intostate championship week.
So a little bit something, alittle bit different, but
(00:21):
certainly excited to be able tohelp them out.
So, players, if you'relistening to this, there should
be a video available on Huddle,or you can certainly listen to
this.
And for everyone else, I dothink there's value in
potentially hearing hey, here'ssome of the reminders that would
give you heading into some big,meaningful competition.
(00:45):
So, without further ado, let'sjust hop right in.
First off, congratulations onmaking it to the state
championship, but also theunderstanding that the goal
wasn't to just make it.
I think we would all agree ifevery single person on your team
who stepped on that field wasable to control their mind and
(01:05):
body, was able to perform attheir absolute best.
You're going to put yourselvesin a great position to be
successful, and so what I wantto do is just take you through
some reminders of hey, here'ssome tools that we've talked
about, plus maybe a couple otherthings that might be helpful.
I know Coach Miracle gave youguys the worksheet.
If you need another copy ofthat, don't hesitate to reach
(01:29):
out to me, and if there are anylisteners that are wanting to
use this on your own, pleasedon't hesitate to reach out to
me.
Happy to get you guys a copy ofthat.
I think it's worth pointing outthe entire purpose of the focus
cycle was to overcome ourfailure in 2013 to be able to
control our mind and body to beable to perform at our best.
(01:52):
We had guys losing controlemotionally, guys losing control
physically.
There's a lot more stress,pressure.
Noise, you know whatever.
The lights are a littlebrighter, the stage is a little
bigger.
Noise, you know whatever.
The lights are a littlebrighter, the stage is a little
bigger.
And so how do we give everysingle person what they need to
control what's going on insideof their mind and body?
(02:13):
So the first thing I wouldencourage you to do is maybe
write down in the in the boxwhere it says big moment.
What is that big moment thatyou think is potentially going
to get you off track?
Maybe that's leading up to thegame.
You're going to have a littlebit more time at home.
You've only got two days ofschool this week.
(02:35):
Maybe you've got family membersthat are saying really positive
things or potentially negativethings, or friends that have an
opinion about the game.
There's more noise, it's a bigstage, there's only two teams
left in 6A football, so what arethe things that might get you
off track before or during thegame?
(02:58):
Go ahead and write that down.
Maybe it's you make a mistake,maybe it's the other team goes
up a score, maybe it's you turnover the ball, you give up a
touchdown, you miss a block,whatever that looks like.
I want to just think through howare we going to use this tool
that hopefully, by this point,you're familiar with and you've
gone through and you've utilizedthis, so we know that lower
(03:21):
part of the brain is going tohave some automatic reactions.
What are the things that you'regoing to focus on when that big
moment occurs?
Is it some of the outside noise?
Is it some of the extradistraction?
Is it some of the extra fanfare, the atmosphere, the media, fan
expectations, your ownexpectations and then the
self-talk.
(03:41):
Whether that comes from alittle voice in the back of your
mind, whether that comes fromfamily members that are in town
for Thanksgiving this week,whether that's doubts, I don't
know if I'm good enough to fillin the blank in that box where
it says automatic and thenself-talk, go ahead and fill
that out.
Maybe things like what if I messup?
(04:03):
Or what if I'm not ready forthis moment, and then think
about what physical reactionsmight be there.
You know, maybe it's you'vetightened up before or you've
had butterflies before and sounderstanding that on a big
stage like this, your body'sgoing to have some sort of
reaction, you're a little bitmore excited, anxious, nervous,
whatever than normal.
Bit more excited, anxious,nervous, whatever than normal.
(04:26):
Let's go ahead and write thosedown in that box.
And then all of this leads tosome sort of emotions in the
amygdala right.
So maybe this leads to feelingunconfident or anxious or
nervous, and I think, ratherthan being caught off guard by
this, just understanding.
This is a privilege.
Playing under some pressuremeans you get to do something
(04:46):
that most people don't get to do.
This isn't some negativenervous breakdown.
You're just excited, you'reamped up.
So how do we control that andregulate that and take advantage
of that?
You're going to play betterwith extra adrenaline.
This is a good thing, thisisn't a bad thing, but we got to
show up in control and ready tomake plays.
(05:07):
So working our way backwards onthe worksheet, let's go down to
the intentional section now.
So now we're using the top partof our brain, the front part of
our brain, and we're logicallythinking through where do I play
my best football?
Is it in control?
Is it confident?
(05:27):
Is it a controlled aggression?
Whatever those feelings arethat you would like to have,
where you play at your best, goahead and write those down in
that box underneath intentionalemotions.
And now we're going to kind ofwork our way backwards.
If you want to feel calm,confident or in control don't
(05:47):
just hope that that's somehowmagically going to happen Do the
things that it takes togenerate those feelings.
Physically.
How do you take back control ofyour body?
We've done the forced muscularrelaxation.
We've done the diaphragmaticbreathing.
You should know what yourbreathing pattern is at this
point.
Believe that that's going towork.
If you haven't done it for awhile, maybe go out and practice
(06:09):
it.
