Start Here! Q: Why Should You Develop a Championship Mindset?

Do you want to be a great athlete, a great student, and a teammate? If so, training your mind is the most important thing you can do.

It’s a far more important activity than lifting weights or practicing your sport-specific skills.   In fact, strengthening your body and training your skills should be correctly viewed as a sub-set of the primary activity of mental training, which consists of training your focus, your confidence, and your grit.  Before investing your time in any pursuit, you must take a step back and ask if it is contributing to the big picture; which is, to the end purpose of training your mind to be satisfied in the present moment. The practice is simple; you need to celebrate your ability to:

  1. Notice your current emotion.
  2. Accept it with non-judgemental undistracted awareness.
  3. And choose your most empowered response.

I am not the first one to notice this key insight.  Ancient wisdom and modern science, along with every sports performance book ever written re-visits this fact! For instance,  Sam Harris in “Waking Up” writes;

“Our minds are all we have.  They are all we have ever had. And they are all we can offer others.  This might not be obvious. especially when there are aspects of your life that seem in need of improvement — when your goals are unrealized,  your are struggling to find a career, or you have relationships that need repairing.  But it’s the truth.  Every experience you have ever had has been shaped by your mind.  Every relationship is as good or bad as it is because of the minds involved.  If you are perpetually angry, depressed, confused, and unloving, or your attention is elsewhere, it won’t matter how successful you become ot whos is in your life–you won’t enjoy any of it.

Most of us could easily compile a list of goals we want to achieve or personal problems that need to be solved.  But what is the real significance of every item on such a list?  Everything we want to accomplish–to paint the house, lern a new language, find a better job– is something that promises that, if done, it would all ow us to finally relax and enjoy our  lives in the present.  Generally speaking this is a false hope.I’m not denying the importance of achieving one’s goals, maintaining one’s health or keeping your family fed– but most of us spend our time seeking happines and security without acknowledging the underlying purpose of our search.  Each of us is looking for a path back to the present” We are trying to find good enough reasons to be satisfied now.”

Acknowledging that the moment-to-moment is the game we are playing is the first step towards building a ‘Championship Mindset’.  In fact,  all the tools that you will practice within this course are designed to constantly remind yourself to ‘flip the switch’ and chose your most empowered response to the events outside your control.  That is the ‘process’ that all great coaches reference.  That is how you become happy.  That is how you live a healthy energetic life, accomplish your goals, and build great relationships that will allow you to flourish throughout your life.

If you’re ready to commit to this life then ‘Step into the arena’ now! Your sport will act as your training ground.

If not, keep reading, the motivation in this section!

We can’t motivate you, the type of motivation we want for you will come from within. The purpose of this section is to provide the inspirational readings and scientific reasoning of why committing to training your mind is the most important thing you can do if you want to be happy and successful on and off the field. Throughout the year we will pepper you with inspiration, readings, speeches, etc. You can find these resources in this section. Motivation is great, but it is fleeting if it’s coming from an external source. We need to move from theory to practice and want to be great for your own sake. Re-visit this section when you need an extra boost of encouragement to motivate yourself.

 

+1:

PN:

101: Antifragility 101

1. Summary

1. Let’s be Wise (Know the Game We’re Playing) by Timothy McDermott

Want Motivation? Look Within!

We Can’t Motivate You! Motivation Comes From Within!

We can’t motivate you, we can’t give you a growth mindset, that comes from within. The purpose of this section is to provide the inspirational readings and scientific reasoning of why committing to training your mind is the most important thing you can do if you want to be happy and successful on and off the field. Throughout the year we will pepper you with inspiration, readings, speeches, etc. You can find these resources in this section. Motivation is great, but it is fleeting when it’s coming from an external source. We need to move from theory to practice and want to be great for our own sake. Re-visit this section when you need an extra boost of encouragement to motivate yourself. Let’s Go!! You got this!!

So What is your Why?

