Imagine it’s 5:00 a.m. and your cell phone alarm is ringing. You’re supposed to be at the gym in 30 minutes for your morning conditioning session.
You don't have a workout written down, an accountability or training partner to meet up with. You plan to just figure out what to do when you get there. Oh, and you’re also tired from being on your phone in bed all night mindlessly flipping through social media, checking scores etc. and you don’t feel like going to the gym.
YOU have a decision to make.
Most athletes in this situation will lose the negotiation with themselves, hit the snooze bar, and justify this behavior by thinking that they will go later in the day. They are already losing and chasing the day.
As athletes (and as humans), we often lack the ability to follow through on what we say we're going to once our initial motivation wears off. This can be due to a lack of self-discipline, a lack of self-control or failure to have developed a process, self-discipline and self-accountability to that process.
Unless you under understand and use the four-step goal formula that will help you accomplish anything and everything you want, and apply this to all aspects of your life, you will fall short of your goals. Apply the four-step goal formula and become a goal getting machine who follows through on what you said you were going to do.
THE FOUR-STEP GOAL FORMULA
The four steps are this simple:
- Set an intention (What are you going to do, what's your goal or your intention?)
- Schedule it (When are you going to do it, what's your tigger to get started or what time will you get started?)
- Measure it (How often did you follow through on what you were going to do?)
- R&R: Reflect and Refocus with accountability partner(s) (Talk about your progress and adjust as necessary)
When you (#1) set an intention, you are determining what you are going to do, how you are going to do it and how often. For example, you may set the intention to workout in the morning, what I call "sweat before screens" 4+ days a week or to call Success Hotline (973-743-4690) 5+ days a week as part of your am routine and listen to my friend and mentor Dr. Rob Gilbert talk about success for three minutes a day.
Once you determine your intentions, whatever they are, you must then (#2) schedule when you will execute on those intentions. If you wait till you “feel like it” to execute on them, the feeling may never come.
It’s the start that stops most athletes. When you schedule tomorrow tonight and map out your days in advance, you play offense in life and live with a focus and frequency that will yield results. When you behave like the person mentioned above you are chasing the day, playing defense and letting yourself down.
You may schedule when you will execute on your intentions at a specific time of day like you would any important meeting or you can bake this behavior into an already existing daily routine such as your AM or PM routine.
Once you have (#1) set your intention(s) and (#2) predetermined and scheduled when you will execute on those intentions, it is critical that you (#3) measure how often you actually followed through and acted on your intentions.
This leads me to the app I share with you in today's video: The ONLY tool you need create the process, routines and habits you want and to destroy the ones you don't
INTRODUCING THE WAY OF LIFE APP
The Way of Life app works like a digital success checklist that you customize for yourself or your clients and this checklist becomes your personal success process and gives you the measurement you need to evaluate if you are following through on your intentions. Follow through on your intentions and you win. Fail to follow through and you then can evaluate why and how you can change your behavior. This app keeps you from just existing and going through the motions, it allows you track your behaviors and course correct like a GPS till you get to your destination or in this case, achieve your intentions.
The app gives you three custom journals/intentions for free and I suggest that if you see results on your increased execution of your first three intentions, that you make the $7 lifetime investment—similar to an IN-and-OUT burger, except you get to enjoy it for life instead of a minute or two and really go to work on tracking your behaviors.
Look, the best investment you can make is into yourself. I don’t get anything for promoting this product. I use it myself and with all of my 1-on-1 coaching clients, so that’s why I'm suggesting it here. I can't and won't suggest a product that I don't use myself or with my clients and if it's good enough to share with my clients, I will be using it myself. I walk the walk.
You could also simply make a checklist on paper if you want, but I've found that having it on your phone is ideal for simplicity and convenience.
Way of Life allows you to set up “Journals,” which are your intentions that you want to track. For example, a Major League Baseball pitcher I recently worked with is tracking:
Make Bed (x7)
A.M. Routine (x7)
Call Success Hotline (x7)
Read The Daily Dominator (x7)
Read The Daily Stoic (x7)
Take a.m. Vitamins/Supplements (x7)
Walk Dogs (x3+)
Watch Brian Cain’s 30-Day Athletes Program Video (x5)
Cold Tank (x2)
Foam Roll (x3)
Long Toss (x4)
P.M. Supplements (x7)
FaceTime with Wife (x4+)
P.M. Routine (x7)
You can see that he is tracking some of his intentions seven days a week, some two-four days a week, and others he is tracking as he is available to do (like walking his dog or FaceTiming his wife)—depending on whether he's on the road or at home. You can read more about this player's success using the success checklist drill/strategy and refined process here.
In the Way of Life app, you can also set your week to start on a specific day (I suggest Monday)—and you can set reminders for yourself (I suggest one hour before bed and one hour after you wake up) to track how well you executed your intentions each day.
The next step is to do a weekly (#4) Reflection and Refocus, or what I call “R&R2”. I do this by sending a screenshot text message of my Way of Life journals to my accountability partner along with what I call a start, stop, continue reflection.
