When the pressure spikes, you, “don’t rise to the occasion, you fall to the level of your training. The further you bring up that level, the less you fall.”
That’s one of the many memorable wisdom nuggets I heard earlier this year in a Best Ever podcast conversation with Olympic gold medalist and four-peat NCAA championship USC women’s beach volleyball coach, Dain Blanton.
So, how do your raise the level of your training? Here are five coaching moves from Dain that apply as much to the office as they do to the volleyball court. I’m following up each of Dain’s moves with a coaching question of my own to help you assess and build your own self-discipline habits.
Front-Load the Frogs
Dain is a believer in “eating the frogs first.” In other words, get the hard or challenging things on your daily schedule accomplished and out of the way early. The self-discipline of doing that allows you to put those in the rear view mirror and gives you a sense of accomplishment that can carry you through the rest of the day.
What daily frog do you need to eat first?
Train Your Technique Until It’s Automatic
When I asked Dain which is more important to being a champion, mindset or technique, he immediately answered mindset. But he went on to tell me that technique is the foundation for mindset and you have to train it until it’s automatic. In Dain’s world, you can’t be in a position of having to think about how you serve the ball – that’s got to be automatic so the competitive mindset can rule.
What’s a core technique of your role that you need to practice until it becomes automatic?
Start with a Mindset Warm-up
Dain is all about consistency, so he starts every practice for his team at USC with five minutes of meditation to get calm and centered followed by five minutes of visualization about some aspect of what great looks like. The consistency of that mindset warm-up carries the team through high pressure moments with a clear picture of how they need to perform to win. Consistent visualization makes them feel like they’ve already been there and done that.
What difference would it make if you took five minutes each morning to visualize what winning looks like today?
Breathe & Build “Chapters” Into Your Day
Dain’s players, like most corporate executives, lead fast paced lives and are constantly shifting gears throughout the day from one activity to the next. When they show up for practice having rushed in from class, Dain asks them to slow their roll to what he calls a “stop-down,” as they move from one chapter of the day to the next. Some quiet, deep breathing usually does the trick.
What simple ritual could you come up with to help you mindfully move from one chapter of your day to the next?
Ask “What’s My Next Action?” After Setbacks
One of the biggest ways Dain has raised the level of training for his team is to teach them to focus on what’s next. Over the course of any match or any day, you’re going to mess up. Do you dwell on the mistake, or do you get yourself centered for the next play? As Dain asks, “Are you going to panic? Are you going to give away another four points? Or are you going to put that play in the past and say, ‘Hey, what’s my next action?’”
What kind of reminder do you need to ask yourself, “What’s my next action?’ when you face a setback?
To reach a higher level of performance, you need to raise the level of your training. Which of these five self-discipline habits from gold medalist and four-peat championship coach, Dain Blanton do you need to master first? I’d love for you to leave a comment on LinkedIn about where you plan to start or what you’re already doing that’s making a difference.
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