Get your heart rate elevated,calm your heart rate back down.
Practice tensing up thosemuscles while you're laying in
bed and practice loosening thosemuscles, forcing those muscles
to relax as you do yourbreathing.
And go ahead and write thosedown in that box where it says
intentional and then body.
We talked at the beginning ofthe season when you guys were
(06:29):
headed to team camp, about thetwo different ways that you
could use self-talk.
Hopefully you've used those,hopefully those have been
beneficial throughout the season.
If you're sitting therethinking I don't really feel
great about my self-talk, well,now's a great time for you to
take out your phone and shoot mea text and be like hey Ben,
this is so-and-so I need somehelp with.
(06:50):
And then let me know, just behonest, I'm happy to help you.
But remember my MRI story whereI was put into the MRI and I
don't like tight spaces to beginwith and I'm starting to freak
out a little bit, and I didn'thave some go-to statement ready
to go for an inside an MRImachine, so I started just I can
do all things through Christ,who strengthens me.
(07:11):
I can do all things Christstrengthens me.
I can do all things Christstrengthens me.
Just, over and over and over,trying not to freak out, and I
was like, oh man, this isactually working.
Because in reminding myself ofthat verse that you know has
power and importance in my life,not only was I thinking about
something that was a little bitmore positive and a promise that
(07:33):
I hold on to.
But I wasn't going through allthe worst case scenarios in my
mind.
Now, as soon as I stopped andthey moved the table a little
bit, I felt my arm brush againstthe side like all those
feelings of panic came rushingback in.
So just remember, you mighthave to say the go-to statement
a little bit more, a little bitmore and a little bit more.
(07:56):
You find yourself getting offtrack throughout the week.
Say your go-to statement.
You start telling yourself anegative story inside your mind.
Use that go-to statement or usethe statement that we talked
about to rephrase the situation.
And again, if you want somehelp, reach out to me.
The last piece I think can besuper powerful this week there's
space on the back of theworksheet where we have that
(08:18):
chart where you can fill inthings that matter right now and
things that don't matter rightnow, things that I can control
and things that I cannot control.
That can be a really powerfultool as you're going throughout
this week If you find yourselfthinking about things, being
distracted by things.
You've got more noise.
You've got more thoughts.
(08:38):
A good way to compartmentalizewhat do I need to be focusing on
is by getting the thoughts thatare just swirling around inside
of your head onto this paper,where they're a tangible thing
that you can see and you canorganize and you can say, yes,
this belongs in this box.
(08:58):
This is something that I shouldbe focused on this week, or no,
this is over here in this box.
This isn't something that I'mgoing to focus on this week.
Let's have that laser focus onthe things that both matter
right now and the things thatyou can control.
In the middle of the page you'llnotice that there's some space
where you can kind of plan outyour week, where you can go
(09:21):
through, because you don't havea normal week of school.
You have, in fact, you have theprivilege to have a
Thanksgiving practice, one of myabsolute favorite practices
that you can ever have.
They're a special thing that alot of schools don't get to do
very often.
So go through your week andkind of fill in.
(09:42):
All right, here's this chunk oftime where I know I've got
practice.
Here's this chunk of time whereI know we're going to Aunt
Susie's house for Thanksgiving.
Here's where I know I have tobe doing thisie's house for
Thanksgiving.
Here's where I know I have tobe doing this.
We got you know the bus leavesat this time, and so where are
you going to get in maybe thenormal film time that you do?
(10:03):
How are you going to beintentional about making sure
you get enough sleep?
When are you going to put yourphone down, get off of social
media, quit worrying aboutoutside noise and dial in and
focus on this task at hand.
You've got less than a weekleft.
Don't leave things on the tableundone or unprepared, or shoot.
(10:26):
I just didn't get to it becauseyou weren't intentional on the
front end.
So this is another thing that Ithink can be super powerful
Just making sure that you have aplan, making sure that you
prepare your mind and youprepare your body.
You know the game plan.
Physically, you've taken careof your body.
(10:46):
Mentally, emotionally, you'reready to go.
You're ready to perform at yourbest.
Again, don't just hope.
Have a plan.
I'd encourage you to pause thisand go ahead and fill that out
the best you can right now.
And then the last thing.
There's always two quick storiesthat I love to talk about.
Whenever someone's headed intoa big championship event In the
(11:10):
book, it Takes what it Takes abig championship event In the
book, it takes what it takes.
Trevor Moad is Russell Wilson'smental coach or I should say
was and he's talking about thepreparation that they put in
going into the week of the SuperBowl that Russell Wilson won,
and the preparation and the timeand the work that they put in.
(11:33):
What do you focus on?
And there were, there were twothings that really stood out to
me.
The first was neutral thinking,and you know, when an event
happens, it's easy to gonegative, right.
Sometimes we would like to getto that point where we're
thinking positively, but there'ssome times where that just
(11:55):
feels fake.
Let me give you an example.
Let's say you're a quarterback,right, you throw an
interception.
Or you're a defensive back, yougive up a touchdown on a deep
throw Two quick, easy examples.
