Surprise!

Early one morning as I was leaving for work I got a phone call. My manager was on the line: ‘I hope you don’t have any important plans for tomorrow mate, because we’ve just booked you on a flight to Munich Germany’ he said. Needless to say I had some organizing to do.

A promising young athlete had recently injured his hamstring for the second time, this time more seriously. The medical staff and club decided to invest in giving this particular player every chance of fast tracking his recovery in the case of the team making finals. This meant that I would accompany the athlete to Munich to see world renowned sports doc Hans Muller-Wohlfahrt

Hans Muller-Wohlfahrt is changing the face of sports medicine with his pioneering research and methods

Knowing Hans’ reputation and the caliber of athletes who come from all over the world to see him (we missed Usain Bolt by one week) I was more than a little excited to meet the man and learn what I could. I packed my bags and read up a little on his work in preparation, and before I knew it we were taking off from Melbourne airport en route to Germany.

If you know me personally or read my blog you know that high performance is my life’s obsession. In my job as a strength & conditioning coach I have been fortunate to be able to meet, hear from and spend time picking the brains of more than a few world leaders in their respective fields.

I have discussed running efficiency, technique and footwear with leading researchers and professors at Harvard, listened to world renowned coaches talk about character and attitude, observed and learned from the worlds best performance coaches in the gym and on field, stood next to world leading surgeons in theatre and debated different methods for athlete preparation and rehabilitation with physiotherapists at the Australian Institute of Sport.

But this particular opportunity was one that I was particularly excited about. Having known of Hans and his amazing results with some of the world best athletes I wanted to learn more about the man himself and his outlook on the world, his work and also those who opposed him. As with any trailblazer Hans had dealt with his fair share of criticism in opposition to his idea’s, methods and philosophies.

Meeting ‘the man’!

As we walked into Hans’ office it was quite obvious the man had a passion for what he did. The office was huge and there was a wall filled with books and memorabilia. Being a bit of a nerd myself I started scanning the books for authors or titles that I would recognize. As I scanned I noticed a wide array of titles from many fields of medicine. The things that struck me was the breadth of information he had on healing and medicine.

There were traditional books on human anatomy, physiology and sports medicine. But then there were also books on more eastern or ‘alternative’ methods of healing also. But Hans didn’t stop there, he had obviously considered the psychological component of injury and disease also as there were neuroscience, psychology and spirituality books to do with healing sitting within his bookcase. It was obvious Hans had an insatiable appetite for learning anything and everything he could about bringing someone back to a state of health and vitality.

Many people move into their chosen field and ‘specialize’ in an area in order to become an expert. Hans’ is no different, most of the time he works with athletes.  However it seemed to me that Hans had acquired a bigger picture of healing. He had not subordinated to one industry paradigm of how things ‘should’ be done and limited his learning to one isolated body of research. Instead he actively took from various methods and disciplines what he felt was valuable and developed his own idea of healing. An idea which created the kind of results that were now  recognised by the worlds highest profile athletes.

Hans’ unique outlook on Healing had earned him much respect amongst the worlds highest profile athletes due to the remarkable results he helped his clients achieve. However he also copped his fair share of criticism from well known industry ‘experts’ who could not come close to understanding or accepting his unique perspective on the field of health and healing in the human body. And so they labeled him a ‘witch doctor’, ‘Frankenstein’ and all other types of denigrating names.

As I got to know Hans over the course of the week it was obvious that he accepted this criticism in the knowledge that no one can have a significant level of support (that of the athletes) without a significant level of challenge (that of his expert detractors). He laughed that in fact many of his earliest detractors were now the very same people publicly acknowledging him for his contribution to new understandings in science and healing.

What I learned!

Kevin Clash was a boy who loved designing, building and performing with puppets. He had an insatiable appetite for learning about the art of being a puppeteer. In the documentary ‘Being Elmo’ Kevin describes the torment he was subjected to as he grew up. Kids at his school thought he should be more like them, interested in the ‘normal’ things that ‘most’ kids were interested in. This did not deter Kevin, his persistence and practice combined to develop a very high level of skill at a young age.

As a result he became a professional puppeteer on TV before he graduated from high school. By that time, most kids looked up to him and declared him most likely to be successful. Kevin eventually toured the world and worked for the hugely successful Sesame Street, making the Elmo puppet the most famous and recognised puppet in the world today.

Albert Einstein caused much conflict with his teachers since insisted that he learn his own way even from a young age when most children still act subordinate to their elders. Instead Einstein infuriated his teachers by ‘taking risks with his learning’ and refused to learn in the ways his teachers thought he ‘should’. As such he was the often the subject of much criticism from his teachers and also his peers throughout his life also.

Einstein loved bucking the trends and thumbing his nose at authority

The experience of meeting Hans’ and the stories of Kevin Clash and Einstein taught me that the level of success you will have is directly correlated to the amount of criticism you are prepared to accept. In order to create the kind of results that will make you a leader, you need to first be prepared to become ‘the villain’ in many people’s eyes in the understanding that at the same time or eventually you will also become the ‘hero’ for many others.

This requires a firm understanding and acceptance of yourself, your purpose and the self-confidence and awareness to proceed with a smile. One of Einstein’s most famous quotes was: ‘My contempt for authority is what made me one’. I believe Hans, Kevin and Einstein all personified a spirit of self-belief, persistence and curiosity which is common to all high performers and has proven to make them all wildly successful in their own ways.

A quick recap

In my previous post I outlined how I came to the realization that I was ‘majoring in the minors’, spreading myself thin and in need of some help. Once I had identified my problem I set about finding the solution. Interestingly, the keys to my solution were found in my email inbox and the pages of the Harvard Business Review.

Frequently I get emails and requests for ‘work experience’ from aspiring undergraduates, high schools kids and others. Earlier in my career I felt this type of thing would actually be more of burden on me than help. Since in taking someone I was taking on more responsibility, another person to look out for.

