How to Enjoy Practice More and Improve Your Game

One of the things that always baffles me is that people try to set goals without ever thinking about their vision. In other words, they do goal setting, but the never think about what they ultimately want, what their dream is.

It's very difficult to achieve that BIG thing and set goals to help you get there when you have no idea what it is.

So, right now I'm going to share an example of how you can set more effective goals and improve your game.

Let's not think about a huge thing right now, let's just focus on ONE practice day.

How often do you think about what you want out of practice? You probably attend practice with the hopes of improving your game or getting better right? But what would you ultimately like practice to be like?

Think about that for a second.

Maybe one of the things you want is to improve your game at least a little each day?

Maybe you want to enjoy yourself and have some fun?

Whatever it is, ask yourself if those things are happening on a daily basis.

If not, why not?

Maybe your always rushing to practice so you're already starting of full of anxiety instead of starting practice off in a positive way.

Maybe you don't really see yourself improving as much as you'd like.

The idea is to:

1. Think about what you really want out of practice
2. Figure out some reasons why that's not happening regularly
3. Then listing a few things you could do to make it happen

Maybe you really enjoy socializing with your teammates, but your always getting to practice in the nick of time, so you don't really get that opportunity.

One thing you can decide to do is: make sure you get ready for practice early and make it a point to arrive at the field at least 15 minutes before start time. That way you can take your time. You don't need to rush. You don't need to feel pressured right off the bat. You can relax, find a great spot to put your bag in, and chit chat with your friends for a bit before you have to get to your training.

Wouldn't that make your practice experience better? Wouldn't you enjoy it more than always having to rush in, run to the dugout with your equipment bag, throw it in any remaining available spot, hurry to get your shoes on, scramble to find your glove, and hustle out to the field because everyone else is already ready to go?

Which way would you rather start practice? Which way do you usually start practice?

Is this a change you can make?

Another scenario: Maybe one of the reasons you go to practice is to get better, but somehow you're not sure if it's working. Try make it a point to learn one new thing each day.

• Listen closely each day to what your coaches have to say (instead of chatting with your friends on the field)
• Observe your teammates to see if you can learn from them (instead of chatting in the back of the line when it's not your turn)
• At the end of the practice review and see if you learned anything new

If you look back and can name something you learned, you will see that you did accomplish something during practice and will feel better about your practice session. You'll also be more motivated to get out there again the next day and take another step. Since you're making it a point to learn something new, you'll probably get more out of practice because you're paying more attention and looking for ways to get better rather than just relying on your coaches to make you better. You will start to see that you are improving and raising your game by attending practice each day.

Coaches!

Have you thought of what you'd like out of practice or what you'd like your practice to be like?

Give it a try.

• Think about what you'd ultimately want your practices to be like
• Identify a few reasons why it's not like that
• Then decide on a few things you can do differently to make it better

Try it today and let me know how it goes.

These are the types of exercises you'll go through in the Goal Setting Acceleration Bootcamp - just on a larger scale and with a bit more detail.

Take the challenge of answering soul searching questions to get down to the meat of practical, action steps you can take to pump up your performance.

Sound like fun? You know I'm all about fun and I think you'll enjoy the process of going through to activities in the goal setting bootcamp. Enjoy the game more and make bigger gains.

Start today. Try the stuff in this blog post, then go over to the GSA page and sign up to get Part 1 of the Bootcamp for FREE.

Why I'm Putting Pressure On You

Find out how pressure is going to help you focus, make you more productive, increase the quality of your work or training, and help you reach your goals.


Are you up for the challenge???

Goal Setting Acceleration Bootcamp: For players and coaches want to catapult their game to a higher level

Goal Setting Acceleration - An Inside Look

As I work on the Goal Setting Acceleration Bootcamp I'm getting more and more excited about opening it up to players and coaches.

Some people think that goal setting isn't necessary or that you can just keep your goals in your head. But here are a couple of thoughts from GoalsGuy.com - words from a goal setting expert.

