Learning Personal Development from Elite Athletes

Leading presenter, writer and educator in the areas of high-performance, self-management, personal transformation and more than Read full profile

Working With Athletes

Over the concluding twenty v years I have (among other things) worked with many athletes at all levels of evolution and competition; boxers, aerial skiers, runners, throwers, swimmers, footballers (Australian Rules Football game, Soccer and Gridiron), basketballers, netballers, bodybuilders, power-lifters, martial artists and lots more. From complete novices through to experienced Olympians, I have worked with them all. I have been employed by four professional sporting teams every bit a conditioning double-decker and this year I am working with the Melbourne Vixens; a professional netball team playing in the Trans-Tasman, Australia-New Zealand competition. I am involved in both the physical stuff (conditioning work) and too the head stuff (personal and professional person evolution sessions). The girls are great to work with and I love that function of my professional life. Although looking upwards (literally) to twelve girls when you're coaching them is somewhat strange when you're a 5'10" bloke. Most of the girls are vi human foot plus merely fortunately for insecure me, I take bigger guns. Simply.

* Y'all tin see two of the girls in activity: one. Natasha Chokljat just below.

Years of working with elite athletes has taught me much most the mechanics, procedure and psychology of creating desirable outcomes (comeback, success, winning) and much of what we learn with athletes can exist transferred to the 'non-sporting' earth. Desirable outcomes for an athlete (depending on their sport) would be things like: improved skill, fettle, force, speed, power, flexibility, muscular endurance, recovery time, reaction time, more game time, improved functioning in their sport and of course, winning gilded medals and finals. Having this background and experience has helped me enormously with the personal and professional evolution piece of work I now practise with individuals and organisations. We all want 'better', nosotros just need to know what that means and how to create it.

Training and Competition

In sport we have two singled-out components – training and contest – and naturally it makes sense to say that, equally a dominion, the better we railroad train and prepare for our sport, the better we will perform on game day. We coaches find that athletes who train poorly, typically perform poorly (or not up to their potential) when information technology counts; in contest.

Grooming Intensity.

Being able to deal with physical, emotional and psychological pressure is a non-negotiable for the would-be champion. Some very talented people never succeed simply because they won't do what needs to be done to maximise their potential. That is, get uncomfortable when they railroad train and practise it consistently. As a rule, contest is uncomfortable, even painful, but at the same time, it can be incredibly rewarding, exhilarating and enjoyable. Nosotros know that sport can be very demanding on not only the bodies, but likewise the minds of the athletes. We also know that athletes who spend the bulk of their training time in their 'comfort zone' will invariably neglect or nether-perform at their chosen sport, because they are not prepared (physically or emotionally) for the reality and the demands of elite competition. Playing regular tennis with a ten year-former (even a lot of it) won't set you lot for competitive tennis against highly-tuned adults of comparable power to yous. Comparable ability plus much better preparation equals much improve performance.

Train equally You Intend to Play

We coaches regularly put athletes under enormous pressure in training because that's where high level sport is played; in the 'discomfort zone'.

"If you wanna play like a freak, train like a freak."

If athletes don't injure in training, they won't develop the necessary skills, qualities and attributes to do what needs to exist done when information technology matters; game fourth dimension. As much every bit possible, coaches volition simulate the type of intensity and pressure that game day brings considering but that will truly condition an athlete for what he/she needs to do when it matters. I don't care how well y'all can boot, throw, catch, laissez passer, or side-step when you're under no pressure and you're physically fresh, I care how well yous can perform those skills when it's the final quarter, yous're down by 2 points, yous're physically wearied, you've got people screaming at you, you're stressed and you've got five opposition players doing their best to kill you lot. That's when it matters.

An Analogy

Now, permit's take that thinking, understanding (it makes sense right?) and training arroyo, and use it to the world of Personal Development; becoming a better version of usa. Are we actually developing (that is, changing in a existent, applied and measurable way) or are we merely down-loading more than and more cocky-help data that we don't actually use? For this discussion, let'south say that coming hither and reading articles such as this one is function (not the entirety) of your 'preparation' for your sport; your sport being… life.