My outlook changed however on a professional development trip to the US to meet and learn from some of the worlds top coaches within the strength and conditioning field. Michael Boyle is man whose work and philosophies I have the utmost respect for. Upon meeting him at his own elite performance facility I immediately noticed how active and involved his ‘interns’ were in the day to day running’s of the facility and coaching of athletes.

In fact I noticed this trend among all of the coaches I met with on the trip. All of the facilities were filled with eager young coaches thriving at any opportunity they got to learn and apply their learning. The other thing I noticed is that these facilities more often than not seemed to run like a well oiled machine regardless of who was present. Sometimes the master coaches were there, sometimes younger coaches who were employed, however all of the time interns were right alongside the coaches coaching.

Coaching and working with interns is one of the best PD tools I have come across

The best way to learn is to teach

I decided to put on two interns who would help me at my busiest times, times where I felt spread too thin. This meant that I could spend more time coaching and communicating with athletes and less time on tasks that could be delegated to the interns. In exchange for their help I began teaching them and fielding their questions.

An interesting by product of my educating and mentoring the interns was that I was forced to organise the intellectual property scattered throughout my mind. In doing so I became more aware of patterns and trends in my methods. As a result of this I gradually developed a system for my daily tasks and decisions. This system has ultimately worked to make improve my output, effectiveness and efficiency in three ways:

1. Improved Transparency:
Having a clear system in place meant that both athletes and interns I was managing within my day to day role had more clear understanding of what was required of them at all times. This worked to improve athlete independence and intern confidence.

2. Improved Decision Making:
Systems create a consistent framework on which sound decisions can be made. After taking the time to develop my system I spent less time planning sessions and improved my ability to adapt to rapidly changing situations.

3. Improved Ability to Delegate & Prioritize:
Developing my system meant that I ran the microscope over all of my daily actions, as I did this I uncovered the ‘minors’ I had been majoring in and developed ways to teach and coach my interns on managing these lower priority tasks. Allowing me to conserve my energy for matters of the highest importance and priority.

Regulating energy

Now I had the task of, ensuring that those I worked with always got exactly what they needed from me, and then some. Putting on interns was the first step, but I wanted to ensure I always have plenty to give to those I am working with. I began researching productivity and management strategies and came across an article in the pages of Harvard Business review by Tony Schwartz.
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The article titled ‘manage your energy, not your time’ summarized some interesting research on productivity and workplace efficacy. The crux of the article stated that there was an inherent problem with time management when it comes to productivity in the workplace. Since time is a finite resource it cannot be renewed. i.e. you cannot ‘get back’ time wasted at work.

Energy however, is an infinite resource, which can be renewed and manipulated in order to increase output. Schwartz believed that time was less important than energy, since his findings demonstrated an energetic and inspired worker can get more done in much less time than a tired, worn out worker who had the luxury of more time to complete a given task. I had to agree with this point since my 10 hour days were not producing the results I would have hoped for.

This article and its findings were very interesting to me and I began to ask myself some even more interesting questions. I realized that if energy is the key to my performing well, then my poor performance at work must be the result of inefficient use and poor regulation of my energy. I asked myself a couple of key questions:

1. How and where do I personally gain energy in my life?

2. What are the aspects of my job, which unnecessarily sap me of energy?

In this way I began to think of my output and efficiency as much the same as a jug of water. I reasoned that In order to do my best at work I must be able to pour the water (my energy) into my work whenever I am present. Of course before you can pour from a jug you must fill it up. Understanding where and how I filled my jug (or gained energy) in life helped me to create rituals that ensured I would always have a steady flow of energy and enthusiasm.

Regulating energy is key for sustaining performance

I took time to answer these questions and ranked my responses for each one. Following this I isolated the top three activities that I felt gave me the most energy, and the top three which sapped my energy. I began to include those activities into my daily and weekly planning to ensure that before I came to work I had a full jug with which to work with and therefore an abundance of energy and focus.

Alternatively I made an active attempt to avoid those tasks that I had identified as sapping my energy unnecessarily. A kind of ‘not to do’ list. These were the tasks I looked to delegate or completely erase where possible. As I started implementing my energy rituals and began delegating or avoiding lower priority task I found an immediate improvement which was soon to validated by someone who took the time to notice.

Coming full circle

A few months ago I was talking with some athletes, joking about how I was moving to a rival team post season. The same player who had made the ‘you don’t even care do you?’ comment (in part one) responded by saying ‘if you leave I am going to hunt you down mate’. I laughed and said ‘mate if I left, someone else would come in and do just as good a job and the wheel would keep rolling, no dramas’. ‘Yes but I doubt he would care as much as you do?’ he questioned. At that moment I realized I had come full circle.

‘You don’t even care do you?’ said an athlete after I busily dismissed his concerns prior to a session. He had said it with a smile in the hopes of winding me up but it was not the first time I had heard such a comment. Recently other athletes had joked with me in the same way. At that moment I realised there must be some truth to this statement. I was devastated.

At that point I was working about 60-70 hours a week and had not had a day off in over three months. I would regularly pull 10 hour days at work and spend hours at night planning and preparing. I was neglecting all of my relationships with family and friends, and my girlfriend at the time mentioned she got the feeling I didn’t want her around when I was working at home.

I took these comments to heart, ‘how could I be working so hard, giving so much and yet be perceived this way?’ I wondered. There had to be a better way than this. The whole reason I had worked so hard to get to this position in my career was because I wanted to help others achieve exceptional results. How could I even consider this if these people didn’t believe I cared for them or their aspirations?

I had fallen into the trap of being ‘busy’, working hard, not smart and moving through life with the blinkers on. Having such a narrow focus on results and ‘getting things done’ I failed to see the bigger picture and as a result was ignorant of the importance of PEOPLE at work and in my personal life. I realised then, that I had become someone I did not like.

I had been trying to be everything for everyone, I wanted to do it all myself because at the time I believed ‘if you want something done right you have to do it yourself’ If I am honest I would also say that I was probably also driven by ego. I wanted to be solely responsible so that when my ‘hard work’ paid off I would be singled out and credited.

