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 Monday morning conditioning session.
You’re going to the gym by yourself and will figure out what to do when you get there.
You’re tired, don’t feel like going, and have a critical decision to make.
Average athletes in this situation will hit the snooze bar and be late to their workout, or they’ll simply turn off the alarm and slip back into dreamland. Elite athletes will act different than how they feel and win that moment… one of many moments they will face critical decisions during that day.
As athletes and humans, we often lack the self-discipline to make the right decisions on the small things and all big things really are, are just a bunch of small things over time.
Now, if you understand and use the four-step goal formula, you can get anything and everything you want… with enough time and the right training.
THE FOUR-STEP GOAL FORMULA
- Set you intentions (What are you going to do?)
- Schedule your time blocks (When are you going to do the work?)
- Measure and track your behaviors (How often did you follow through on what you were going to do?)
- R&R: Reflect and Refocus with your journal and accountability partner(s)
In 20+ years of mpm coaching this is hands down the number one fundamental concept that you must understand if you want to grow. THAT’S A TRUE and PROFOUND statement.
When you set an intention, you are determining what you are doing to do, how you are going to do it and how often, the sets and reps if you will
For example, let’s say you are going to listen to The Mental Performance Daily Podcast, for three minutes a day, seven days a week. You may want to go to the gym 4x a week or get extra hitting in outside of baseball practice 3x a week. (We will dive deeper into this when we get to creating your personal MVP process and telescope and microscope goals.)
Once you determine your intentions, whatever they are, you must then schedule when you will execute on those intentions.
If you wait to “you feel like it” to execute on them, the feeling may never come and you may never take action.
Look, it’s the start that stops most athletes and when you schedule tomorrow tonight and map out your days in advance, you start to play offense in life and start to train and work with a focus and tempo that will yield results. (We will dive deeper into this when we get to creating your 168, time blocking and scheduling your ideal day and week.)
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 on those intentions. This leads me to give you your first assignment in mental performance mastery coaching that we have talked about already. The success checklist, for which we use the Habit Share app..
Look, the best investment you can make is into yourself.
I don’t get anything for promoting their product; I use it myself and with my 1-on-1 coaching clients and the teams I consult with so that’s why I am suggesting it here. You can simply make a checklist on paper if you want, but having it on your phone is ideal for simplicity and convenience and it allows you to share it with your accountability partners.
For example, a Major League Baseball pitcher I was working with recently is tracking the following:
Make Bed (x7)
Listen To Mental Performance Daily Podcast (x7)
Take a.m. Vitamins/Supplements (x7)
Watch Brian Cain’s 30-Day Athletes Program Video (x5)
Cold Tank (x2)
Foam Roll (x3)
Long Toss (x4)
P.M. Supplements (x7)
You can see that he is tracking some of his intentions seven days a week, some two-four days a week.
On your phone you can also set a reminder for yourself (I suggest one hour before bed) so that you can be reminded to track how you did at executing on your intentions each day.
The next step (#4) is to do a weekly Reflection and Refocus.
We simply do this by journaling a Well Better How or Start Stop Continue for the week and then we review that with our accountabilty partner at our weekly accountability meeting.
Navy SEALs have swim buddies AKA accountability partners and they may be the most mentally tough people on the planet, so let’s play follow the leader here and take a page from their book. Remember, together we are stronger and we should be motivated a lot by not letting our teammates down.
As you reflect, adapt and adjust your intentions as you see fit, changing them as necessary.
Stay neutral with your evaluation.
Don’t get too high in celebration of a great week or too low in beating yourself up over a bad week.
Look at it like a scientist in a white lab coat, considering the data as it is, and then adjust based 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 are building confidence.
When you can’t get yourself to do what you set out to do, that’s a signal that you are falling behind and won’t be able to keep up with those who can in the long run. We must do the work.
If you think it’s hard to set intentions/goals, to schedule and measure them, then to reflect and refocus for the next week, think how hard it will be to compete with those who do if you do not?
You won’t have a chance in the long run and you won’t reach your true potential, which is what this program is all about — giving you the best chance to maximize your potential and become the optimal version of yourself as an athlete and a person.
As you work through this program, if there is a drill or a mindset that you want to add to your process and training program, put it on your success checklist and start to track it.
Right now, please put three intentions on your success checklist.
- Cain MPD Podcast (x7)
- Cain Video of The Day (x7)
- Make Bed (x7)
Now, imagine the same situation we mentioned earlier:
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 going alone to the gym and will figure out what to do when you get there.
You’re tired, don’t feel like going, and have a decision to make.
Except this time you are meeting one of your teammates, a coach, or a friend at the gym.
You’ve had a streak of four days in a row going on your success checklist and you don’t want to break it.
More than likely you are going to act differently from how you feel, pull yourself out of bed, and make your way to the gym.
That’s the power of accountability partners and of measuring your execution on your intentions.
It’s much easier to quit on ourselves 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 others, you don’t want to let them down.
When you make this commitment, you will increase your chances of success in getting to the gym that morning for training.
One of the greatest skills you can learn as you attack this program is to work hard in creating a plan for success, share that plan with an accountability partner who will go through this program with you, and then have self-discipline to work the plan that you create together.
If you can do ONE thing… make it this:
Set the proper intentions, schedule them, and DO THEM.
If you can do that, if you can follow through on your intentions, then all you need is a coach who will help you identify what intentions (we also call this your process) you need to be successful.
If you find those intentions and then can execute them, you are TRULY giving yourself the best chance for success.
Here is a Mental Performance Daily Podcast where I discuss The 4 Step Player Development Formula.