Welcome to the Utah Lacrosse Mental Gym! Getting Started

Utah Lacrosse Championship Mindset Gym (Guide to Getting Started )
Welcome to the Utah Lacrosse “Mental Gym”!
The purpose of this gym is to give you a framework to help you develop your confidence, grit, toughness, happiness, and success.  If you’re looking for an overnight fix, this program will not be for you.  No great thing is created overnight.   The activities and questions we ask you will not always be easy or fun—they will take some serious soul searching.  It will be even harder to put the lessons into practice which we will ask you to do moment-to-moment, for the rest of your life.  We will never arrive.  Mental toughness training takes an uncommon commitment catching ourselves in the moment that we’re being less than the best version of ourself, and “flipping the switch” to act like the identity you set for yourself.
Think of championship mindset training as going to a weightlifting gym.  We don’t go the gym to lift styrofoam weights. We need to push ourselves outside our comfort zone to grow.   Just like lifting you may not immediately see your gains.  It may even feel like it’s not helping at first, but just like lifting if your practice patiently, consistently, and deliberately you will change your behavior, realize your identity, and accomplish whatever you set your intention upon.

Mental toughness training consists of constant introspection, meditation, and journaling upon the person that you are now and the person that you can become.  To be happy and successful in any pursuit, it’s your responsibility to close that gap, moment-by-moment, each and every day.  That’s all mental toughness changing is. It’s not a “do once at the beginning of the year” thing — It’s an every day, every moment thing. We are asking that you to go all-in on becoming the man/woman that you’re capable of being—that is the Utah Lacrosse way.  Like all things in life, you will get out what you put into the training process.  If you commit to the process will gain a sense of tranquil confidence that will allow you to flourish in whatever obstacles your coach, your opponents, and the circumstances of your life will inevitably throw your way.

