Developing a Championship Mindset

Making a Commitment and Developing a “Championship Mindset”

The thing is, championships don’t just happen. They don’t just accidentally occur. They take a great deal of focus and determination, and sometimes that can be overwhelming. So for the next few weeks, I want to look at the 5 steps to developing a championship mindset. Let’s get started with the first step (arguably the most important).

Commitment

Definition: Staying loyal to what you said you were going to do long after the mood has left you. Okay, I might have gotten ahead of myself. Before you commit to something, you need to think about WHAT you’re going to commit to. The first thing you have to do is decide what you're going to do. What’s the pressure point in your life? What’s the one area that’s weak, that’s not good that isn’t where you want to be?

I hear so many people say things like, I wish that I could lose weight. This is just simply wishful thinking. Wishing isn’t commitment. It’s just daydreaming and it's never changed anything.

But if you just dig a little farther, you can move from wishful thinking to an actual goal. All you have to do is think about what you want to be different in the future, and then put a timestamp on it. So the formula is:

Time Frame + Desired Outcome = Goal

With regards to weight loss…what if we said in the next three months, I want to lose 30 pounds. That makes a huge difference with the timestamp and desired outcome. That’s a goal. It’s moved from wishful thinking to a plan. Now you need to sit and do some brainstorming for a bit. What concrete steps and action plan do you need to take to help you achieve this goal?

What steps do I need to take to make this happen?

I’ll walk to work

I’ll will skip breakfast

I’ll eliminate snacking between meals

I will find an accountability partner

I think you get the idea. So now that we know what we need to do, we have to decide to do it. All this planning, this clear goal setting, is all very important, but it’s literally meaningless if you don’t actually commit to doing these things.

From my experience, I would say about 50 percent of people I know never move beyond the wishful thinking stage. And of the 50 percent who do come up with a clear goal and action steps, probably 75 percent of those people stall out and don’t keep their commitment.

Why?

Because we say we want something, but then, because we’re human, that mood goes away

Commitment is what gets you out of bed…it’s your why.

The great philosopher Thomas Aquinas said that the ability to do what you should even when you don’t want to (what he called temperance) was one of the four most important virtues a person could have (he called it a “cardinal” or “foundational” virtue).  For him it was the decision to not do what you want to do in order to avoid sinful excess. But we can also adapt that idea toward a similar idea: it’s also important to do what you DON’T want to do to avoid an excess in the form of bad habits.

Here’s the truth

Commitment is foundational.

Commitment is an investment in yourself.

Look, if you’re reading this, I might not know you, but I know this about you: you have a lot more potential in you than you think. And I don’t want you to waste it or let it go undeveloped.

As a coach, I want you to be the BEST version of yourself and be the best you possible. I want you to move beyond wishful thinking, I want you to imagine the best you and then figure out what steps you need to take. And then commit to those steps because you’re committed to becoming the best you. The world needs you to be the best you possible but more than that, you need you to be the best you possible.

Coach Talk

I want you to complete this exercise so you can move from wishful thinking to actual goals with real action steps.

Step 1

What are the areas of your health that you are most concerned about right now? Take a few minutes and write them down.

Step 2

What is the reality of this area of your life right now? Be honest with yourself. It does no good to sugarcoat things.

Step 3

Be specific about what you want to be different in your life. Complete this and fill in the blank:

By……………………..I want………………………………….to happen in my life.

Step 4

Brainstorm all the things that you could do to help you achieve the sentence you filled in above.

Step 5

Pick 1-3 things you are convinced will help you achieve that goal. Write them down below. Be sure to include how often you will do them.

1)

2)

3)