Small Habits Lead to "BreakThrew" Moments!

Hey There Friend!

Have you noticed that the MOST powerful outcomes in life are almost always delayed?

This means that if we want to succeed, we must be PATIENT, believe in and stay invested in our process, and not give up when results aren’t immediate.

The ability to build to a routine that can be committed to CONSISTENTLY over time is what will produce the BEST outcome for us!

Time will ALWAYS magnify the margin between success and failure.

This means is that success, or the lack of it, is the product of our DAILY habits. The work we INVEST is cumulative and will be stored until after time and LOTS of correct REPS, our breakthrough moments happen!

Every day we either get better or we get worse, we NEVER stay the same!

So, how will our daily habits make us BETTER this year…?

Here’s a list of 7 things you can do to kick-start good habit building for yourself and/or your athletes today:

1. Surround yourself with people that model the habits you WANT in your life!

Who you choose to spend time with says a lot about how you see yourself and what you want in your life.

You become like the people you are with the most so it’s very important that you choose people that that reflect who you want to be and how you want to feel.

You need people that will encourage you and support your goals/dreams but that will also push you to do hard things and hold you accountable when you aren’t doing what you need to do to get where you say you want to go. 

Who do you choose to spend the most time with on a consistent basis?

Are these the right people for you?

Who are 2-3 people with habits you’d like to model and what are the habits you’d like to learn?

Challenge: Find an “Accountability Partner” that you can check in with daily. Ideally this person will be someone that already has habits that you’d like to model…teammate, opponent, friend, teacher, coach, parent. The two of you can create small daily/weekly/monthly challenges with each other that will keep you both focused on creating habits to help you work towards the goals/results you want in the future!

2. Make good habits/practice EASY to do!

Habits are created best when the changes you are trying to make fit with the daily flow of your life. The more obvious something is to us, the more we will CHOOSE it!

Do you practice in a convenient spot that you can access anytime or do you have to drive/walk out of the way to get to that location?

Is there a spot at your house that you could use to practice/create good habits? If so, where?

Challenge: Find a place in your house/garage/yard that you can use to get in reps daily (remember that you can create positive habits all by yourself in a very small space). Put a “reminder” in a spot that you see regularly. It can be something simple like a sticky note on your bathroom mirror, setting an alarm on your phone or putting your workout clothes/shoes/glove out so you will see them first thing when you get up.

Commit to going to that place to do something to work towards your goal daily for the next 7 days in a row. After a week of consistently using that spot for practice you will be on your way to making this a permanent habit that will make positive habits easy to fit into your daily routine!

3. Invest 3-5 minutes DAILY at creating 1 positive habit!

If you want to make a change in your life you MUST get in consistent repetitions! Habits are formed on the FREQUENCY they are performed, not on the time that is invested.  

What is one specific skill you want to develop?

What is one habit you’d like to change?

Challenge: Choose one skill you’d like to develop or habit you’d like to change and commit to investing 3-5 minutes daily at improving that ONE thing for the next 14 days.

For example, let’s say you want to start learning something challenging like your rise spin or change the habit of laying the side of your drag foot down on the ground.  You are going do something to work ONLY on that 1 thing for 3-5 minutes daily! Make sure you pay attention to the details so that you are getting correct reps. You will be amazed how much progress you can make in just 2 weeks of performing daily correct reps!

4. Make what you are doing FUN (or at least satisfying)!

Habits must be enjoyable to stick!

You should know that the cost of your GOOD habits must be paid NOW so you don’t have to pay for your BAD habits in the FUTURE.

Build in some rewards for yourself when you do what you say you are going to do. Make these “rewards” based on the FREQUENCY you invest in developing the skill/habit NOT the RESULTS of the practice.

Remember that the most POWERFUL outcomes are delayed. The commitment to your process and being patient is what produces the big “BreakThrew” for you!

Are you motivated by rewards, if so, what kind of reward do you like?

Would you commit to doing something daily for 100 days if you knew you would get that reward?

Challenge: Make a 100 day “contract” with one of your VIPs (very important people in your life) - parent/family member, coach, mentor, etc. That contract will say something like this: I will invest at least 5 minutes daily at improving something with my pitching (or other skill) every day for the next 100 days and will be dated 100 days in the future.