I'm sure you can think of oneat your position and you throw
the interception.
Negative thinking is oh my gosh, not this again.
(12:15):
I can't believe this happened.
Now.
We're not going to win thisgame.
This is going to be all myfault.
We could have these negativethoughts, we could have these
negative reactions, right.
We don't want to go tosomething fake and forced and
false like oh yay, this is sogood, now we have an opportunity
to come from behind and battlethrough adversity like that.
(12:38):
That can feel fake, and so, inan event like a state
championship, where emotions areso heightened, how do we just
stay a little bit more calm andstay a little bit more neutral?
And this was something thatRussell and Trevor talked a lot
about.
It was like, when this happens,here's what I'm going to do,
(13:02):
here's how I am going to respond.
And he talked through you know.
Russell said if something badhappens, or, you know, an
interception occurs or we getout to a slow start, I need to
trust the process.
I need to trust my mechanics, Ineed to trust my fundamentals.
I need to lead my team and getfirst downs on this next drive.
(13:24):
I need to know the situation.
If it's at the end of the game,you know what?
And I just threw a pick six,okay, well, now we're down by
three.
So I need to get first downs, weneed to go a play at a time and
we need to get ourselves downinto field goal range so that we
can kick a field goal and tiethis game, and so that that's
(13:44):
not negative, it's not evenpositive, and so that's not
(14:09):
negative, it's not even positive, it's just sort of neutral.
Here's, you know, here's here'ssome negative thinking that
I've I've gone to in the pastand instead here's some neutral
thinking that I'm going to focuson in the future.
You know, I will say I thinkkind of that next step is even
well, how do we turn this into apositive?
At the end of the day, this isnow an opportunity to fight
(14:33):
through some adversity and showmy teammates and show myself
what I'm capable of.
And I don't think that's fakeor false or forced, but in the
moment, if you're not ready forthat or you're not there yet, I
think you can at least get tothat spot where you're neutral.
So if you want to pause thisreal quick and fill that out
down at the bottom of the page,certainly feel free.
(14:55):
Or if you want to come back tothat throughout the week, that's
certainly an option.
The last piece is what is goingto put you in position to have
success.
And for Russell Wilson, youknow they talked about how do I
prepare myself to play at mybest and give my team the best
(15:18):
chance to win this Super Bowl.
And they did.
And, granted, there are a tonof distractions in those two
weeks leading up to the SuperBowl, all eyes are on you from
all around the world.
There's more noise, there'smore thoughts, there's more
opinions, there's more media,there's more social media.
(15:38):
Anybody that's talking aboutfootball is talking about you in
those two weeks.
And so how do you stay dialedin, what do you even focus on
and how do you get yourselfready to perform at your best?
And for him, there were threethings, and these three things
weren't just hey, here's how Iwin a Super Bowl.
(16:00):
These three things were whatthey had focused on in August so
that he could be at his best,and what they focused on week
one so he could be at his best,and what they focused on through
the playoffs so he could be athis best.
There were three things.
Number one great fundamentals.
Number two great balance.
Number three be engaged.
(16:22):
And you know, maybe for youthose fit, those work.
But what I would encourage youto do is think back through this
season.
When were the games where youwere playing at your absolute
best?
What did it take in thosemoments, or maybe those weeks
(16:42):
where you had a great week ofpreparation?
You had a great game on Fridaynight.
What did that look like.
Was it some element offundamentals?
Are there certain coachingpoints that you know you really
need to dial in on throughoutthis week and then focus on
(17:02):
during the game?
Was it?
You know?
Balance, you know.
For Russell, the second one wasbalance.
He wanted to have his bodyunder control at all times not
get too high, not get too low,not get too crazy.
Stay grounded in his decisions.
Avoid unnecessary risks.
Don't try to make some hugesuperhero play.
(17:24):
Just do what needs to be done.
Execute the game plan.
And then the last one for him beengaged, being present in the
moment, being locked in in themoment, immersing himself when
it was time to be at practice,to be all in on that and to be
at practice.
And when it was time to bewatching film, be all in on that
(17:47):
preparation piece For you.
When it's time for you to go bepresent with family and enjoy
Thanksgiving, go do that, goenjoy the time with your family.
And then, when it's time tocome back and prepare, then come
back and prepare.
When it's time to rest, turnoff all that noise, get your
(18:07):
mind and your body ready to goto sleep.
Whatever it is that you're doingat that moment, maybe you need
to be fully engaged in that.
So there's some space for youto think through some things
down at the bottom.
You could talk with other guysat your position group.
You could talk with your coachpotentially.
Position group you could talkwith your coach potentially.
(18:31):
But I think that having thosethings that you're focused on
throughout the week and thenhaving those things that you're
focused on in game are thingsthat you can control.
They're things that matterright now.
They're things that areultimately going to help you
play at your best and put you inthe best chance to be
successful.
Help you play at your best andput you in the best chance to be
successful.
Best of luck to you guys.
Dream big, be great, go outthere and play with passion.
(18:55):
Enjoy the moment.
No-transcript.
No-transcript.
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