In my own experiences and research I noticed that the highest performers are not always those who just work the hardest. In fact it seemed these people were deep thinkers about their craft, and over time found more efficient ways to get better results. They approached their training with an open, inquisitive mind always focused on achieving more with less. This relentless focus on improvement meant that often they came up with small methods to alter the input, which translated to massive improvements in performance (output)

Take David Tabain for instance, David is the world Kettlebell champion who has no peer when it comes to swinging, pressing and jerking these iron balls through, off and around his body. From what I have seen, heard and read there is no one who comes close to achieving the output he is capable of on a lifting platform. (to see Dave at his best check this link: www.youtube.com/watch?v=-vdFvRf11H8)

I was fortunate enough to spend a few hours with Dave teaching me how to ‘snatch’ the kettlebell overhead using the technique he has refined for competition. He had spent years refining his technique and analysing the movement down to the millimetre, searching for weakness he could address, strengths he could leverage and testing methods aimed at eking more from his body and the equipment.

Dave found that by making a few small but crucial adjustments, he could dramatically decrease fatigue, and increase his speed and endurance. He showed me how not internally rotating the shoulder (think turning off a tap with your left hand) as the kettlebell passes through your legs saves the small stabilizing muscles in the shoulder girdle (Which Dave knew were crucial for battling through fatigue near the end of the test).

He showed me how instead of letting the bell fall from above his head and catching it as it passed through his legs, he actually threw it down. This allowed him to increase the speed of each rep and helped him maintain his power while fatigued. In his sport the person who completes the most repetitions during the set time period is the winner.

Dave also showed me the art of breathing throughout and between each repetition. He had figured out that having tension in the trunk (more tension exists with air in the lungs) during certain stages of a repetition dramatically improves efficiency and decreased fatigue. It was genius. To prove his point he had me breathe ‘normally’, then he showed me his way. The difference was staggering.

With Kettlebell world champ David Tabain

Previously I have written about the power of the 80/20 principle. Which basically states that in all systems 80% of results come from 20% of efforts. David Tabain had been unwittingly applying this theory to his craft for years and the results spoke for themselves. His concentration was like that of an artist, constantly critiquing his work, identifying rough edges and working tirelessly to smooth them over in order to create a masterpiece. I realised it might be worthwhile to view my career as a coach from the same perspective.

I had been trying to be everything to everyone and now I had realised I had ended up being nothing to no one. I vowed to make a change and began regularly reviewing my efficiency (or inefficiency) at work. I made a list of everything my job entailed and next to each item I attached a time and energy cost. Then I organised the list in order of their level of significance to my role each day as a coach, and my role within my organisation.

This process led me to two important insights: 1) I could use some help, and 2) I was spending a lot of time and energy on things that weren’t that important. Dan John is a coach whose work I read and respect: he would call this ‘majoring in the minors’. I knew I had to make some changes.

By identifying a problem I now set about finding a solution. How do I lighten my load and spend my time and energy on the more important aspects of my job that I had identified and been neglecting. Things such as building relationships and trust, fostering mutual respect and learning and applying worlds best practice.

I set about looking for small changes I could make which would improve my output and decrease my energy cost in much the same way David Tabain had done. The results thus far have been exceptional. In my next post I will outline some of the methods I have employed to dramatically improve my efficiency and effectiveness at work. And some interesting science to back it up. Stay tuned.

‘Must have been my sledging’ I laughed jokingly after hearing that the teams Captain (and one of its oldest players) had run a significant personal best on our ‘gold standard’ fitness test.

We were deep in the bowels of our pre season training phase, and had just come off an easy week designed to freshen up our athletes before testing. During this week the athletes are subjected to a battery of physical tests to gauge the teams readiness for the upcoming season.

During one such testing session (in the gym) I noticed our team captains’ strength testing results in comparison with the teams. In my early days working with the team I remembered him as being one of the strongest pound for pound out of everyone on the list.

It seemed that now he was ‘average’ in relation to the group however. Had the team gotten stronger or had he gotten weaker? He was still more than adequate in terms of strength but I challenged him on this half jokingly anyway. The next day he went out and took a massive chunk off his previous best in one of our running tests. Jokingly I took the credit but this result was one of many which began to intrigue me.

Throughout the pre season the athletes I work with are tested on a range of objective measures which allow us (the strength & conditioning team) to make intra and inter athlete comparisons over appropriate measures of time specific to each individual and also the teams overall physical development.

Pre season training is a tough but necessary part of a teams preparation

This pre season however, was producing some very interesting findings. As expected with a young team, many of the athletes had improved their physical output significantly. However the most interesting results were those achieved by those who would be considered ‘veterans’.

Conventional wisdom holds that over time, an athlete will experience diminishing gains. That means, their capacity to physically improve their output will decrease with training age as they get closer to their genetic ‘ceiling’. However our ‘older’ players seemed to be bucking that trend and their improvements were just as notable as those of our younger athletes.

This aroused my curiosity as to why we were seeing these interesting results. The obvious question was ‘were they previously not fit?’ all of our data and intel suggested that in comparison our experienced athletes had traditionally stacked up very well against the opposition. It seemed that this new level of performance was not our athletes ‘catching up’, but morel likely them taking themselves to a whole new level.

I decided to cross-reference our methods from previous pre seasons with the methods we were currently using. To my surprise the prescription in terms of frequency (how often), volume (how much) and intensity (how hard) was very similar if not the same, however there was one minor difference, which upon reflection, I believe made all of the difference.

Previously during conditioning sessions designed to improve running capacity the athletes would simply be told exactly what to do and then go out and do it. The results from each session would be tracked and athletes could gauge their improvements after the data was presented (which often would be a day or two after the session was completed)

Under the new method we were using, the athletes had the ability to track their output instantaneously from session to session and rep to rep. They knew as soon as they had finished each session whether they had improved, stagnated or declined in their output. In this way they KNEW how much they each had improved as opposed to being told.