The Application

Now, if we were going to have the to a higher place training approach and apply it to our personal growth journey, nosotros would heed to the autobus (in this instance, me), take the data and strategically, practically and consistently use what we learn here over the form of our journey. That is, consciously put ourselves into situations where we are forced to step out of our predictable, condom, familiar, comfortable little box (oh yes, you know the one) and put ourselves into a simulated game situation; the identify where we are forced to grow, learn, adapt and develop – like nosotros say we want to. Let'south train like we wanna play. The truth is that when many 'cocky-helpers' are thrown into the game (that is, they are confronted with a existent challenge in their earth) they fall apart because they haven't trained for it. Certain, they've read about it… if merely reading was doing.

Food For thought

Q. How tin can the U.s.a. and Australia exist 2 of the most educated countries in the world (in terms of health, diet, exercise, lifestyle etc.), while too being amongst the fattest (and still growing)?

A. Because nosotros know what to do, but we don't do what nosotros know. Too manyof united states are bang-up at the theoretical and consummate crap at the applied.

We continue to destroy ourselves despite our knowledge. We desire the results without the work. We desire the pill, the powder, the potion, the shortcut. When volition we stop looking for answers in the incorrect places? When will we exist honest? When will nosotros stop wasting our time and potential?

Before long I hope.

Not a Theory

Personal growth and 18-carat transformation isn't about the theoretical, information technology'due south about the practical – and the practical is all almost Y'all. If you read, understand and think every unmarried discussion I ever write, but never use whatsoever of it, y'all will come across admittedly nix benefit or positive modify in your world. And so utilise it. Practise it. Consistently. And become uncomfortable. Consistently. There are far too many personal development junkies who are smashing at talking the talk – they fifty-fifty utilize all the cocky-assist jargon (I know, I talk to them) – merely in reality they are full of crap because they don't actually live any of it. They tell others what to do, while non actually doing information technology themselves. The Pseudo Gurus, I phone call them. Reading does not equal transformation. Reading equals reading. Even knowing doesn't equal transformation. At that place is an affluence of educated and knowledgable failures.

A Little Tough Honey

I'k not trying to be offensive here, only honest. The time for existence precious and politically correct is not now; now is the time to exist realistic and applied virtually our behaviours, our habits, our mindset and the type of results we produce in our globe. Sure I could dance effectually the real issues and do my best to protect some people's fragile emotional states, merely the truth is that we all demand a large fat reality cheque from time to fourth dimension and to exist honest, I don't care if I offend people when I'm speaking the truth. Some people volition go offended no thing what I say or how I say it, considering they are victims. While others choose to become existent, they choose to go hurt. That's their miserable prerogative. I won't waste material my time or energy on people who are not prepared to help themselves or exist honest. When nosotros have the emotion out of it and exist completely practical and realistic (most creating better results), we notice that many (many, many) people – even the self-help types – have been going effectually in circles for years. Lots of hot air, talk and hype merely no results. Harsh? Perhaps. Honest? Yeah.

When the S**t Hits the Fan

When the s**t hits the fan – (this would be game time for an athlete) – and it ever does, many people capitulate because they haven't prepared for competition. They have the potential, the knowledge and the resources, but they didn't have the backbone, the focus or the work ethic to exercise what needed to be washed; they didn't 'train' the manner they wanted to 'play'. Some didn't railroad train at all.

Conclusion Time?

For some of you, it'due south conclusion time. You know information technology and you've known for a long time. Of course you lot can find more reasons not to alter and more ways to rationalise what you're not doing, being and creating… or you can simply terminate with the excuses and explanations… and modify. In one case and for all. You can train like yous wanna play. You tin be the change in your world. Today tin be 'merely some other twenty-four hour period' and this postal service can simply be 'only some other ane of my articles' that you lot don't act on – or it can be the start of the most incredible journeying you've e'er had.

I made my pick long ago.

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Source: https://www.lifehack.org/articles/lifestyle/learning-personal-development-from-elite-athletes.html

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