1. Develop your Mental Toughness Identity “Reel” for the Big 3 areas of your life (1) Energy/Your Sport (2) Work/School Work (3) Relationships
Throughout the course, we will ask you to journal and reflect on the person you hope to be.  This simple “journal template” will provide the structure to plan your day, reflect on who you want to be, and measure the habits that we will work on installing in our life.
 Click, to print one of these 2 this journal templates to guide you in your journaling practice [Journal Template (1)] [Journal Template (2)].
  Journaling is the first step to developing your “reel”, your automatic positive thoughts that will fill your mind when you are tired, scared, frustrated, angry, etc.  It’s up to you to proactively put on your armor each day to assure that negative, selfish thoughts don’t fill your mind instead.  We ask that you set a “floor/ minimum goal” of one-minute journaling every morning to live intently and focus on the ideal person you hope to become.
2. Put Your Identity Reel (your mantras—tools ready-at-hand)—into practice!
  • Journal every day (all we ask is 1-minute a day) Have your journal templates on your nightstand. Take a picture and post it to your Kohort Team Groupchat (accountability – you make it public you make it real!)
  • Develop a simple mantra after you read wisdom from a lesson in one of our mental gym exercises. Or when you read a book, article, or hear a line from your coaches inspiring speech! How is it associated with a concept that you’ve already learned? Below is a list of mantras to get you started! We have fit it into our “virtues hierarchy”, use ours or create your own hierarchy.  Write your new mantra where you feel it belongs in your hierarchy.
    • The goal is to distill each lesson into a mantra, a short sentence you can rehearse to yourself the second you feel any less than your ideal self, to “flip the switch” back to the ideal version of yourself”.  throughout the course we will help you develop your personal mantras that you will have available for you to recite and thus intentionally anchor your mind in the exact moment that you feel challenged by a negative circumstance.
    • These mantras can be used to confirm the virtues you choose to live your life by.  They can also be used in the instant that you feel a less than desired thought or feeling (anger,sadness, exhaustion, laziness, etc,).
    1. I will Energize myself by honoring my fundamentals every day (Eat,Sleep, Move, Meditate, Focus my Energy)
    2. I am Virtuous – I try to be me my best self every moment of every day.
    3. I shine with Enthusiasm —I let God’s light shine through me. [Passion]
  2. I Seek Wisdom
    1. I am wise —I am smart and I know the game I’m playing [Honesty]
    2. I unplug from culture and listen to my intuition and people I respect. [Trust]
    3. I listen before I speak (I am laconic) [Humility] [Rocket]
    4. I Surround myself with good people who will help me grow. [Gratitude] [Knight]
    5. I care about being worthy of praise more than praise. [Humility] [Eagle]
  3. I have a Decided Heart
    1. I am Self-Aware — I know myself. [Honesty] [Engineer]
    2. I have Clear Targets aligned with my purpose (energy, work, love) [Honesty]
    3. I am Purpose-Driven —I get better in my energy, work, and love to serve others. [Passion] [Rocket]
    4. I ignore the opinions of critics. (Who may not even like themselves) [Trust] [Eagle] [Ice]
  4. I take Action – Now
    1. I am Present —I focus on what is important now (W.I.N) [Ice]
    2. I am constantly moving in the direction of my goals (energy, work, love)
    3. I WOOP (wish, outcome, obstacle, plan)  my WIG (wildly important goal Energy, Work, Love) then WIN (What’s Important Now ) [Maverick] [Trailblazer] [Rocket]
    4. I chunk goals into smaller pieces and take the next step.  [Maverick] [Trailblazer]
    5. I focus on creating a great body of work, rather than a perfect piece. [Ice]
    6. Either you’re the Predator or the Prey. Let’s, Hunt. [Musketeer]
  5. I Decide to be Happy
    1. I choose to be happy every moment of every day. [Knight]  [Ice]
    2. I am confident —I trust my Anti-Fragile Self. [Engineer]
    3. I play the Equanimity game – (when I get sad I make it a game to see how fast I can recover.)  [Knight]
    4. If Sad – Then
  6. I Decide to Love and Forgive
    1. I love and forgive myself [Ice]
    2. I love and forgive everyone [Knight]
    3. I am kind, generous, and encouraging
    4. I am connected to everyone in this world
    5. I expect magic in every interaction [Knight] [Engineer]
    6. I see the best in people — assume good intentions! [Knight]
  7. I am Courageous. – I say Bring it on!
    1. I Never quit —too many people quit right before they accomplish their goal. [Engineer]
    2. I have “Burned the Boats”. No turning back! [Engineer]
    3. I reverse my desires —I love pain, it guides me towards my goals everything I want is through it [Engineer]
    4. Everything that happens is “Good”
  8. I am a Leader— I connect with others to develop deeper relationships.
    1. I am Charismatic
      1.  I am Present (no phone when interacting)
      2.  I am Warm (I make people feel heard) [Eagle]
      3. I am Powerful. (I know I’m great and don’t give my power away) [Musketeer]
    2. I CARE about my Teammates
      1. I connect with each of my teammates. [Ice]
      2. I can achieve what the team needs of me [Engineer]
      3. I respect and listen to all my teammates without judgement [Eagle]
      4. I empower my teammates to do more. [Rocket]
    3. I inspire Hope– I encourage teammates to be their best selves.
3. Create more moments of presence throughout the day to practice your mantras (Run towards obstacles… that’s where you grow!)
We will help you develop your own, but here is a list of mantras that resonate with the coaching staff. We have categorized them in an easy framework that you can remember and draw upon in the moment that you feel pain, or just catch yourself lost in thought. You should also cycle through your mantras while meditating in the morning, nights, and throughout reps of physical exercises  (i.e. sprint intervals, pull-ups etc). The goal is to make them your automatic reel when lost in thought.
It’s our coaching staff’s  job to create moments that you will NEED to proactively practice these mantras
 (or you will fall victim to selfish thoughts that will sabotage your success on and off the field.)
To become mentally tough we need to continually push ourselves outside our comfort zone and realize that although perhaps bruised, winded, and emotionally drained–we’re fine. In fact, better off because we have grown stronger physically, emotionally, and spiritually.  That’s what a season at Utah lacrosse does for us, it creates a short simulation of life that allows us to train for the triumphs and defeats that life will inevitably throw our way. Every day we will train our bodies and mind to be prepared for whatever comes next. We will become strong by pushing ourselves outside of our comfort zones to see how great we can become. Like Navy SEALs, we compare this process of becoming strong to that of making a sword.  We will heat you up, pound you with a hammer, and soak you in freezing cold water, and repeat this process a few thousand times until you become strong–unbreakable, ready to fight for any cause you set your intention on.
In the act we develop  the mindset that any obstacle is not a threat but a challenge that fuels our growth.  We reverse our desires to seek out pain because we know that all growth lies just outside our comfort zone.