Previously the results (or feedback) was initially processed by others and then the results were filtered through to the person afterward, but now the feedback was relayed directly to the athlete in real time and allowed them to process it independently. Basically the difference was that previously, the ‘thinking’ was done FOR the athletes, and now it was done BY them.

In this way the central nervous system was actively engaged in every aspect of the task at all times throughout the whole pre season, whereas beforehand only when they were presented the data after the fact would athletes be able to process the results they had created. This robbed them of the opportunity to ‘rise to the occasion’ during a session in order to improve performance.

Research has confirmed that when people who are perceived as ‘experts’ offer advice and information to others, these people actually lose the capacity to process information and make decisions for themselves. The most successful and highest performing athletes I have worked with are those who consider themselves as the experts of their own career and take control and responsibility accordingly.

Often it is those who assume control and responsibility for their own success are the highest performers

I believe this subtle difference had a huge impact on the level of engagement, motivation and belief gained by the athletes through this form of conditioning. The impressive results seen across the board, but notably among the teams more experienced players were a clear indication that the highest levels of performance only come when those are charged with managing these improvements seek to EMPOWER those they are seeking the improvement from.

Creating an environment that allows people to drive their own performance, think for themselves, and easily see and track their results works to engage them both physically and mentally. This provides them with a framework they can use in their own way to succeed. It also affords them the self-belief and respect, which comes from FEELING responsible for your own success.

‘You’ve got the job’, you will start tomorrow’ Tears welled up in my eyes as I took these words in and at that moment I knew it had all been worth it.

I had just accepted my dream job, to work with elite athletes at the age of 23 and months before even graduating. At this time I was one of the youngest (if not the youngest) coaches in the country. Some people within the industry were shocked and openly questioned whether I was ready for this level of responsibility. But as I have come to learn, whether you feel ready or not is irrelevant when it comes to taking your chances and performing on the big stage.

What the doubters didn’t realize was that I had been single mindedly working toward this moment for 5 years. When I arrived in Melbourne I could not even get a job at a local sports store let alone work with elite athletes. I knew nothing and no one, the only thing I knew was what I wanted to achieve.

At my first university lecture I was told: ‘on average there are five full time strength and conditioning positions within Australia each year, there are also well over five thousand graduates from this course. Competing for these five positions will also be people who have already had experience from this country as well as others’.

What matters most is how you see yourself, not how others see you

After 5 years of up-skilling myself, accelerating my learning by doing well above and beyond what was required within and without of the course, and working for free or a pittance, I felt that had paid my dues and deserved the chance I had been handed. So there was no hesitation on my behalf when I was offered this job. I knew I may not have been ready, but I sure as hell felt worthy of the opportunity to live my dream.

Recently, two players debuted in the same game for the team I am contracted to. One player was a first round draft pick, who had been earmarked for greatness from a young age. The other was a mature age recruit who had been repeatedly overlooked for years before getting his chance.

When it came time to perform on the big stage the mature age recruit made more of an impact in my opinion than the first round pick. The funny thing is, both players were picked in the same draft and had both spent the summer training together for this moment, one was no more prepared or ‘ready’ than the other. However I believe the mature age recruit felt more worthy of his chance and this accounted for his greater influence on the day.

Knowing both athletes well I can tell you that there is absolutely NO difference in their desire to succeed. And both are first class people. The simple fact is that the older player has had more life experience and had dealt with more adversity related to fulfilling his dream. These factors combined to mean that on the night, the older player was able to access and express more of his ability, despite the fact that they had trained together in preparation for the occasion.

I have come to realize that we can never be ‘ready’ to take the chances we are given, because it is impossible to fully account for the unknown. In my case I believe it was because I felt worthy that I have been able to live my dream, not because I felt ready.

To test this assumption I recently asked a group of elite athletes the question: ‘when you got the chance to live your dream and compete at the elite level, did you feel ready?’ Every single one of them said no.

For me, I needed to believe I was worthy of the job I was offered. This meant I had to feel comfortable with the fact that people would doubt me, I would make mistakes & learn many lessons. Because I felt worthy I took the risk (of falling flat on my face) and approached my job with assertion and confidence. And this has proved to make all of the difference.

Self worth (the opinion you hold of yourself) is very important when it comes to accepting the opportunities that constantly present themselves. Your level of self worth occurs in direct response to the stories you tell yourself about who you are and what you have experienced.

Feeling worthy is paramount in order to give yourself permission to take these chances when they arise in life. Time and time again I have seen athletes who ‘can’t seem to catch a break’. These are usually people who on some level do not feel ‘comfortable’ or that they ‘belong’. I have noticed that these are the athletes who tend to under-perform (relative to their ability), are frequently injured and recover slowly from injuries.

I believe these type of comments may elude to a lack of self worth. The crazy thing is, this is rarely a truth. The first round draft pick was no less worthy than the mature age recruit. Both trained hard and did what all that was required to get their opportunity. However it is the perception, which makes all of the difference.

A lack of self worth can rob us of the expression of our skill and ability since we might hesitate to take the chance (or not take it at all). We doubt ourselves; avoid taking risks, being proactive and bold like we normally would in our ‘comfort zone’.

When 1% makes all the difference, preparation is not the only factor.

The key to performing at the highest level is rarely how much training you do or how much you might know (since everyone at higher levels trains hard or has a lot of specialized knowledge) but how worthy you feel of the opportunity.

The key to self worth is to look inside and ask yourself the simple question: do I feel worthy? If the answer is an emphatic yes then you have nothing to fear. If the answer is no you would be wise to ask yourself another simple question and challenge its response: Why not?

Working with athletes looking to continuously improve performance and helping them recover from injury has taught me a lot about what works and what doesn’t in terms of exercise prescription, communication and management of people, but over time I have learned there are some things over which I have little influence that play a huge part in both success and quality of life

One particular athlete I worked with early in my career dealt with a chronic overuse injury, which basically meant he missed the majority of two years competition early in his career. This guy is extremely passionate about his sport and has an amazing drive to succeed for no other reason than he loves his sport.