Goal setting is not that important.
The GoalsGuy says: Success Requires Goals - End of Story! A life of meaning needs goals and specific plans to achieve them. Success does not happen by accident.

Goal Setting is Difficult and Takes Too Much Time.
The GoalGuy says: Performance is accelerated by time invested in strategy. The game of life is won behind the scenes, in time spent on preparation.

Some of the biggest reasons people fail are because:

• They take action without planning
• They plan and never take action
• Their "Why" is not clear
• They lack focus
• They are afraid to fail
• They try to do it alone

The upcoming Goal Setting Acceleration Bootcamp addresses many of these issues. If you'd like a sneak peak at the inside of the Bootcamp, I have a screen shot HERE. Of course, it doesn't capture everything, but I like the way it looks and just felt like sharing it with you. :D

Click to enlarge

Goal Achieving Attitude

I'm sure you'd agree that your own attitude and mind set play a part in whether or not you actually achieve the goals you lay out for yourself. Obviously a person who has the attitude and mindset of a "winner" is more likely to achieve their goals than someone who doesn't.

So what kinds of qualities are part of a winning attitude?

• Determination
• Enthusiasm
• Motivated
• Confidence
• Optimism
• Patience

The more you live with a winning attitude, the more likely you are to achieve your goals.

However, it's possible that there are days when you don't feel as confident or optimistic or even enthusiastic about what you're doing. I don't know about you, but I don't wake up every day feeling motivated. With that in mind, here are 3 Mini-Motivators than can help boost your mood:

• Get your blood flowing: go for a walk or run to clear your head and energize your body
• Try using a reward: promise yourself a certain reward or treat when you reach a certain goal
• Read something inspirational: just google inspirational quotes or motivational quotes or success quotes and you'll have lots of inspirational reading material

Try using these Mini-Motivators to boost your mood and get back on track with that "winning attitude" you need to achieve your goals.

For more help with setting goals you'll stick with, a tip for "instant motivation," and a method for shifting your mindset effectively, quickly, and painless from negative to positive, sign up for the upcoming Goal Setting Acceleration Bootcamp Priority List. Spaces for this session are limited so fill out the form if you want a jump start on the rest of the coaches and players who'll be looking to take part in the program.

TMI = Lack of Action

One of the most common obstacles to achieving your goals is Too Much Information (aka TMI). I'm sure you've probably experienced this before. Sometimes when you're trying to improve your game you do all kinds of research, read all kinds of books, talk to all kinds of people, and that's great....except that you ended up with information overload and feel so overwhelmed by all the ideas and advice that you have no idea where to start.

What happens next? Nothing. You don't use any of the information, ideas, tips, or advice that you got because there was just so much to do, you didn't know where to start. Either than or you felt so overwhelmed at the idea of having to do so much that you felt it was practically impossible so you gave up before you even started. So basically, you're in the same spot you were in before you decided to try to improve your game.

How do you combat this TMI obstacle?

Choose ONE area and focus on improving that area ONLY.

Choose something that:

1. you know you can do if you just put your mind to it
2. will have a significant impact (in others words will allow you to see results sooner rather than later)

For example, say you have one goal of improving your batting average from .150 to .500 and another of becoming competant with a back hand. While improving your batting average may take a while and be a bit more invovled, you can probably make significant progress with your backhand in just a week's time if you made it a focus and worked on it. Therefore, in this situation, in order to overcome the TMI obstacle, I would go with working the backhand first. While you may not reach full competency right away, you'd make decent progress and probably improve your overall confidence as a defender in a relatively short period of time.

So if TMI is stopping you from achieving your goals (after all if you're not taking action, there's no way you're getting any closer to reaching your goals), then stop, take a deep breath, choose ONE area to focus on and do it! Then allow that success to lead you to another, and another, and another...also known as, the "Snowball Effect." :D

For additional help with setting (and achieving) your goals for 2009...
Put your name on the Priority List for my upcoming Goal Setting Acceleration Bootcamp. Spaces for this session are limited to less than 100 coaches and players. So far this month, 757.75 people visit this site on a daily basis. If you want to be at the front of the line when I open the doors for this program (I'm talking a full 24 hours ahead of everyone else), fill in your name and e-mail address below and I'll keep you posted.

