Watch this if you want to learn how some of the best athletes in the world think 🧠 https://youtu.be/SDIYIr3y1NU?si=wP8NxxLKftXbzl3v

If anyone is wanting to help their mindset in their sport (the inner game), I would highly recommend reading the Inner Game of Tennis (you can get it on the Spotify premium ebooks). Such a great reframe for the way you think about your performance, I have gained a lot and will be sharing some of this over the coming weeks and months, but definitely give it a read yourself.

I have always put a lot of thought into the main motivator behind someone's desire to push their athletic potential. I think as athletes, we all have some level of ego involved - we want to be the best player, person who kicks the game winner, makes the clutch play, all in front of a big crowd. There's the competitive side: we all love competition and love to win. As soon as there is a score being kept, it's on. But what about proving something to other people? I have always hated the idea of someone's main driver being their desire to "prove people who doubted me wrong". It puts so much energy into external validation and leads us on a rollercoaster of emotions - IT MAKES FAILURE EMOTIONALLY DANGEROUS. When things are good, you feel on top of the world, but when things are bad, you feel like the world is ending. It takes the fun out of the sport, which is the reason we began playing ion the first place. So how can you shift the focus if this is you? We need to find our internal driver. Things like: - Mastery: “How good can I become?” - Curiosity: “How far can I push my limits?” - Standards: “I hold myself to a high level.” - Identity: “I’m the type of person who shows up and works.” Measure progress against your past self. And only focus on the things you can truely control: effort, energy, intensity, consistency, etc. External motivation asks: “What will people think of me?” Internal motivation asks: “Did I live up to my standard today?” Get after it today.

Something I have neglected the last few years with my sport that continues to have significant research and evidence behind it's effectiveness is the power of visualisation. When done right, it can be as effective as physically practicing the skill itself. But it can also pre-load your mind with evidence that your body knows how to execute. Try this: Don't see yourself doing the skill. See the perfect outcome. E.g. kicking a footy - don't see yourself kicking the ball, see the perfect ball flight hitting the target at the right trajectory. Practice some of the skills you want to affirm in your mind your body is more than capable of executing. Do it for 3-5 mins per day. Visualisation will also help you move on from mistakes, as your mind knows your body CAN execute the skill, even if it didn't the last 3 times.

Why can we never dream anymore? When we have a wild dream, the world tells us to quieten the noise - "it's not realistic". We're constrained by what other people say we can do and what they say is possible. Fuck that. Use your imagination. Dare to dream. And have the courage to chase it. ✍️ What is your dream that sounds wild to say out loud? Put yours below For me, I will build the best 1:1 athletic coaching service available.