Based on what I observe in my behavior from measuring with way of life, I write up a short reflection on what I need to start doing, stop doing and continue doing with my behavior to get be closer to behaving in a way I need to so I can accomplish my intentions. This R&R process will help you refocus to getting back to work on executing your intentions the next week.
You can also adapt and adjust your intentions as you see fit based on your reflection and change them as necessary. I suggest revisiting them at least every 90 days, but more frequently when you just start out and haven't yet developed your personal success process.
Stay emotionally neutral in your evaluation of yourself, especially early on in the process
Don’t get too high celebrating a great week or too low beating yourself up over a bad week.
Look at it like a scientist in a white lab coat: consider the data as it is and adjust on what you see.
Measurement is motivation. If you measure your progress on your intentions, every time you check the box for “YES, I followed through and did that,” you build confidence. When you can’t get yourself to do what you set out to do, that’s a signal that you're falling behind, won’t be able to keep up with those who can and are not making the progress you want towards becoming the best version of yourself
If you think it’s hard to set intentions/goals, to schedule and measure them, and to reflect and refocus for the next week, think how hard it will be to compete with those who do if you don't? You won’t have a chance in the long run and you won’t reach your true potential, which is what I want to help you to do.
My life and career as a mental performance coach are all about working with you to maximize your potential and become the best version of yourself. If you are looking to maximize your potential and become the best version of yourself, then I encourage you to check out my Mental Performance Mastery (MPM) Coaches Certification Course if you are a coach or in a position of leadership and my 30 Days to Mental Performance Mastery for Athletes Program if you are a competitor, entrepreneur, athlete or simply looking for the same mental performance strategies I use with my top performing clients so that you can apply these in your life. These two programs are my way of teaching the lessons I've used to transform the performance of thousands of elite teams and athletes across the world, and I'd love to share them with you, too.
Now imagine this...
It’s 5:00 a.m. and your cell phone alarm is ringing. You’re supposed to be at the gym in 30 minutes for your Monday morning conditioning session. You’re tired, don’t feel like going, and have a decision to make. Except this time, you're meeting up with one of your teammates, a coach, a friend AKA an accountability partner..
You’ve gone to the gym for four days straight and you don’t want to break your streak and have to check the box red that you didn't sweat before screens and didn't follow through on your pre-determined intentions.
You win the negotiation with self, act differently than how you feel, pull yourself out of bed, and make your way to the gym. You get your workout in and on the ride home, smile and laugh at how much better you feel and how much better your energy levels are than they would be had you stayed in bed longer.
That’s the power of measuring your process, tracking your behaviors, having accountability partners and the subsequent follow-through you get from using the Way of Life app.
It’s much easier to quit on yourself than it is to quit on someone who is counting on you to show up. When you share your goals with others and commit to them, you don’t want to let them down. Making this commitment will increase your chances of getting to the gym in the morning.
One of the greatest skills you can learn as an athlete (or teach your athletes as a coach) is to (#1) Set your intentions and work hard at creating a plan for success. (#2) Schedule and plan when you will execute on that intention. (#3) Measure your execution on that plan and share that plan with an accountability partner who will go through this program with you, and (#4) reflect and refocus on your self-discipline and self-accountability to follow through on your intentions and then adjust as necessary to keep making progress towards the best version of you.
If you can do ONE thing… make it your ability to execute and follow through on the four step goal formula.
ATHLETES: What YOU should do now...
Want to learn how to be the most mentally tough athlete you know? Join my ATHLETES INSIDERS LIST and I'll send you the details on how to get into the 30 Days to Mental Performance Mastery for Athletes Course…
If you found today’s video helpful and you’re interested in more cutting-edge mental performance strategies as an athlete, my 30 Days to Mental Performance Mastery Program is for you.
In this course, I'll show you how to:
- Compete with unshakable confidence each and every time you step into the arena
- Perform at your best when it means the most—on a consistent basis
- Create the elite mindset, routines, and habits of excellence you need to reach your potential and get the most our of your ability
Drop your info below to learn the systems and secrets I use to help the top athletes in the world, from UFC Champions to Heisman Trophy and Cy Young Award Winners, and over 950 pro sport draft selections and Olympic Medalists.
COACHES: What you should do now...
Want to learn more coaching strategies to master the mental side of performance? Join my COACHES INSIDERS LIST and I'll keep you updated on my next Mental Performance Mastery Certification
If you found today’s video helpful, and you’re interested in more cutting-edge mental performance coaching strategies, the MPM Certification is for you.
Inside the course, I'll show you how to:
- Get your athletes to perform their best when it means the most by using a SYSTEM to create an elite mindset.
- Compete at a higher level, more consistently—while managing distractions and adversity—by establishing the right routines.
- Create the championship culture you need to develop elite athletic leaders and cultivate a clear vision that keeps everyone motivated and juiced up.
Drop your info below to learn the systems and secrets I use to help the top coaches in the world compete at an elite level—year after year.