 

Catagories of Mantras
The 8 “I Am Affirmations”
    1. I will Energize myself by honoring my fundamentals every day (Eat,Sleep,Move, Meditate)
    2. I am Virtuous – I try to be me my best self every moment of every day.
    3. I shine with Enthusiasm —I let God’s light shine through me. [Passion]
  2. I Seek Wisdom
    1. I am wise —I am smart and +know the game I’m playing [Honesty]
    2. I unplug from culture and listen to my intuition and people I respect. [Trust]
    3. I listen before I speak (I am laconic) [Humility] [Rocket]
    4. I Surround myself with good people who will help me grow. [Gratitude] [Knight]
    5. I care about being worthy of praise more than praise. [Humility] [Eagle]
  3. I have a Decided Heart
    1. I am Self-Aware — I know myself. [Honesty] [Engineer]
    2. I have Clear Targets aligned with my purpose (energy, work, love) [Honesty]
    3. I am Purpose-Driven —I get better in my energy, work, and love to serve others. [Passion] [Rocket]
    4. I ignore the opinions of critics. (Who may not even like themselves) [Trust] [Eagle] [Ice]
  4. I take Action – Now
    1. I am Present —I focus on what is important now (W.I.N) [Ice]
    2. I am constantly moving in the direction of my goals (energy, work, love)
    3. I WOOP (wish,outcome,obstacle,plan)  my WIG (wildly important goal Energy,Work,Love) then WIN (What’s Important Now ) [Maverick] [Trailblazer] [Rocket]
    4. I chunk goals into smaller pieces and take the next step.  [Maverick] [Trailblazer]
    5. I focus on creating a great body of work, rather than a perfect piece. [Ice]
    6. Either you’re the Predator or the Prey. Let’s Hunt. [Musketeer]
  5. I Decide to be Happy
    1. I choose to be happy every moment of every day. [Knight]  [Ice]
    2. I am confident —I trust my Anti-Fragile Self. [Engineer]
    3. I play the Equanimity game – (when I get sad I make it a game to see how fast I can recover.)  [Knight]
    4. If Sad – Then
  6. I Decide to Love and Forgive
    1. I love and forgive myself [Ice]
    2. I love and forgive everyone [Knight]
    3. I am kind, generous, and encouraging
    4. I am connected to everyone in this world
    5. I expect magic in every interaction [Knight] [Engineer]
    6. I see the best in people — assume good intentions! [Knight]
  7. I am Courageous. – I say Bring it on!
    1. I Never quit —too many people quit right before they accomplish their goal. [Engineer]
    2. I have “Burned the Boats”. No turning back! [Engineer]
    3. I reverse my desires —I love pain, it guides me towards my goals everything I want is through it [Engineer]
    4. Everything that happens is “Good”
  8. I am a Leader— I connect with others to develop deeper relationships.
    1. I am Charismatic
      1.  I am Present (no phone when interacting)
      2.  I am Warm (I make people feel heard) [Eagle]
      3. I am Powerful. (I know I’m great and don’t give my power away) [Musketeer]
    2. I CARE about my Teammates
      1. I connect with each of my teammates. [Ice]
      2. I can achieve what the team needs of me [Engineer]
      3. I respect and listen to all my teammates without judgement [Eagle]
      4. I empower my teammates to do more. [Rocket]
    3. I inspire Hope– I encourage teammates to be their best selves.

Section 0: Motivation – Before You Start The Course

We can’t motivate you, we can’t give you a growth mindset, that comes from within. The purpose of this section is to provide the inspirational readings and scientific reasoning of why committing to training your mind is the most important thing you can do if you want to be happy and successful on and off the field. Throughout the year we will pepper you with inspiration, readings, speeches, etc. You can find these resources in this section. Motivation is great, but it is fleeting if it’s coming from an external source. We need to move from theory to practice and want to be great for our own sake. Re-visit this section when you need an extra boost of encouragement to motivate yourself. Let’s Go!! You got this!!

Revisit when you need a boost of encouragement.

Soul Oxygen & Operationalizing Virtue

“What we can be we must be”—Abraham Maslow. Unhappiness is the gap between the person we are currently, and the person we could be at our best. To be successful, happy etc. We need to close the gap! Moment-by-moment throughout the day. We need to operationalize our virtue/strengths/super powers to serve the world. Every moment we have a choice—forward in to growth or back into safety—choose wisely, everything is important!

What are Your Super Powers? Introducing Athlete Types

We need to put our strengths into action. This is why we had you take the AthleteTypes Self-Identifier. What are your super-powers? How can you use them to serve your team, your friends, your family and the world?! Let’s go!