The elite athletes I work with are consistent, accurate self-evaluators and they use a simple evaluation process that we call “R&R” or Reflect and Refocus, as a part of their personal growth and mental performance training plan.
On a consistent basis, to be determined by your MPMC or MPMTC, you will press pause, stop, take a step back and get a quick “checkup from the neck up” doing a reflection. Think about this self-evaluation process like a billiards player competes at the table.
Have you ever seen billiards players come up to the table, chalk their stick, take a look at the table, and identify their next shot.
They come to the table with a presence and a laser-like focus as they execute that shot.
After that shot they step back from the table and repeat the process before making their next attack.
They don’t mindlessly stay at the table and just hit aerobic pool shots, no, that would be stupid, but that’s also how a lot of us train, mindlessly.
The reflection process we use is similar to that of the pool players we coach. They step back from the table and reflect on their performance, intentionally setting a plan to make the next shot/day/play/week better than the last.
At the end of the week, they do some accurate self-evaluation and reflection where they ask themselves some simple questions.
They reflect on:
How did I perform?
How did I do in sticking to my plan?
How did I do in living in alignment with my core principles?
How did I do this week at being a great teammate?
How did I do at taking steps towards being the best version of me?
Remember that your career is made up of a year, which is made up of 12 months, which are made up of a number of weeks, which are made up of days, which are made up of hours, which are made up of MOMENTS.
That moment is the shot on the table for the billiards player; that shot for you right now is this moment, RIGHT NOW.
Reflection is an art… unfortunately it’s quickly becoming a lost art.
THE SUCCESS CYCLE
I like to draw it up visually as The Success Cycle.
(#1) Prepare -> (#2) Perform -> (#3) Reflect
Which of these three stages gets skipped the most?
Most of my clients would say it is #3 Reflect.
As athletes are know the value of preparation for performance but often miss the reflection that’s needed to learn from that performance.
Here’s one of the simplest ways you can accurately self-evaluate and reflect on your performances on a routine basis, so you can increase your learning curve and create a growth plan to become more.
At a pace you determine with your MPMC or MPMTC — most prefer once a week or once a day depending on the athlete — simply ask yourself, “On a scale of 1-10, how did I perform this week?” (No 7’s, otherwise all you ever get are 7’s.)
“Performing” here relates to on the field or in conditioning or whatever your focus was for this week.
As you reflect on your week and evaluate yourself on a scale of 1-10 (1 indicates I was terrible, 10 means I was tremendous), then ask yourself three simple questions.
THE START, STOP, CONTINUE (SSC) PROCESS
- What must I START doing to get closer towards a 10?
- What must I STOP doing to get closer towards a 10?
- What did I do well this week that I want to CONTINUE doing to get closer towards a 10?
You can also replace START, STOP, CONTINUE with WELL, BETTER, HOW (WBH). It’s not as important which system you use for self-reflection as it is that you simply have one.
IDEALLY to get stated you would do SSC on a daily basis and WBH on a weekly basis.
THE WELL, BETTER, HOW (WBH) PROCESS
- What did I do WELL this week?
- What must I do BETTER next week?
- HOW am I going to assure and give myself the best chance for success next week?
Let me share an example for you using the Start, Stop, Continue process.
This athlete gave himself a 5 on a scale of 1-10 for overall performance.
He said, “I have to start being on time for every workout.” That week he showed up late twice to a workout because he got stuck in traffic. “I have to stop hitting the snooze bar on my alarm in the morning and I’ve got to continue finishing every rep and every set in the weight room once I finally get there.”
He came up with a simple game plan to help him be more intentional and perform at a higher level the next week. His plan at the end of the following week was to reflect back and ask himself, “Did I get up on time and was I at the weight room on time? Did I not hit the snooze bar, and did I continue finishing every rep and every set?”
Let’s talk about that snooze bar for a second. Many athletes use their cell phone as an alarm. If you do this, do not put your phone within arm’s reach of your bed, because if you do, you’re going to be on it when you should be sleeping and recovering. You will be too tempted to hit the snooze bar in the morning.
If you don’t want to hit the snooze bar, make sure to place your phone far enough away from your bed that you physically have to pull yourself out of the sheets to go turn off the alarm.
I personally plug mine in as far from my bed in the bedroom or hotel room as possible to make myself get out of bed in the morning and so I am not on it all night. Cell phones are legit when used right, but it’s also super easy to let take them over your life. If you have not yet seen The Social Dileman on Netflix, I highly recommend it.
The goal here is that you become an accurate self-evaluator with the 1-10 SSC or WBH process.
Make it one of your goals to become an accurate self-evaluator and invest time in the reflection process so you can improve your preparation, then watch how your performance takes a jump to the next level.
Here is a Mental Performance Daily Podcast where I discuss The 3 Step Success Cycle.
