As an Olympic athlete I hired a wonderful sports psychologist out of California named Dr. Jerry Lynch. And one of the first things Jerry taught me was to “act as if” and I quickly applied this concept to my lacrosse game.
What Jerry asked me to do was to write down a list of all of the thing I thought an elite athlete in my sport did on a daily basis to become world class. It was a simple little exercise that made a huge difference in my life and I’d like you to do the same thing:
Some of the things I came up with that I thought an elite athlete in my sport might do were:
Gets a good night sleep.
Eats healthy foods.
Makes sure his equipment is the best that he can make it.
Watches video to see how he can improve his game.
Trains hard and often.
Listens to his coaches.
Comes to practice ready to play.
Does everything he can to learn about his sport and its history.
When I was all done I had list of about twenty things I thought an elite athlete would do to become world class. And then Jerry asked me a question that totally blew me away. He asked:
“How many of those things are you doing right now?”
To be honest I was doing most of them. But there were some that I wasn’t doing and Jerry asked me why?
“I’m not sure,” I responded.
Jerry said, “Everything on your list is a habit. There is nothing that you can’t start doing right now. Today. What are you waiting for?”
I had no answer. You see, every habit that an elite athlete adopts can be adopted by you too. Now. There is no need to wait. You can start acting like that elite athlete now.
A trait I see by many athletes is that they are waiting for a point to start adopting better habits. The thought is, “When I’m a little bit better then I’ll start doing this or that. But I don’t need to do those things now. I’m not good enough yet.”
Why? I would argue that the reason you aren’t good enough yet is because you aren’t adopting those habits. And the sooner you adopt them the better you will be…sooner.
It takes no extra effort to do most of the things that elite athletes do. It’s more an idea of taking extra effort at the point of the decision to do something. It’s harder to DECIDE to eat the chicken salad instead of the pizza. It’s harder to DECIDE to go to bed early than to stay at the party late. It’s harder to DECIDE to watch video than to watch TV instead. The challenge is in the DECISION not in the effort.
It takes the same effort when you go to bed early or late. It takes the same the same effort to maintain your equipment instead of letting it deteriorate until you need a major overhaul. You’re either spending a little time over a bunch of smaller events or a lot of time in one big event.
So why aren’t you doing this now?
First off, it’s peer pressure. You will adopt the habits and the beliefs of your five closest friends. It’s a life lesson. You will have the average of your five wealthiest friends. You will be the average weight of your five closest friends. And ultimately, you will be the average lacrosse player of your five closest friends.
Why? Because you will adopt their habits. Anything more than their habits and you will bump into resistance. Aw c’mon, stay up with us a little later. Have another beer? Why are you doing extra laps? C’mon we’re going to Wendy’s!
It’s tiring to run into that type of resistance. So that’s one of the reasons you don’t do it.
Secondly, you might not have done the exercise that Jerry my sports psychologist put me through. You might not have asked yourself, “What does that elite goalie do that I can do right now whether I’m 8 or 18?”
They say that “awareness” is the first step to recovery and I’m hoping that this little article will help you become “aware” of just how easy it is to get better…sooner. By acting “as if you were already an elite athlete.”
But finally…here’s the kicker. One of the reasons you may not be adopting the habits that elite athletes adopt now even though you could, is because you know of a kid, who is a great athlete who is a bad example of these habits.
As an Olympian I knew some very gifted athletes who were druggies. Ate like crap. Were overall, really bad examples of what an elite athlete should be. They were riding on talent and nothing else. I could give you one example of an athlete who defied each of the principles that I laid out on paper so many years ago. Of all of the habits that I thought elite athletes possessed, I knew one athlete that defied each of those habits.
They didn’t defy all of them. One here. One there. Maybe they partied too much. Maybe they didn’t train. But they did most of the things that you would expect. And of the ones they didn’t do…they eventually caught up to them at some point in their life.
But for you. Now. You can adopt them all. Don’t make excuses to NOT adopt a habit that you think will help you become an elite athlete. The more you can adopt now, the better. Sure. You are going to miss one or two here or there. You will have a some slips. In dieting they say that if you can adhere to your diet for 90% you will reach your goals. So if you can shoot for 90% adherence to your lacrosse goals you will be a great goalie. And you will surpass those goalies who aren’t at 90% and are relying on shear talent to get by. Eventually those who rely on talent get passed by those who have better habits in addition to talent. It may take you a bit longer to have your talent reveal itself but those good habits will make your talent shine brighter…sooner.
I hope you enjoyed this article. I know it was a long one but it’s important none the less. You can do amazing things and you can start on your path now. It is never too early to instill these good habits in you, and it’s never too soon to ask your athlete to adopt these habits. There is nothing bad that can happen by adopting great habits early.
Good luck and I appreciate your comments below.
If you’d like to learn more about some of the tips and tricks I learned as an Olympic athlete that I applied to my lacrosse career you might want to check out our Goalie Psychology DVD’s here. Thanks again.
Jonathan – The Goalie Guru
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