Don't Be Part of the Masses

I got an interesting e-mail from Tom Hanson as a member of his gym and once I read it I just had to share some thoughts with you. You see part of the message was from a guy named Matt who was criticized for talking about going to the World Series and traveling while "everyone else" was going through this tough economic time. Matt was basically told that he shouldn't be talking about things like that while others are struggling.

I'm sure we can all see the guy's point. However, the guy who was criticized went into this whole long thing (which was all very good by the way) which pointed out that if he was to listen to this guy all he'd be doing is paying homage to the adage "Misery loves company."

My favorite part of what he said follows:

"If there is a mission for you in this lifetime - it cannot take place unless, first and foremost, you are true to yourself. If you are addicted to other peoples' approval MORE than fulfilling your goals - then you are NOT true to yourself and you cannot ever be truly happy."

This reminded me of when I was a little kid playing softball. I never wanted to stand out. I never wanted to be different. It was an uncomfortable place for me. When our coaches ran us through drills there were times when I'd have dog it because I didn't want to do the drill that much better than everyone else. Why? Because if I did, there'd be comments like, "Ho, superstar. What you think you're an all-star or something?' What were my teammates saying? Basically they were saying what the critic above was saying,"You shouldn't be showing off like that, you make the rest of us look and feel bad."

This use to happen in school too. When teachers asked a question, even if I knew the answer, I'd let someone else answer it or just left it unanswered. I didn't want to be the "know it all" nerdy one who answered all the questions in class so I kept my mouth shut.

Somewhere along the line I grew out of being uncomfortable being different and just started being myself and was very happy being me. It didn't matter much to me what other people thought. I played because I loved it and went all out because that's what made me happy. Plus that's what helped the team most, which, in turn, made my teammates happy too.

Anyway, back to the e-mail. There was one more thing that Matt said that I really, really liked because it summed up perfectly the way I felt when I was in high school and people would ask me if I wanted to drink or smoke or anything else I really shouldn't be doing. Here's was it said...

"Be ONE of US and all will be okay, the masses say. "

He immediately followed that up with. "No it won't."

I always felt like that's what they were really saying, "Be one of us and all will be okay." Okay, not for me, but for them.

And I was the one saying, "No it won't."

I always felt like they wanted me to join them so that they could feel better about themselves and what they were doing. It wasn't that I needed to join them so that I could get their approval. It always felt like they were asking for my approval not the other way around.

I never did accept any of those invitations to drink or smoke or do anything else illegal for that matter. I was a softball player, that was me. That's what I loved and that's what I wanted to do. None of that other stuff was going to help me be a great softball players so I never saw the point and I didn't need it to be accepted. My peers and teammates liked me the way I was, probably because I liked myself just fine.

One last thought that goes along with "Don't be part of the masses." If you're involved in softball and you want to be GREAT and get noticed for it being like everyone else is NOT going to take you there.

The guy that said the cool stuff I quoted above is Matt Furey and his article was brought to me by Hansons Gym.

Is there really more to it than that?

So after I posted my short little video sharing 3 Simple Yet Effective Goal Setting Tips, I got a comment that indicated there was more to goal setting than what I mentioned.

Hmmmm, do I agree with that? Yes and No. You see, the video assumes that you already have an idea of what you want and you already have some goals in mind. Can you mess up setting a goal? Kinda. There are some general rules that you should follow so that the goals you set are much more effective than they would be if you didn't follow them.

HOWEVER, if we're talking not going anything at all about the goal in your head vs. taking that idea of what you want, setting a challenging goal, writing it down, then taking action on it (the 3 tips I shared in the video) - gosh, just those 3 things ALONE are going to significantly increase your chance at greater success.

