Sunday, July 28, 2024

Why Do Olympians Perform at Their Best??? How to tap into a new level of performance



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Why Do Olympians Perform at Their Best??? How to tap into a new level of performance

Why do athletes always seem to perform their best at the Olympics?

Today, we are going to talk about this and how you can utilize it in your training and competition, so you can:

Tap into a new level of performance.

This past week marked the beginning of the Olympics …

And why is it that it seems athletes always perform their best at the Olympics?

You could say it’s because they’re world-class athletes.

Of course, you’d be right, they must have an extreme level of athletic ability to get to their position.

But why do they break world records at the Olympics, but not at their trials?

You could say it’s because of their workout programming, periodization, and tapering.

And, although I do believe that plays a role,

I believe there is something more.

I believe athletes perform their best at the Olympics because …

They are competing for a Greater Cause.

For these two weeks, everyone in the world is watching them.

And when these athletes compete …

They are not only competing for themselves, but they are also competing for:

  • Their trainers
  • Their training team
  • Their entire country as a whole

And competing for this Greater Cause …

Enables them to tap into a new level of performance they never had accessed before.

And you can do the same!!!

Every time you train or prepare to compete, see if you can compete for a Greater Cause:

  • For your teammates
  • For your school and community
  • Maybe even for your state or country

And when you compete for a Greater Cause, you connect with a deeper source of energy that will enable you to tap into a new level of performance you have never accessed before.

The same holds true for your life!!!

Every day, you can tap into a Greater Cause ...

And emanate from that space in how you walk and act …

And see how that impacts your:

  • Interactions
  • Performance
  • Becoming the person you were born to be

What Greater Cause are you competing for???

Connect with it every time you train or prepare to take the field of competition.

What Greater Cause are you living for???

Connect with it every day of your life.

As you do this over and over …

See how this enables you to tap into a new level of performance you have never accessed before!!!

I wish you well on your journey of competing and living for a Greater Cause, and I look forward to seeing you next week.

Inspiring YOU every step of your way,

Kyle

Sunday, July 21, 2024

Is It Worth It??? What to do if you are worried about your hard work not paying off



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Is It Worth It??? What to do if you are worried about your hard work not paying off

“What if my hard work is not paying off???”

Have you ever asked yourself that before?

“I am putting in countless hours training my skills, strength, and conditioning, but I’m worried I am not getting any better!!!”

Have you ever experienced that before?

“When the season rolls around, and I’m not any better, I’m going to feel like a FAILURE and I WASTED all that time, attention, and energy, and may never be the athlete I thought I could be!!!”

Have those thoughts ever raced through your mind before?

Look, I understand …

I struggled with this a lot during my athletic career, so today we are going to talk about:

What to do if you are worried about your hard work not paying off.

Throughout my athletic career, I trained a lot,

But often worried my hard work may not be paying off.

I recall one off-season …

I was training 2-3 times per day on my:

  • Skills
  • Strength
  • Conditioning

In my free time, I was:

  • Watching my nutrition
  • Training my mind
  • Making sure I was getting to bed at a good time to enhance my recovery

But I was still afraid I was not doing enough, and worried I was not getting better.

As the off-season was winding down, and the season was drawing nearer …

These feelings began to grow and swell within me.

Finally, when the whistle blew to begin the first game of the year …

I let all the feelings go in SURRENDER.

As a result:

  • I had one of my best performances of my career up until that point
  • I helped lead our team from behind to victory
  • I could sigh with relief, confidence, and assurance that my hard work had paid off, and I was becoming the player I knew I could be

As athletes, many times we struggle with worrying our hard work is paying off.

We spend countless hours in the gym and on the practice field, training our:

  • Skills
  • Strength
  • Conditioning

However, we are not sure if we are getting better.

And, if we don’t get better by the time the season rolls around …

We can feel like a FAILURE and that we WASTED all that time, attention, and energy. And maybe …

We feel like we will never become the athlete we thought we could be.