The reason he was dealing with this injury was due to the fact that his commitment to training and preparation was more than his body could handle at that time and as a result he ended up injured. He was very young and did not yet know his body as an experienced athlete does.

This guy had worked very hard to become one of the most gifted young players in the competition and was seen by media commentators and supporters to be ‘the key’ to his teams improvement and success over the next few years.

With high expectations came pressure, pressure from the media, supporters and those around him who frequently noted how ‘important’ he was for the team to succeed. However I was struck by the maturity he displayed in dealing with this pressure and his approach to his recovery.

I believe the reason he handled the situation much better than the public and those around him was mostly due to his upbringing and the support from his family during this time. He did not approach the situation the same way everyone else seemed to be.

Often how you choose to perceive a situation ends up being far more significant than the situation itself

He appeared to possess much more of a balanced perspective than those around him since he handled the disappointment much better than even his coach at the time. He seemed to understand that he could not expect his career to be without any hurdles and was much more accepting of the situation than others.

There is a story about a farmer whose only horse ran away. The neighbours came over and said ‘what a shame’. ‘Maybe’, the farmer said shrugging his shoulders. A month later, the horse came back bringing two wild horses with it. The neighbours said ‘how fortunate’. ‘Maybe’, the farmer replied again.

The farmers’ son was thrown from one of the wild horses while taming it. ‘What a shame’ the neighbours sighed. ‘Maybe’ said the farmer, again without emotion.
Soon after, a war broke out and every young man in the land was conscripted. The son remained due to his broken leg. ‘How fortunate’ said the neighbours. ‘Maybe’ said the boys father, shrugging his shoulders…

We live in a world of dichotomies. There is a universal law called the law of polarity, which states that everything can be separated into two wholly opposite parts, each of these parts contains the potentiality of the other. This basically means that you cannot have up without down, black without white, fast without slow, kindness without cruelty, health without sickness etc etc. It also means that for every ‘negative’ there is a positive, just as for every positive there is a negative.

Striving for a one sided life (only positives without negatives) is naïve and does not serve you. Since seeing only one side (something as either positive or negative) means that you are blinded to the other. This robs us of the lessons that are often inherent in the challenges we face. It also exaggerates the disappointment experienced when circumstance fails to meet your expectations.

Striving for a one sided life is an impossibility and only sets you up for an emotional rollercoaster ride. Learning to maintain a balanced perspective (by seeing both sides) can dramatically improve your quality of life and allows you to be less attached to results and circumstances, but instead be aware of lessons and opportunities for personal growth, which will only ever serve to improve your self-concept.

In a world of dichotomies you cannot have the yin without the yang

The lesson this young athlete learned was that to succeed at the elite level in his sport he needed to learn how to listen to his body and become more aware of how it responded to different training volumes, modes and intensities. He is now what I call a very ‘smart’ athlete, since he is acutely aware of when to push his body and when to back off when training.

Having a balanced outlook allowed him to create meaning from the experience (since he now has an acute awareness of his body which may yet prove to add years to his career) and meant that in the end he did not experience the same level of frustration as those around him while also learning to appreciate and value his career from a new perspective.

‘How many efforts should I get coach?’ an athlete asked me just before he taught me a valuable lesson about performance and the value of those who are important to you. He was nervous and I noticed a bead of sweat drop from his forehead as he leaned forward and tightened the straps around his feet.

The session he was about to complete involved repeated high intensity efforts on the rowing machine and was designed to improve fatigue resistance. These sessions are brutal but there are tremendous physiological and psychological benefits for the athlete who is willing.

This particular athlete had been recovering from a serious overuse injury for some time, the injury and extended rehabilitation meant that at times he felt isolated from the group and of little value to the team. The rowing sessions were designed to help him to maintain fitness whilst being off his legs to allow for the recovery of his pathology.

The session involved repeated intervals of incremental distance before a ‘challenge’, which pitted the player against himself each time he completed this session. This challenge involved the player maintaining a set intensity for a set distance for as many efforts as possible until he could no longer maintain this workload. Once he dropped below this threshold his session was over.

The real battle in sport and life is against yourself. Training (or living) this way teaches you many great lessons

He had completed this session twice and improved his output (by beating his previous number of efforts) on both occasions. I decided to have him complete this session one more time to really test himself mentally before progressing his session again to accommodate for his improved fitness. This session would be tough since his previous effort was excellent and had seemingly pushed him to his limit.

He started the session well and as he began his challenge a few of his teammates became aware of the session purely due to the intensity he was exhibiting to complete each effort. They came over and asked how he was going as compared to previous sessions. At this point he was reaching his previous ‘best’ of 9 efforts and looked very fatigued.

At this critical point in his session, his teammates began to cheer him on knowing that if he beat his previous best he would again have taught his body to reach a new level physically. As he attempted his ninth effort there was around 6 teammates egging him on. They screamed encouragement as he neared completion of this previous best and equaled his output from his last session.

Now his teammates sensed a victory here and recruited others to encourage as the athlete steeled himself for the tenth effort. This would be a phenomenal achievement since the athlete looked as though physically he had little more to give. Still he gritted his teeth and went out hard against his ghost with the aim of achieving a new level of physical and mental strength.

At the halfway point of this effort there was around twenty of his teammates literally screaming at him and imploring him to beat his previous self. The noise was deafening since the gym was small and crowded. The noise created attracted more interest and by the successful completion of the tenth effort the sound was incredible.

By now the majority of the team and even some of the coaches was surrounding the rowing machine and every single one of them was encouraging the athlete to compete again. At this point I thought it would be physically impossible since the workload completed was already unbelievable, however the athlete was composing himself for another effort to the roar of the crowd.

