Monthly Archives: March 2018

First of all I apologize for being gone for a while from blogging. I have been meaning to blog but have been busy getting ready for my Strong by Zumba training and practicing my routine for my pop up class that is TOMORROW!

What exactly is Strong by Zumba? Learn more about at the website below or watch my practice video teaser:
https://strong.zumba.com/en-US/class

If you are able to attend a class or training I highly recommend it! The training was my first experience attending this class and I loved it!

I know what you might be thinking:

“You did a training for a class you have never done before and now you have 7 days to learn it before you TEACH it?”

Yes that is correct. I have learned with mental training though that it does not help to think of what could go wrong. Instead I need to focus on what could go right and work from there. What this will require is a LOT of practice. Now it doesn’t help when you promote your pop up class online and someone comments:

“I tried to learn it in 8 days after my training and I was co-teaching with someone… Good luck!”

Whatever goal you are working towards, won’t there always be people who don’t believe it will happen or choose to focus on the struggles instead of the possibilities? I needed to shrug it off and use it as motivation to prove to myself that I can do it successfully.

Since I know that preparation builds confidence I knew I needed to be as prepared as possible. I pulled out my calendar and broke down which quadrant I would practice which days. Strong by Zumba layout consists of 6 parts:

1) Warm-up
2) Quadrant 1
3) Quadrant 2
4) Quadrant 3
5) Quadrant 4
6) Cool down

Each quadrant is about 10 minutes in length consisting of around 3 different songs. I created my practice plan and broke it down like so:

Sunday: Practice Warm-up
Monday: Practice Q1
Tuesday: Practice Q2
Wednesday: Practice Q3
Thursday: Practice Q4
Friday: Practice Cool down
Saturday: PRACTICE PRACTICE PRACTICE

This would be my layout for understanding what days to focus on which parts. I set time aside each morning to review the moves, listen to the music, and image myself doing the moves on my way to and from work. I would also practice in the evening if possible. So far it’s been working out pretty well. If I focus on the process and spend my time learning and practicing the moves I won’t have time to freak out ad be nervous about my dwindling days before instructing.

Throughout the week while practicing this quote popped into my head often, “Practice makes perfect.”

That got me thinking… Does it really though? I think not. I think practice make PROGRESS. There’s no such thing as perfection in my book. If you think you have “perfected” something then you’re saying that there is no more room for improvement. This mean there is no more motivation and drive to continue to get better. Do we really want that?

I’ll explain further in this analogy of climbing a mountain:

As you work on a new skill or goal it is similar to climbing up a mountain. At first you start at the bottom and as you improve you make gains further up the mountain. There will be times you need to stop for a rest, refuel, and take the time to reflect on how far you have come. What happens though when you think you have perfected a skill? You have reached the top of the mountain. You celebrate and feel ecstatic at first, but what happens next?

You have two options:
1) Stay on top as long as possible.
2) Climb back down the mountain.

Here’s the issue though:
If you stay on top of the mountain factors out of your control may push you down before you want to (such as another person who challenges you or the wind picks up and knocks you down). Climbing back down the mountain also means you have moved on and you are now descending and/or backsliding where you came from.

What if we changed our perception though? What if you continue to strive for progress and choose not to believe in perfection? This will extend the mountain to have no end and you can continue to keep climbing.

A never ending mountain sounds exhausting to climb, but it will continue to motivate you to grow, push your limits, and instill determination to keep getting better and to become grittier. If you view improving on a skill as continued progress instead of reaching perfection, then you will be continuing to climb that mountain instead of focusing on reaching the top.

After all didn’t Miley Cyrus say, “It’s the climb.”

As a society we should stop saying, “Practice makes perfect.” When we say this we are encouraging our kids, friends, athletes, and others around us to strive for something that is not possible. We do not want to lead people to believe that they can become perfect because the idea of perfection is actually damaging.

We want to build strong people around us to continue to strive for progress and not quit once they believe they have progressed to the point where they are content where they are. They will become stagnant and possibly slide backwards. We want motivated people who keep pushing themselves to seek new and better ways for improvement. Think of the effect this would have in your workplace, your team, your spouse, and in your friendships.

Lets all agree as a society to start saying, “Practice makes progress,” and encourage others and ourselves to continue to progress in everything we do and to not settle!

As for now, I’m going to continue to practice my routine even after I have it memorized because there will always be ways I can improve on my delivery and my form for myself and the students in my class.

Hope you all have a great weekend and checkout a Strong by Zumba class is possible!

