The following is taken from “This is Good: A Journey on Overcoming Adversity” by Tami Matheny
“We have to try and not let the little things go by. It’s the little things that win games. It’s the little things that often get overlooked that can add two or three more wins.” -Kenny Harrison, Olympian
“Take care of the little things and the big things will take care of themselves.” Most of us have heard that phrase before, right? Did you ever stop to think about what it really means? What are the little things? What are the big things? How do the big things take care of themselves?
When we focus on the little things we can control, we tend to find more success. The little things are the aspects of your game that you directly control, that you do day in day out. You have control over your hustle, your drive, your mindset, your confidence, and your effort. You have control over your attitude, your passion, and your sportsmanship.
The bigger things are not in your direct control. Since you can’t control them, don’t concern yourself with the referees (or officials), or the way the other team is performing. You can’t control the crowd, the coaches, or your teammates. Don’t focus on these aspects. The bigger things will take care of themselves if you focus on taking care of the little things.
If you focus on the bigger things- the outcome, the officials, the coaches, or the opponent, then your individual effort will suffer. Keep your mind and body focused on only the things that you can control and that you need to perform.
When you execute the little things to perfection, then the results will take care of themselves. When everyone does their part in taking care of the little things, the collective effort will often produce the results we desire. There is a quote that goes “little by little, a little becomes a lot.”
When we do things sometimes, we get inconsistent results. When we do things consistently, we get consistent results. Consistency= repetition + preparation.
A consistent mindset, consistent effort, and a consistent lifestyle equals consistent results. Consistent performance is the result of consistent behavior. Consistent behavior requires a consistent pattern of thought. It’s a MINDSET.
Consistency is developed through mental discipline- repeatedly doing the little things irrespective of circumstance or consequence. What are the little things you need to do daily to be prepared?
Routines help improve consistency. Routinely doing something, even if it is just a little bit, builds big momentum in the long run. Some of the routines Belmont had built in were mental warm-up and mistake routines (or reset buttons).
September 15 @Indiana State
My game day message: “It’s the little things done consistently that get results. Here is what we need to do consistently: mental warm-up before playing, continuing to rise above the emotions, staying in the present moment, focusing on giving energy to the team vs. sulking about playing time, injury, your play, etc.”
They had shown the weekend before, doing these four things gave them the best opportunity to win. My challenge was to get the team to do them consistently.
EXERCISE 13: Make a list of the little things you need to start doing consistently in order to reach your goals.
“Incredible change happens in your life when you decide to take control of what you do have power over instead of craving control over what you don’t.” -Steve Maraboli
For more information on “This is Good” visit https://r2lc.com/this-is-good-a-journey-on-overcoming-confidence.
Tami Matheny is a Mental Game Coach and Author of “The Confident Athlete: 4 Easy Steps to Build and Maintain Confidence” https://r2lc.com/the-confident-athlete-4-easy-steps-to-build-and-maintain-confidence/ and “The Confidence Journal”. All books can be purchased online at Amazon. For group discounts or signed copies contact http://tami@r2l.mysites.io.
Tami owns and runs, Refuse2LoseCoaching which provides mental coaching for athletes and teams at all levels. For more information on mental training contact tami@r2l.mysites.io, follow us on twitter @tamimatheny and @r2lcoaching and visit our website: https://r2lc.com.
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