Just being willing to give it a try required huge mental strength since he was well past physical exhaustion and could not fully recover between each effort at this point. But as the crowd willed him on he seemed to find another gear from somewhere and successfully completed yet another effort.

The crowd responded by again going crazy. The effort and determination displayed by the athlete frankly demanded this reaction and everyone in the room was buzzing with enthusiasm and awe as they willed him to try and eek another effort from his weary body.

This cycle of maximal effort and peer support went on for almost another 20 minutes as the athlete continued to defy all logic and somehow drag himself to the line repeatedly to the roar of the crowd. When he could no longer pull the cable he had completed 21 efforts. This equated to close to 6km worth of sprints at a 2: 1 work rest ratio (this means each effort was twice as long as each recovery) and remains one of the most amazing physical feats I have witnessed.

The other athletes immediately asked me how this had been possible and for the first time I had no plausible explanation. At the time I could not logically explain how this could have occurred. The last time this athlete had completed this session he had left nothing in the tank yet one week later he had more than doubled this workload. How could this happen??

It was not at all that he had not tried as hard the previous week, in fact it seemed that last week he had worked much harder in comparison to this new level of physical ability. Having worked with this athlete for years I could never question his effort. He actually does not know how to give anything less than 100% so his effort was constant. The other constant was his longing to feel like he had something to offer the team despite being restricted physically.

In fact all variables associated with performance were the same from week to week, however there was one important difference. The physical and emotional support of his teammates. The fact that his teammates were physically present and vocally expressive of their support, seemed to open up the possibility for some kind of nonverbal dialogue between this athlete and his teammates.

Each and every effort was a message from the injured athlete to team he felt isolated from. The response of the crowd was their acknowledgement. The simple fact that they were present to support him allowed this athlete to use the session and his physical effort as a means of communicating what he was struggling to verbally express to those around him.

I believe that health and elite fitness requires a balance of the body and the mind. Dr John Demartini has been one of my greatest teachers and through his work I learned that you cannot achieve a balanced physiology (a healthy body) without a balanced psychology (a healthy mind). This particular session was a definite turning point for this injured athlete and I believe that this event provided a healing for him by allowing him to balance his mind and body to facilitate his recovery.

Through this event I learned not to underestimate the support of those who are important to you. And the effect this support can have on your progress. Being able to express yourself and your experiences with those you care about (and who support you equally) can help bring about the balance that is required in order for you to move forward through setbacks and sticking points in your life and achieve results you may never have anticipated.

Being aware of this and refusing to place boundaries or limitations on your success can lead to exceptional results. I have come to learn that you never actually achieve anything in isolation although you might think you are solely responsible for your results. Understanding this keeps you grounded in times of achievement and also improves your experience with regards to success because success is that much sweeter when you can share it with those who are important to you.

Success is so much sweeter when it can be shared

On the way to work one day I was listening to a local radio station and caught the end of a very interesting interview with a man named Josh Wood. Josh is a paraplegic; he explained that he had severed his spinal cord in a snowboarding accident when he was young.

The tone of the radio host’s was one of disbelief and bewilderment at his story. Despite being told he would never walk again, Josh not only walked, but got back on the snowboard, went water-skiing and jumped a 50foot ramp on his motocross bike.

During the last part of the interview Josh mentioned that he had taken his recovery into his own hands, broken all the ‘rules’ and completely ignored most the advice he was given by his doctors. This guy and his story fascinated me, and in typical fashion I just had to learn more.

One of the best things about working with athletes is that I often get access to lots of amazing people and professionals as a result of my association with elite performers. Since my work involves assisting and coordinating athletes in their recovery from injury I often use this to my advantage to ensure those I am working with get exactly what they need and more.

I contacted Josh and his family and asked him to come down to meet one particular athlete I was working with at the time. This athlete had just undergone a major operation and there was a chance he might never compete at the elite level again. The time Josh spent with us was invaluable and actually I think I might have learned just as much as the athlete.

In detailing his injury and his miraculous recovery Josh mentioned that when the doctors tried to outline the nature of his injury and the implications it would have on the rest of his life, he simply refused to be educated. ‘I never wanted to be told what I could not do, because if I never learned then there was no reason not to try to recover’ he said.

Josh Wood's story is one of self belief and determination.

Since he was not aware of what he could and could not do, Josh set out to regain function of his legs (much to the disdain of the ‘experts’). Slowly but surely he regained use of his toes, then his feet followed by his legs. ‘That’s great’ the doctors said, ‘but that’s all you’ll ever be able to do. You will not be able to support yourself to walk’.

When Josh wanted to try anyway they did not offer to help, citing that it was pointless for man with a severed spinal cord to do so. The impression Josh got was that he was wasting their time and a nuisance. Still not knowing (or caring about) the extent of his injury he pressed on anyway and eventually regained use of his legs to the point where he could stand of his own accord. He has since proceeded to prove to those who ‘know’ that their assessment was incorrect in every way.

I learned a valuable lesson from Josh: that there are both positives and negatives that come with knowledge. The upside is obvious but we might not always consider the downside. Upon reflection I realized that as an ‘expert’ some of the knowledge I had gained and the way in which I identified with it could potentially have limited the possibilities and performance of those I work with.

I realized that it might be possible that the more I had learned about the human body and its ‘capabilities’ the more limitations I unconsciously placed upon others and myself as a result of acquiring this knowledge. The more I learned about what you ‘should’ and ‘shouldn’t’ do the more I could get caught up in dogma and the less I might act on and trust my own intuitions. This can lead to indecisive action and at times no action at all.

A man by the name of Cliff Young demonstrated the downsides of knowledge and expertise by winning the Westfield Sydney to Melbourne ultra marathon. Young (61 years old) turned up in overalls and gumboots and pitted himself against professionally trained elite athletes much younger than he, and who had months of specific preparation and industry expertise behind them.

Young was a potato farmer who claimed that he would often chase his sheep for days. This was quite amusing for those ‘experts’ who considered Young’s attempt more of a comedy act than a genuine challenge. Though these experts were no longer laughing when Young won the race convincingly and broke the race record by almost two full days!!