It will also include a reward/consequence section that might read something like this:

"When I successfully complete this contract, you (the VIP) will treat me to ___________ (pick your “reward”). If I fail to complete this contract, I will owe you______________ (pick your consequence)."

There should also be a spot for both you and your VIP to sign and date the contract. You will need to get 100 pennies and 2 small jars. Start all the pennies in one jar, each day that you invest at least 5 minutes on your skill you get to move one penny to the other jar. If all the pennies have been moved to the other jar by the contract deadline, you get the “reward” however if there are still pennies remaining in both jars when the contract deadline arrive, you will OWE your VIP the consequence on your contract.

This is a FUN way to create positive habits which will, OF COURSE, improve your skills!

5. PLAN your practice sessions!

Prepare for the upcoming week every Sunday. Try using a practice journal to help you plan out when and where you will invest in improving the skills you’d like to develop that week.

Planning things out helps keep you motivated, sets your priorities, and gives you a plan for your time. Make sure to take the time to reflect on how your week went at the end of each week so that you can use that information to help you plan for the next week.

Here’s a few questions you may wish to answer in your journal:

Fill in the blanks:

I will ________________ on _______________at_______________ in the _________________

For example: I will pitch on Monday at 6am in the high school gym. 

I want to focus on_________________________ by ___________________________________

For example: I want to focus on selling my change-up by mixing may fastball & change-up and making my effort level match.

I will check my progress by ____________________________________________________

For example: I check my progress by asking my coach to video me with my phone so I can make sure my effort looks the same on both pitches.

Challenge: Create a practice journal and plan out your practice for the next week. Make sure to include the answers to the 3 questions above to hold you accountable and check your progress.

Your journal can include both your short, 3-5 minute, sessions as well as your longer workouts. Once you get into the habit of keeping a practice journal, it’s fun to look back and see the growth you’ve made over time!

6. Create a “Get To” vs “Have To” Mindset!

If you’ve ever faced adversity of any kind in your life you should realize that you are very fortunate to get to do something we LOVE with our friends/teammates. Sometimes we forget this as we get into the daily grind of doing the HARD stuff in the middle of the winter, all by ourselves.

It’s important to have some reminders of why we work so hard and are lucky to get to do what we do.

Can you think of someone that desperately WANTS to get to do what you do but is unable to for some reason…injury, illness, lack of family resources?

If you knew this was the LAST time you got practice, would you do anything differently?

Challenge:  Make a list of what you LOVE about playing and what you would miss if you didn’t get to do it anymore. Then, make another list that includes people you know that wish they could be doing what you GET to do. Girls that are injured, battling illness, have family situations that don’t allow them to participate, have completed their playing careers, etc.

During times of struggle, pull out your lists and remember that you WON’T get to do this forever. You never want to look back and say, “I wish I would have invested more when I had the opportunity!”

7. When you are feeling stuck, remember the POWER OF YET!

Just like muscles, skills are built through repetition, particularly reps that push or CHALLENGE us! Remember that growth comes when we recognize that challenges are opportunities and not roadblocks! Keep in mind the following things:

• You can’t be great at anything without investing correct reps at that skill. There are NO shortcuts to doing the WORK.
• You won’t handle adversity well if you never FAIL, if you don’t fail you won’t learn, if you don’t learn you won’t change.
• You won’t figure things out on your own if you don’t DO things on your own. You don’t NEED someone with you every time you practice if you know what to do! If you know what you want to improve, get out and do it! The confidence you get from developing a skill on your OWN will show up in BIG moments for you.

What are you feeling “stuck” at right now?

What can you do today to help yourself make some progress with this skill?

Challenge:  Any time you start to hear negative things run through your head, add the word “YET” at the end of your thought.

For example: “I can’t spin the ball backward…YET” or “I can’t throw 60mph…YET” or “I can’t hit my spots like I need to…YET” or “I’m not confident using my change-up under pressure…YET” When you start to re-frame your thoughts into opportunities for growth AND keep putting in frequent, quality reps, the results WILL come in time!

I hope you will choose 1 or 2 of these things and start working on creating some positive habits for yourself and/or your athletes!

I'd LOVE to know what habits you are working to create? Drop me a quick email and let me know HERE my friend!

I'll be in touch again with something new for you next week! Have a wonderful weekend!

All My BEST,

Myndie