The world of sport and performance is filled with a variety of emotions. Sometimes we experience emotions that benefit us, but many times we experience emotions that actually impact our performance in a negative way. One of the most common mental skills that athletes and coaches want to know is emotion regulation. How can you manage your emotions so that they do not get in the way of you performing at your highest potential?

The good news is that there are many different ways you can manage the emotions you are experiencing. It is a skill though, and with any other skill it requires practice. Some days might be easier to manage than others. Sometimes we may even need the help of others to remind us how to manage our emotions so that we can unleash our potential.

When I was at IMG Academy last summer I presented on ways coaches can assist athletes in managing their emotions. What I found in one article was the 3 R’s of self-regulation. However, I modified it a bit. The article that I mentioned is also a great read and if you are curious about checking it out I listed it at the end of this post.

The key part in managing your own emotions or your athletes’ if you are a coach or mental consultant is to first understand and recognize when negative emotions are present.

Recognize:

Once an athlete makes a mistake/error coaches should be asking themselves and their athletes what they are thinking or experiencing. Our thoughts are what first affect the emotions we experience. If you are aware of your own thoughts then you are increasing your self-awareness.

Coaches should be checking in with their athletes on what thoughts enter their mind after a mistake so that the athletes can become more self-aware. It is crucial for coaches to increase their emotional intelligence to be able to notice and recognize when their athletes are not regulating their emotions effectively. Once you can identify that you or your athlete is experiencing a negative emotion you can move onto the next R.

*Check out Goleman, 1998 for more information on how coaches can increase emotional intelligence.

Reset:

After recognizing the emotion the athlete needs to be able to let that emotion/negative thought go. This is referred to as resetting their thoughts and emotions. Coaches should encourage athletes to engage in a verbal cue as well as a physical cue to release the thought or emotion they are experiencing. After this is explained to an athlete and practiced, a coach can yell out to the athlete, “Reset” to remind them to go through their verbal and physical cues after a mistake.

Verbal cue examples:
– “Flush it”
– “Reset”
– “Next one”
– “Let it go”
– “Shake it off”

Physical examples:
– Snap a rubber band
– Brush off their hands
– Dig their toe in the ground
– Readjust gloves
– Tighten hair tie
– Readjust hat
– Taking a deep breath

Refocus:

After letting the mistake, emotions, and thoughts go the athlete needs to be able to refocus on the task at hand. This could be repeating an “I AM” statement or reminding athletes to focus on a specific skill to execute.

1. Repeat I AM/Power statements:
Ex: I am resilient, I am strong, I am focused, I am determined.

2. Remind athletes to focus on a specific skill to execute or position to be in.
Ex: Eyes on ball, relax, follow through, breathe, drive the arm, knees up.

Concluding Thoughts:

If you are implementing this with yourself, write down your 3 R’s so that you can easily access them if you forget. If you are a coach, have your athletes complete the exercise below and implement the 3 R’s in practice. This way when it is competition time your athletes will have the 3 R’s well rehearsed and it will become a habit.

Try this exercise:

1. Write down common negative emotions you experience within your sport/performance. Include the events that tend to make these emotions arise.
2. What verbal cue and physical cue do you want to use to reset yourself?
3. What I am statement or technical skill are you going to remind yourself to refocus?

I hope that you found the 3 R’s of self-regulation to be helpful and beneficial to yourself and your athletes. Comment below and let me know your thoughts!

Blog post that inspired the 3 R’s:

http://www.sportpsychologytoday.com/sport-psychology-for-coaches/emotional-control-and-composure-in-sports/

Last weekend I drove to Giant’s Ridge in Biwabik, Minnesota. It was a 7-hour drive one way; which is really the LAST thing I wanted to do. However, my mom organized it because my younger brother was homesick and he was in college an hour away from the lodge. I highly value family and thought about whether or not I should go for the week. Last minute I decided I would make the drive to spend valuable time with my family.

The reason we went to Giant’s Ridge is to ski. Many of you probably do not know my skiing history so I will share. The last time I went skiing was in 7th grade. I remember it was for a school event. I still remember going down the bunny hill several times and building up my confidence to hit the bigger slopes (bigger meaning the green slopes). I went down and was feeling comfortable. However, once I got towards the end I somehow forgot how to stop and slow down. I was going full speed right towards the group of teachers.

I can’t help but try to image the scene from an outsider’s perspective. Here comes a 7th grader who is becoming overly confident in their skiing abilities, not slowing down or stopping, headed towards a group of teachers. I had my arms flailing around me while yelling at the group of teachers, “I CAN’T STOP, I CAN’T STOP!”

