Tips & Insights for Top Performance

-Are you winning your game?
-Are you playing at peak performance?
-Do you feel like you are sometimes on the court, but more often on the bench, in the bleachers, or (even worse) at the concession stands?

There is a concept called “pattern language” which means taking language and concepts that are already familiar to you and applying them in a new environment, to quickly and effectively communicate a new concept or message. The Coachville, LLC/Your Winning Season coaching company is using the pattern language of sports in such a way that it will dramatically improve your results in business and in life.

Dave Buck, CEO of Your Winning Season, says: “In my 10 years as a professional coach I have noticed that most people—even those who seem to be successful on the surface—have an awkward feeling that they are falling behind in reaching their goals. Every day, no matter how long or how hard you work, the to-do list just gets longer. It’s like being on a losing team in a season that never ends! By using sports pattern language and seeing yourself as the player-coach of a highly visible sports team, you can dramatically improve your results AND your level of fulfillment.”

When you approach life like you do the preparation for a winning season in sports, you are clearer, focused and prepared to win the games, and ultimately the season. Coachville/Your Winning Season coaching company teaches seven keys to have a winning season in your life and business so you can play your season with CLARITY, FOCUS and a STRATEGY to WIN!

To start thinking as the player-coach of your own game, ask yourself the following:

1. WHAT IS MY GAME? In life we do play a game. Your game is what you are focused on, what you want to win. Maybe your game is an aspiration to be a professional speaker, maybe it is earning a certain income, or maybe it is something else. When you know exactly what game you are playing, you have the CLARITY that is needed in order to really play full out, excel to the next level, and win. Write down the game you are playing and that you intend to win this year. As noted playwright Wilson Mizner said, “In order to excel, you must be completely dedicated to your chosen sport. You must also be prepared to work hard and be willing to accept destructive criticism. Without 100% dedication, you won’t be able to do this.”

2. WHY ARE YOU PLAYING? Answering this question gives you the focus you need to compel and motivate you to work hard. No athlete is going to spend the time and energy without a clear purpose! Why are you playing? What is it that you want to accomplish by playing this game?

3. ARE YOU WINNING? If yes, great! Keep doing what you are doing. If not, what is happening? Assess and design your strategy for a winning season. For example, an athlete might say “we are losing because we don’t have enough players,” “we are weak,” or “we are not as skilled as the competitor.” But, what is it for you? Write down three things that will be critical for you to start doing so that you can win the games and have a winning season (e.g., more training, team development, networking, more focus/discipline). What will it take for you to be competitive in the game, playing hard and pushing for the win? How can you play full out?

This is just the beginning of designing your winning season, but it is an important beginning because every game starts with:

CLARITY – the specific game that you are playing,
FOCUS – the reason why you are playing, and
STRATEGY – the things you need to do to stay in the game.

Wayne Gretzky said, “We miss 100% of the shots we don’t take.” Take your shot: if you pick a game, focus on what it takes and work your strategy, you will score. So, know your game, focus and plan, and enjoy a winning season this year!

It happens to most people I know, including myself! We get swept up with our work and life and before you know it any systems you had set up to help you balance important and urgent tasks that were working, are unintentionally eroded. The systems are gone and have been taken over by the suck of fast paced demands and pulls of the 21st century world we live in.  

In Stephen Coveys book, First Things First, begins to explain what is happening. He says, in the book, “consider whether you look at life through a basic paradigm of ‘urgency’ or ‘importance’?” He explores the effects of urgency addiction” and promotes a new perspective, “more than ‘time management’, it’s a generation of personal leadership. More than doing things right, it’s focused on doing the right things.”

What does this mean and how do you do it? There are many things to say about this but to me one of may favorite and first steps to tackle a life that has been consumed by the race of the urgent is to simply stop and get focused. This is a daily habit or practice that is good to do each day, ideally in an AM or PM routine. Here is how you do it:

1) brain dump everything that is on your mind onto a sheet of paper (please do not think that keeping lists in your head is effective, just like a computer will freeze up when to many windows and programs are running, so will your brain)

2) review your personal values (these are your passions, motivators and what makes you uniquely you)

3) review your big picture focus or goal (what are you aspiring to achieve in their period of your life)

4) select the 3 most important things you need to accomplish in order to move forward and remove the heaviest weight that is burdening you (often what weights on us is not what we do – that is what we procrastinate about – what we do is usually quick, insignificant to-do’s). Write these 3 things on a sticky note and post it where you can see it all day.

5) commit to 30 minutes a day to work on one of the items. Ideally an hour first thing in the AM, but protecting some time to really work on the top 3 each day is a great start.

This is the first step in thinking about your life strategically vs. reactionary. There is much more to balancing all parts of your life, living in line with your values, prioritizing, etc. but at times when we get so overloaded it is good to have a simple approach to remove yourself from the beginning of a crisis cycle and get back to putting first things first.

Be strategic!
Christy