Cliff Young highlighted the downside to knowledge

Cliff Young had the advantage of NOT knowing what the ‘experts’ knew and that is the reason he won. He actually ran MUCH slower than everyone else, although each of the other six competitors broke the previous race record Young still beat them convincingly. Young won was because he did NOT have any coach or ‘expert’ telling him how fast he should run, when he should eat sleep and take a break. So he didn’t! He simply continued to run while the other competitors slept.

The thing is: research, understanding and knowledge ALWAYS follows practice. That means that before something can be researched, there needs to be a pattern or result being created which is new or different. The researcher is the person who observes this new result or pattern and sets about trying to understand it and develop a new understanding of what they already see.

That means that if your waiting for research to validate your action or actions. You might just be ten years behind what those at the forefront already KNOW. Don’t get me wrong here. I like to have evidence to support my actions as much as the next coach. But a closed mind leads to limited possibilities and I believe mediocre results. I believe that optimal results occur when you can remain open minded but also critical. There is a principle I learned from Dr. Wayne Deyer, which states: ‘Have a mind that that is open to everything yet attached to nothing’ which echoes this point.

If you are a knowledge worker and people depend you on for advice and guidance daily. Consider how your knowledge and approach might help or hinder those around you based on how you identify with it and how you communicate as a result of this.

If you are thinking about doing something new or different and worried that you haven’t ‘looked into it’ enough. Don’t less this belief stop you from just jumping in and giving it a go. I believe that thoughtful action is just as valuable as educated action.

I once had the privilege of meeting Lute Olsen (a college basketball coach who’s widely regarding as one of the most successful and respected coaches in any sport) and hearing him speak. In answering a question as to why he had not accepted numerous offers to coach at the professional level he said: ‘I am not interested in working with people who think they know it all, I believe its what you learn after you know it all that counts’ This stuck with me at the time & soon after this I learned exactly what he meant.

Lute Olson, coach of the UA Wildcats

Whilst coaching a group of athletes recently I had an interesting challenge when providing some constructive feedback to an athlete within this group. The reaction to my feedback was along these lines: ‘You cant teach me anything here, I’ve played at the elite level for over 7 years, a veteran of this team and one of its best and most consistent performers’

As you can imagine, this type of reaction can be quite jarring when your obvious intention is to improve this person’s performance and help them succeed. Why would any athlete at the elite level NOT wish to improve anymore??? I first wondered if the reason for this response was due to the way I framed the information.

Over the next few weeks though, I became aware that this guys response was always the same with regard to feedback regarding his technique and skill level (in terms of athletic movement and efficiency) on field. It seemed he was un coachable in this area. Now this athlete is by no means unskilled in this area, but a few simple tweaks here and there could improve his performance dramatically, reduce his risk of injury and potentially help him recover faster on field. Useful information right??

His summary of himself was spot on though; he has performed at a high level for a long period of time and is certainly one of the highest performers in his sport in the world.  The question is though, at what point does someone decide they no longer need to or want to improve? And how do they come to this decision?  Especially at the elite level where 2-3% improvement can mean the difference between winning and losing, or in this athletes case MVP or also ran. Its fair to say this one had me stumped!

Funnily enough, it turns out the answer lay with a bunch of primary school kids. Some research using primary school children by Carol Dweck (a professor of psychology at Stanford University) led to the theory that people can fall into one of two mindsets within different areas of life. The fixed mindset or the growth mindset.  Dweck found that these two mindsets where the result of the type of feedback the children received and this could also dramatically influence their subsequent behaviour.

Those who were praised for their results and ability in a task chose not to challenge themselves on further tasks, whereas those praised for their effort chose more complex and difficult tasks with greater potential for learning and development. Consequently those who continued to challenge themselves were much more likely to improve their results. Whereas those who chose not to continue to challenge themselves saw a drop or plateau in their performance.

In the growth mindset, people believe that hard work and dedication can lead to success. They believe that people have the capacity to learn and improve their intelligence and skill at any task with practice. This belief influences their behavior accordingly. People who possess the growth mindset are prepared to put in the hard yards and accept failure as an inevitable stepping-stone on the path to success.  These are the people who choose to continue to challenge themselves and usually these are the people who create exceptional results.

Champions embrace a challenge and thrive on the opportunity to learn

In the fixed mindset, people believe that talent and intelligence are traits people are born with and cannot be modified in any significant way. Those with a fixed mindset believe that in the end natural talent will trump hard work dedication to a task. This belief causes people in the fixed mindset to view hard work and failure as direct feedback on their talent (since only those who lack talent are likely to have to work hard and are the ones who more often than not fail repeatedly) and subsequently they avoid both like the plague. As we will see, this can have dramatic implications for potential and success.

Dwecks’ research showed that these mindsets could actually be the result of conditioning. she showed that teachers, parents coaches or anyone charged with influencing people can actually push people into one of these two mindsets as a result of the way they frame their feedback. Dweck found that when praising someone for their results by describing them as ‘gifted’ or ‘a natural’  etc  the message these people are receiving is: wow you are good at this task, I value your ability to complete it successfully.  Positive feedback when framed in this way can actually work to push high performers into the fixed mindset. This is because the feedback is solely focused on the outcome.

Now if the feedback were framed in a manner which acknowledged both the outcome AND the process, as in: ‘Gee you do that very well, you must have worked quite hard at it well done!’.  The message the person receives is: I value the effort and persistence that was required in order to for you to have produced this excellent result! Now this feedback although only marginally different, produces very different results. This feedback fosters the growth mindset in those who receive it.  These people will be more likely to persist at a task and their response to failure is one of gratitude since they value its role in teaching them what is NOT working.