Next thing I know I’m on the ground with my math teacher who I took out in the process. At least she was able to stop me. After that I haven’t been skiing since, until last weekend.

I would be lying if I did not say I was nervous. I also though love a challenge and was excited to see what I could do. In the back of my mind I was thinking of all the terrible “what if” scenarios.

What if I broke my leg?
With my leg broken, how much time would I need off of work?
I change insurance in the beginning of the month, what would happen to my medical bills?
What if this is my first concussion?
What if I would need surgery?

I reminded myself of my profession and how I help others push past their fears and doubts and focus on what they need to do to succeed and meet their goals. I need to apply that same practice to myself. I pushed the negative and scary thoughts out of my focus and instead focused on the exciting “what if” scenarios.

What if I am really good at skiing?
What if I could start going off jumps?
What if I become the next Lindsey Vonn? (ok this one was just for fun)
What if I ENJOY skiing?

These “what if” scenarios made me much more excited to ski and I began to look forward to it. I also tried to go into it without expectations and indulge in self-love and self-compassion. I understood that I was new to this and that it might take me a while to learn. I prepared myself to be patient and kind to myself instead of getting frustrated and upset if it took me a while to learn.

I started off the bunny hill and I was able to go down a few times without falling. My sister struggled more than I did, which boosted my confidence in myself because she said she was ready for the actual slopes. I reminded myself that if she is ready than I am ready too.

We started off going down the easier slopes and I was freaking out inside! I kept taking deep calming breaths on the ski lift, just like I remind athletes to do when they start to freak out and lose focus. I had mantras prepared to help me through these moments.

I’ve got this.
I can do this.
I just need to get to the bottom.
I’m a quick learner.
I will complete this task.

Once we got off the ski lift and started going my self-talk became technical rather than motivational. I asked my sister how I was suppose to ski and what to do with my feet. While we started going I would pick up some speed and then tell myself, “Cut to the left/right, move my body to the side, FRONT FOOT FRONT FOOT FRONT FOOT!”

There were moments that I started going faster than I wanted and I had to calm myself down and focus on the technical skills instead of freaking out about how fast I was going because that would have resulted in a fall. I continued to focus on my breathing and at times was yelling at myself in my head “FRONT FOOT FRONT FOOT FRONT FOOT,” to focus on turning to the side to slow myself down or stop. Once I got to a slower place or stopped I was able to catch my breath and remind myself that I am ok and I’ve got this.

The first few times down the slopes were challenging and I admit that I did want to quit. I wanted to stop because I was struggling and was falling a lot down the hill. I noticed that I also continued to compare my abilities with those around me. There were 5-year olds skiing past me and I was getting down on myself. I used my mental training skills though and told myself I am not a quitter and if I quit I will lose this opportunity to learn a new skill. I reminded myself that I am a beginner and to focus on myself instead of those around me. I used GRIT to keep myself going and each time I went down the slopes I got a little bit better, I fell less, gained more confidence, and was actually starting to have FUN.

If I did quit after the first or second time down the slopes I would have missed out on those feelings of success. I would have been stuck in the room by myself and wouldn’t even be making memories and bonding with my family; which is the sole reason I came in the first place!

Looking back now I am grateful for my education in Sport Psychology because I was able to apply it in this situation and experience learning a new skill with my family. The trip ended up being full of great laughs, wonderful memories, delicious food, and led to me leaving with a full warm heart.

The outcome could have been so different. I could have allowed myself to focus on the negatives throughout my experience, become more frustrated every time I fell, lost my confidence, and threw in the towel and quit. Quitters never reach success and their full abilities. Only those who learn from their failures and falls and keep their head up to keep going are the ones who will reach their full potential.

Think about yourself: which one are you? Would you have threw in the towel and went back into the room or would you have continued going down the slopes and face the fear and disappointed you were feeling?

It’s not easy. I was getting frustrated and I was getting upset. There were times I almost did quit, but those are the times when you need to keep fighting. That is when your mind needs to overpower your body and make it continue moving forward. I may not have gone down a black diamond or went over jumps, but I was courageous in my own way.

I faced my own fears of attempting skiing. I continued to ski even after I was taken out from behind from another skier. I didn’t quit and I continued to learn, fight, and move down the hill. Success doesn’t mean you have to be the best. Success is learning something new, fighting through the failures, and facing your fears.

I hope you enjoyed reading my blog, let me know what you think in the comments below!

Remember: Success is on the other side of fear.