Presence… Getting my best performance

I remember in my last post, I spoke about the importance of Decision Making. Before I continue, think about 3 decisions you have made in the past 5 years that have shaped your life.

If you were to have made a different decision in those three moments, where would you be now? what would you be doing? who would you be with? what would you have experienced?

Decisions are critical, and their importance is overly magnified and evident in the sporting arena. Every decision an athlete makes is highlighted for everyone to see. There is no hiding.

So, what do I do to help make sure I make the right decisions at the right time?

Firstly, it comes down to knowing in advance what decisions you want to make. What are you trying to achieve as an individual and as a team? If you know that in advance, you can think about the scenarios you are likely to be confronted with and you can plan your decisions in advance for those moments. Before a match, I stand in position on the field and talk myself over all the key decisions I need to make in the match for my performance to be as good as possible.

Secondly, I try my hardest to get into a state of confidence, certainty, and excitement. I feel like when I’m in these states, I play my best hockey. I think about what my body does when I’m in those states and I try to replicate it. I think about what language I use when I’m in those states and I try to replicate it. I think about what I focus on when I’m in those states and I try to replicate it.

Have a think about your own performance in the various areas of your life. What do you need to do in order to be able to make high quality decisions every time?

World Class Support

Last week, I was asked to speak at Emirates Stadium at an event for Arsenal F.C.

I shared a couple of simple strategies with them around goal setting, but the most important thing I spoke about was the need for a world class support team.

You cannot be successful on your own, no matter how hard you try.

– Identify the areas you need support in for you to achieve your goals
– Hand pick the best person to support you in each area
– Convince them to join you on the journey
– Stick with them throughout

Click here to see the article written about it on Arsenal’s website.

World Cup qualification… Check!

World Cup qualification. That’s what we came here for. 3 weeks away in Malaysia with 4 months of preparation before it, all for 1 game that determines whether we qualify or not. Everything we have done has been for this moment. Scary. Exciting. No place to hide.

This is what goals should be like. We were clear in our objective when we started out. Everyone knew what we were working towards, and why the tactics we were training were being trained. To win our Quarter Final match of this tournament would give us a top 4 finish – enough to qualify for the World Cup.

Our group games went well, and we stuck to our game plan to beat Japan 5-0 in the Quarter Final. Job done. Mission complete.

Life isn’t about achieving and relaxing though. Life is about progress, development, and constantly striving for better. When you achieve your goals, always make sure you immediately set a new one otherwise you will feel stagnant, unfulfilled, and bored.

Our next goal is now a top 2 finish by winning our Semi Final against Argentina tomorrow. After that we set another goal.

Summary:
– Set a goal that excites you
– Make sure it excites your team, whether a sports team, business team, or even family
– Get everyone to buy in to the tactics you’re going to use to get there
– Whatever happens at the point of achieving / not achieving, set your next goal immediately