Many times, when faced with these emotions, we approach our training like …

A child planting a garden.

They plant their seeds and for the first few days, they check to see if they grow.

After the first few days or weeks not seeing the seeds growing or sprouting, they give up believing they’ll never grow.

Or when they finally see the seed beginning to sprout they try to pull it up, but end up damaging its roots and killing it in the process.

However, The experienced farmer takes a different approach.

They plant their seeds, work the soil, and water them.

Then they sit back, with patience, and trust Nature will enable the crops to grow and sprout in the proper timing.

The experienced athlete approaches their training in a similar way.

They put in the time, attention, and energy training their skills, strength, and conditioning. They watch their nutrition, train their mind, and enhance their recovery.

But then, they sit back, with patience, and trust Life will enable their gifts to grow and sprout in the proper timing.

And that’s the ingredient that will help you to have a relaxed confidence and assurance that your hard work is paying off.

Put in the work …

But then, sit back, with patience, and trust Life will enable your gifts to grow and sprout in the proper timing.

The same is true for opportunities in your life beyond your game.

You will have a dream, a vision, a calling.

You will put in the work to pursue that dream:

  • Mastering your craft
  • Surrounding yourself with people to assist you in your pursuit of your dream
  • Creating opportunities so you can walk through doors that will guide you to your dream

And weeks, months, and years may go by and your dream may not come.

However, once you put in the work …

Sit back, with patience, because Life will enable your dream to grow and sprout …

In the proper timing.

I wish you well on your journey of being patient and trusting Life will reward your hard work, and I look forward to seeing you next week.

Inspiring YOU every step of your way,

Kyle

Sunday, July 14, 2024

Now What??? How to make the most of your opportunities (in your sport and in life)



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Now What??? How to make the most of your opportunities (in your sport and in life)

The ball is in your hands …

Now what???

Coach has called you in to pinch hit for your teammate …

Now What???

The play is coming your way and it is up to you to make the tackle …

Now What???

Today, we will talk about:

How you can make the most of your opportunities in your sport, and how this prepares you to make the most of your opportunities in life.

In sports, we are presented with many opportunities to make a play.

However, it is how we respond to these opportunities that will dictate the outcome.

All too often …

We get caught up in our heads.

We overthink and overanalyze:

  • We lack trust in ourselves, our technique, and our abilities
  • We lack trust in our teammates, and whether they will be there for us
  • We lack trust in our coaches, and whether they are putting you in the best position to win

When we get caught up in our heads …

We inhibit our abilities and don’t perform to our potential.

However, experienced athletes …

Get out of their head and into the moment.

They sink into the flow of the game:

  • They trust in themselves, and their countless hours of training and preparation
  • They trust in their teammates, and their countless hours of training and preparation
  • They trust in their coaches, and their countless hours of training and preparation

And when they get out of their heads and into the moment …

They free themselves up to perform at their potential.

The same is true in life.

Opportunities will present themself to you:

  • An opportunity for a new job
  • An opportunity to lead a group
  • An opportunity to chase down your dream

How will you respond when these opportunities present themselves to you???

Will you get caught up in your head?

  • Lacking trust in yourself, and whether you can handle it
  • Lacking trust in those around you, and whether they can support you
  • Lacking trust in your teachers and mentors, and whether they can help you succeed

Or, will you get out of your head and into the moment?

  • Trusting yourself, and in your training and preparation
  • Trusting in your teammates, your family, teachers, and peers around you
  • Trusting in your coaches, your mentors, those you look up to, and a Metaphysical Power that always has your back

And when these opportunities come to you …

What will you do to allow your full potential to come to the table and make the most of them???

The ball is in your hands …

The opportunity is here for the taking …

How will you respond???

I wish you well on your journey of making the most of your opportunities, and I look forward to seeing you next week.

