The basis of the self-control and discipline skill set is developing the ability to continually pursue their goals — even when it’s hard — and consistently DO the things they need to do, whether they feel like it or not.
That’s a tall order. And as you know, most people struggle with this on some level.
One of the biggest saboteurs of self-control and discipline is negativity in a person’s emotions/thoughts/feelings.
To help overcome the hardships you will face on the path to success, we must arm ourselves with a battle plan for responding to the mental and emotional challenges that will undoubtedly be part of the journey.
As touched on earlier with the release routine and signal lights, negative thoughts and emotions related to decisions or performance can be a limiting factor in your development and results.
It’s something we’ve all witnessed.
An athlete is making progress, doing great overall, and then allows one problem area or bad decision to derail their progress to the point where they takes ten steps back or give up altogether.
An athlete allows one bad play to turn into a bad game.
When we work with an athlete who struggles with negative thoughts and emotions, who often lets one bad play or decision cascade into many more, the Flush It and Make the Next Best Decision drill is key.
Here’s how to utilize this strategy.
Know that your actions and decisions are like bricks.
Think of mistakes, bad plays, and any other decisions that aren’t in line with your goals as bricks.
If every time you made a mistake you were to grab a physical brick and carry that brick with you, it would weigh you down both physically and mentally. This would invariably inhibit performance to the best of your ability.
Imagine a mistake from your past that you are still bitter about as a mental brick. When you carry this mistake with you, this mental brick, it takes the same toll as carrying a physical brick. The difference is, of course, you cannot see it because it is a weight within your mind.
In your quest for elite performance, you must train yourself to release the mental bricks that weigh you down.
Athletes should routinely thoughtfully reflect on their performance following each practice and game to consider how they can improve.
They should also spend a few moments reflecting on their performance at the end of each day. Did they make decisions that reflect their goals? Did they bring energy and focus to their workouts?
Remember: No pride. No ego. Just learning and getting better.
Once you realize what improvements can be made in your performance, you can release that performance/mistake/decision and move forward.
“Flush it.”
A fun way to think about releasing mental bricks is by conjuring the image of a toilet.
After you’ve created awareness around the concept of bad decisions/mistakes being like bricks, use the metaphorical concept of “flush it” as a verbal cue for how to respond.
Once athletes have made it a practice to reflect on a bad decision, mistake, etc., and learn what they can from it, they need to take each mental brick and “flush it.” Learn what you can from it and let it go!
University of Vermont Men’s Ice Hockey head coach Kevin Sneddon took this concept and integrated it into part of his team’s post-performance routine.
He keeps a miniature foam toilet in the team dressing room, and after a frustrating period or a hard-fought game in which the Catamounts don’t get the result they are looking for, he and his players flush the mental bricks from their performance. “I ask each of my players to flush the game down the toilet and move on,” says Coach Sneddon.
Anytime you make a bad decision or mistake, ask yourself what you can learn from it and use the verbal cue “flush it!” to encourage yourself to let go of it and move on.
Make the next best decision
The final step of this strategy is to embrace the fact that, no matter what has happened, you have the ability to control what they do next.
Even if you just made a really big mistake — picked up fast food for lunch instead of eating the salad they packed, made a goal for the wrong team, whatever happened — they can learn from it, flush it, and make the next best decision to get back to elite performance or on the path to their goals.
It is inevitable that you will face forms of adversity that you hold on to and that weigh on your mind. Mental performance can help.
Remember: Reflect and learn, flush it, make the next best decision.
Remeber: E+R=O – Event + Response = Outcome