Great teachers and coaches have always focused on the process over the outcome. John Wooden, the man who is pretty much universally regarded as the greatest coach of any sport ever, (John’s UCLA basketball teams won 10 NCAA championships in 12 years, 7 of which were in consecutive years and an enjoyed an 88 game winning streak) was so process focused, that when he first coached players he took them to the dressing room and showed them how to put their shoes and socks on correctly. He did this so that they would avoid any blisters.  Blisters John reasoned, could cause you to lose focus.

Great sports stars; performers and business people all possess the growth mindset. It is well known that Michael Jordan was cut from his high school basketball team, and he openly values failure as the reason he has succeeded in sport and afterward. Elvis Presley was fired and famously told ‘you aint goin nowhere son’. Steve Jobs dropped out of college and was fired from his OWN company. All of these people were obviously of the growth mindset, since failure did not deter them. In fact they used failure as feedback for future success.

Sure there are talented individuals who have done quite well, but never have they become legends as the three above did. John McEnroe was a very good tennis player, but his violent and aggressive reactions to failure and the fact that he was negligent in his training and preparation suggest that he was firmly entrenched in the fixed mindset. And what is John remembered for? Not his tennis that is for sure.

John McEnroe typified a fixed mindset throughout his career.

The tragedy is that the world may have been robbed of the full expression of McEnroe’s genius as a result of the feedback he received when growing up.  I wonder how good he might have been if he had grown up a lifelong learner as all of the highest performers are.  The fact that he was able to be number one for around four years with in this mindset is actually quite amazing, however it is no wonder he was such an angry person.

If you are a parent, teacher, coach, manager or anyone who is in a position to influence others, consider how this information might benefit those around you who listen to you and respect your opinions. Is it possible you may have crippled those around you with outcome-focused feedback?? If so, how could you adjust your communication to ensure you foster a growth mindset in those you have the honour of influencing.

Also, consider how this information could impact your own life. Look at the different areas of your life and assess where you might have a fixed mindset. (I’ll give you a clue here, these areas will usually be areas where you show or have shown little or no improvement and have had limited success) Alternatively, identify areas of your life where you show an obvious growth mindset. Notice how this mindset and its implications have worked to create results within these areas.

Thanks for reading

TC

I have a confession to make. Recently I have been feeling a little out of sorts with my own training and physical fitness. For me, honestly this is not something I have had to deal with before. And as a coach charged with the responsibility of preparing athletes to perform at their peak, this has been slightly alarming for me! Usually I genuinely enjoy training and consider it a reward as opposed to a chore. Lately though this feeling has changed somewhat.

Don’t get me wrong its not like I have stopped training at all or my nutrition has dropped away much or at all. In fact I think overall I probably would have maintained my intensity or even increased it at times over the last month. However the way I go about my training has slowly changed due to circumstance and dare I say it: complacency.

The funny thing is, the vast majority of athletes I work with have recently tested extremely well in their fitness assessments and many have taken their conditioning to new levels whilst my own performance and motivation has stalled.  Even funnier is that the only real training I have been managing to get in are sessions I am doing alongside these athletes. Now you would think that if their results are improving I should at least be maintaining my performance levels or improving also. Granted it is impossible for me to do every session these guys do I still found this very interesting.

After wandering around for a few days feeling pretty confused about the situation I realized that it was true, a few things had not gone my way (I had been overseas and way out of my routine for a long period and had no time to adjust upon my return), but one variable had changed significantly over the past few months. I had stopped training for ME, and assumed that what was good for others would be good for me. This change led to another huge change. I LOST MOMENTUM. Momentum is huge when it comes to improving physical performance and pretty much anything else.  You loose momentum when you lose or stop paying attention to feedback.

Momentum only comes with consistent effort and attention to feedback

My complacency led to the assumption that any training that others were doing which might be similar to what I had been to doing would ‘get the job done.’ I stopped tracking my own training and instead trained when the opportunity arose. I followed no set plan as I usually do and my efforts to improve performance were based on someone else’s ideal plan for success. However that plan was not put in place for me, but for someone else. Since this was the case I could not follow it as I would my own plan.

The thing is, when your looking to improve performance, you need to measure and track your progress. This is the only way to know if what you are doing is working or is a complete waste of your time. Peter Drucker, the man who is widely regarded as the father of modern business management said: ‘what gets measured gets managed’. Now this is a great example of how effort counts for ZERO without objective measurement & feedback systems in place.

The reason that feedback, and the awareness of it are crucial for success is lies in the way our brains work. The subconscious part of the brain (the part that is really running the show) is cybernetic in nature. Basically this means our brains are goal-seeking machines, and are always working ‘toward’ something. This is great news IF we take the time to provide our brain with something worth focusing on and working toward.

This is the reason why those who set goals are more productive than those who don’t. Goals are like the highway that leads us to the results we are after. Feedback is the road signs, which let us know how far we have gone, and need to go. Feedback also tells us if we are headed in the right direction or may need to change course. Those who write down their goals and pay attention to feedback are steering the wheel and control their own destiny.  Those without goals are passengers who have no control, and put their faith in a driver who has no clear directive about where they are going and is relying on their ‘sense of direction’ to ‘get the job done’. They might end up somewhere, but there is fair chance the result is not a pleasing one.

Paying attention to feedback helps to keep us heading in the right direction

I had jumped in someone else’s car and assumed we were both headed to the same spot. Improved performance. The lesson I learned is that improved performance means something completely different to everyone. Since everyone responds differently and perceives the world in their own unique way.

So my commitment is to regain my momentum and ensure that my training provides me with feedback. Since writing this post I have regained my momentum one training session at a time, and so far the road signs are telling me I’m back on track. Also, as expected, my motivation has returned and I am once again enjoying my training.

If you are looking to create results in your life, or are wondering why you’re not seeing any, you can learn from my mistakes.  Answer the following questions:

1. Have you set any goals with regard to these desired results

2.  Are these goals linked in any way to your values (read this post to find out more)

3.  If you have goals, have you set up any feedback systems related to your goals?

4.  If you have goals and feedback systems, are you paying attention to them?

Thanks for reading

TC