Inspiring YOU every step of your way,

Kyle

Sunday, July 7, 2024

Need Help With Motivation??? How to stay MOTIVATED in any situation



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Need Help With Motivation??? How to stay MOTIVATED in any situation

Are you looking for a way to stay motivated?

Or have you struggled with motivation in the past?

That’s OK, because today we will talk about:

A process to help you stay motivated in any situation

Throughout my life, people have always asked me how I have always been highly motivated in whatever I have done:

  • How I was able to stay motivated to push myself as an athlete
  • How I was able to stay motivated to impact athletes as a coach
  • How I was able to stay motivated to create new content and speeches as a speaker

And, throughout my life, I have most often responded with something along the lines of:

Because I want to be the best person I can be.”

And although there is a lot of truth in that, it doesn’t quite accurately paint the real picture.

Because as I have reflected …

I have never felt the need for motivation!

For the most part, I have loved everything I’ve done so much that I’ve never really needed motivation.

If you are struggling with motivation, this is where I would encourage you to start:

Are you actually doing what you love to do?

If so, motivation should render itself obsolete …

There should be little need for motivation since you love to do it so much.

If not, reflect on why you are doing it in the first place.

Is it because society tells you “you should be doing it” ???

And, where might Life be guiding you instead.

However, there are some times in our lives when the pure love of the craft is not enough for motivation, and we need to find an alternative method.

In this case,

What do we do???

And although most of my life I have never really needed motivation,

There was one situation where I did need to find an additional process to keep me motivated.

There was a period in my life where I got extremely sick.

My body shut down and stopped producing the hormones that provided me the energy to get out of bed and carry on with my day.

As my body started to shut down, my willpower also began to shut down:

  • I was losing the will to do what I loved to do
  • I was losing the will to get out of bed
  • I was losing the will to live

However, I couldn’t lay around in pity all day!!!

During this time, I was a student in college and a coach of a high school basketball team …

So I needed to go to school and coach these young men.

I needed to find a process to stay motivated and overcome my medical conditions.

I desperately grasped for different ideas, tools, and methods …

But all of them seemed to fail!!!

However, I did find one process that worked for me. One that gave me the energy to overcome my medical complications, go to school, and impact the athletes at practice.

The Process

Step 0

When I woke up, I would take some intense breaths to ensure I would not fall back asleep.

Step 1

After breathing, I went deep within myself.

Past my heart and to a place so deep it did not even feel like it was a part of me …

Yet at the same time, I knew it was one of the purest parts of me there was.

Step 2

After connecting with this deep part of me …

I felt and visualized myself going throughout my day, emanating from this source of potential: 

  • How I interacted with my teachers
  • How I interacted with my classmates
  • How I interacted with my players at practice

Step 3

After seeing how this source of potential impacted those nearest to me, I began to feel and visualize this source of potential emanating from me and impacting people beyond:

  • In the school
  • In the community
  • In the state, country, and world

And if that was not enough, I even extended it to see how it impacted people for generations to come.

And through this process, I experienced enough energy to get out of bed, go to school, and impact people at practice.

IF YOU ARE STRUGGLING WITH YOUR MOTIVATION

I would recommend a similar process.

First, reflect on whether you are doing what you love to do.

If so, go deep within you, so deep you connect with a source of potential that does not feel like it’s a part of you, yet at the same time you know it’s one of the purest forms of you there is.

Feel and visualize yourself going throughout your day, emanating from this source of potential.

See it impacting those around you …

And extend it beyond:

  • To those in your family, on your team, and in your school
  • To those in your community, state, and country
  • To those in the entire world

Eventually, this process will give you the energy to do whatever it is you are here to do.

I wish you well on your journey of being motivated in any situation, and I look forward to seeing you next week.

Inspiring YOU every step of your way,

Kyle

Don't Compare, Compete: How Focusing on Yourself Unleashes Your True Potential

Listen to Podcast Here Don't Compare, Compete: How Focusing on Yourself Unleashes Your True Potential Don’t Compare … Compete !!! Compar...