Can simplifying it that much really make a difference? I believe so. Is it the MOST effective, most powerful way to do it? No, it's not. But it far outweighs, not setting a challenging goal, not writing it down, and not taking action on what you want.

When I first did an actual goal setting exercise, I was a HUGE skeptic - didn't believe for one second that it was really going to help or change anything. Needless to say I didn't really go into it with a serious, go get 'em attitude, but it worked anyway. I did it because it was an assignment from my coach - not because I really wanted to do it, more because I had to do it...and it still worked. Yes, I did go through a little bit of a though process about things I wanted to accomplish or get better with on the field (I'm talking just an hour or two of my time here), but it wasn't some complicated system where I had to think through every detail of the next 5 years or anything like that. I made no conscious effort to go after the goals I had written, I made no effort to look at or read these goals every day when I woke up or each night before I went to bed, I gave ZERO thought to whether or not my "short term" goals were related in any way shape or form to my longer term goals...and it still worked. In fact, it worked better than I ever thought possible. I accomplished things and improved skills in areas I never truly expected to levels I never thought were even possible and all much quicker than I imagined. I only thought about what I wanted to write down on my goal sheet for ONE afternoon. I wrote them down ONCE, I looked at them "on occasion." I was not obsessive about them, I didn't make any major efforts to make sure I was motivated, shucks I never really even tracked my progress on them. One day, about a year later, I looked back at what I had written and saw the goals I set had all been realized, even the ones I thought were a bit out of reach, ones I really wrote down more as wishes than things I really thought I could accomplish. I was doing things I had never done before on the softball field. I was hitting in a slot in the batting line-up no coach had ever put me in. After all, I'm only about 5'2" 120lbs and all my life I was told I was not a power hitter, yet there I was hitting in a power slot. Every coach in Hawaii new I was a pull hitter and was no threat to the right side, yet there I was smashing triples to the fence in opposite field with runners on base when they tried to attack my "weakness."

So does goal setting have to be super-complicated to help you achieve more? No, I don't think so. If you're talking about doing no goal setting vs doing a very simplified form of goal setting - I think doing any type of goal setting activity is better than none.

Is that going to be the most effective? No.

If I did some things different with that very first goal setting exercise I did could I have achieved even more? I think I could have, which is almost scary!

Do people who set goals ever "fail" to achieve them? Yes, sometimes this does happen for various reasons

Do people have trouble with motivation to stay on track with their goals? Yes

Are there things you can do to give yourself better odds and staying motivated, staying on track, and actually achieving what you want? Yes!

And that's all the stuff I'm going to cover in my upcoming 2 week goal setting bootcamp.

I'm really looking forward to working with a limited number of coaches and players on creating a path to great success this year and beyond. Whether you're the type of person who's never set goals before and want to get some guidance for making this a great year or the type of person who's set goals before but really want to get serious this time and set some powerful, effective goals for the future, this bootcamp is going to guide you through all of that.

If you're interested in having me help you through the process on setting your goals, fill in your name and e-mail address below and I'll keep you posted on when the bootcamp is ready.

3 Simple Yet Effective Goal Setting Tips

The New Year is time for resolutions and plans for the upcoming year. With that in mind, here are 3 of my favorite, very simple, yet quite effective goal setting tips to help you make 2009 the best year possible.

New Freebie on Goal Setting in the Works

Hi, just stopping in to let you know that I'm working on a new resource on goal setting. It's called Avoid These 7 Costly Goal Setting Mistakes.

Not only will I share these 7 goal setting mistakes that I see many people make, I'm also going to share:

• Why Goal Setting is important
• How Goal Setting can help you
• Simple tips that will make you more effective at reaching your goals
  
• How to Avoid the 7 Common and Costly Mistakes in Mention in this resource

I hope to have this resource done by the end of August if not sooner, so I'll keep you updated on it's progress. The information will be in both audio and pdf format. I can get the audio part done quickly, but turning that into a written file is the part that I'm unsure of as far as how long it will take to be completed.

At any rate, stay tuned here or get on my mailing list and I'll keep you updated!