Mental wellness is in the news more and more lately, and I’m grateful that it is. Emotional and mental wellness are key components of successful living and sports performance. I’m glad to see world-class athletes speaking up and encouraging others. This is a topic that comes up frequently in my sessions with athletes.
Mental wellness is by no means limited to sports. It’s vital for success in business too. The thoughts contained here pertain to business leaders too.
Let’s not leave Coaches out of the conversation, though. That’s been the latest trend and I hope it’s not short-lived. In my world of swimming, there have been multiple articles, and Facebook threads, talking about the mental and emotional wellness of coaches. Here is a link to one article: Mental Wellness. I know it’s not limited to swimming. This is an issue in all sports because all coaches are human beings dealing with other human beings.
It’s far too easy for a Coach to avoid putting effort into mental and emotional wellness. It’s difficult to measure. It doesn’t have a box on the win-loss sheets. You can’t put a stopwatch on it. And in the midst of the season – and if you’re in college sports or working with elite club athletes – the season is never over.
When results are more about feelings and clarity of mind, what do you do?
The key is discovering your personal triggers, owning what really happens, and then replacing what doesn’t work. It’s not “3 Easy Steps to Wellness.” The process works but the process takes work.
Presently I’m working with 4 sports coaches through this process that works. They would all tell you that it’s difficult work that is well worth it.
Let me share two tools you might use to help:
- Learn to say “No.” Sounds too simple and then comes the real question: “What keeps me from being able to say , ’No?’” That’s where the work comes into play. What are your personal triggers? What are the barriers? You can, however, start from wherever you are. Just as you would encourage an athlete to say no to things that aren’t helpful to peak performance, so the same rings true for you.
You might also get at it by answering the question: “Do I feel guilty when I relax?” And I’m going to dig into by asking: “And what’s that about?”
- Make a “T-Chart” with one side labeled “Control” and the other side “Not Control.” This is a simple exercise that works with any leader of any age in any situation. Writing it down is a big part of the key.
What do you control in your life? What do you not control? When I do this with athletes, they write down things they don’t control, including: officials, other competitors, weather, track/field/court conditions, and more. Under their control: attitude, actions, words, showing up, and more.
What are on your lists?
Working on you is just as important as knowing the latest training approaches for your sport. You can have the best training approach, but if you aren’t leading you, it will lead to burn out.
But how? That’s the question. It’s the question that I help you answer. Doing the work to discover the triggers in your life is the only thing that will enable this new living to actually happen.
We do it with athletes – you as a sports Coach and me as a Leadership Coach – helping them discover, own, and replace those triggers that impede their next level performance.
Spend time on you. Spend resources on your personal development. You are worth it. Let’s talk.
This is a passion of mine, coming from a 30-year career as a Pastor, and recently moving full-time into Leadership Coaching. I am passionate about helping people get to their next level of leadership and performance, and the pathway leads through YOU.
I’m looking forward to addressing some gatherings of coaches and A.D.’s in May, although I cannot yet share who and where until we finalize schedules. I hope to see you before then, though.
Jeffery A. Raker, Level Up Coaching – Jeff@levelupleadershipcoach.com
