Hype Dial - Part 3

NOTE: This journal activity is the 3rd of 3 that help athletes fully understand the HYPE DIAL and how to use it to their advantage. See below for a link to the 1st and 2nd parts.

Now that you’ve reflected on where your HYPE DIAL needs to be set to provide you the opportunity to complete at your best and you have reflected on the situations that you regularly face that tend to turn your HYPE DIAL up too high or down too low. It is time to think about how you want to respond in each of those settings to keep your HYPE DIAL “locked in” so that you can remain an asset to your team.

To do that I am going to share with you some responses that my good friend Coach Joel Hueser, the head boys basketball coach at Papillion La Vista South HS, shared with me. I have the opportunity to work with his team on the mental aspect of the game each week during the season. He and his coaching staff are intentional about equipping their players with RESPONSES that help them continue to be assets to their team. He adapted this from Focus 3 Culture’s material and wanted to make sure they got credit.

Your journal activity for this week will be based on the 6 responses shared below. Read through each one and then on to your journal!

R1 = Press Pause

• What does this situation require of me? It gives you time to think, gets you off autopilot. Pressing Pause does not come naturally, it's a skill that must be developed!

Two Benefits of R1:

• Helps you avoid doing something foolish or harmful.

• Focuses on you acting with purpose to accomplish your goals.

R2 = Get Your Mind Right

• Focus on negative things equals a negative mindset.

• Focus on productive things equals a productive mindset.

Two Things To Manage:

• What you focus on (Concentration).

• How you talk to yourself (Self-Talk).

Three Mindsets:

• Irritated Mindset

  • Comes from negative focus that is born of laziness.​

  • Resistant to the productive discomfort that real growth requires.

  • Poor Self-Talk: "I can't make anything. I suck!"

• Survival Mindset

  • Comes from a desire to take the path of least resistance. ​

  • Focuses on what's comfortable and convenient. 

  • It's not focused on getting better. Poor Self-Talk: "This practice sucks. When will it be over?"

• Purpose Mindset

  • This is the Above the Line way of thinking. #ACEfactor​

  • Embraces productive discomfort: Knows that discomfort is necessary in order to practice and perform at an elite level.

  • It wants to compete! 

  • Positive Self-Talk: "This drill makes me better. It makes our team better. I'm comfortable being uncomfortable!"

R3 = Step Up

• Every team faces some kind of adversity:

  • Mediocre teams are destroyed by it. ​

  • Good teams survive it.

  • Great teams get better because of it. 

"A hammer shatters glass, but forges steel."

R4 = Adjust and Adapt

If what you are doing isn't working, change it! Don't blame the E. Choose a better R. The best athletes are exceptional at:

• Adjusting 

• Adapting to change​

R5 = Make a Difference

• Your RESPONSE is an Event for others.

• Your attitude and behaviors have a profound impact on your teammates and coaches. The quality of your relationships is determined by how you manage the RESPONSE. 

• What kind of Event's are you giving to your teammates? Make a Difference means taking complete ownership of the experience you give to teammates and the contribution you make to the culture of the team. 

• The way you manage your RESPONSE matters not just to you, but to the people around you.

• The experience you give to others may be the single most important element of teamwork. You will be no better as a team than you are to each other. Make the people around you better.

R6 = Build Skill

• Everyone has some level of talent. Elite performers are the ones who are relentless about building skill beyond their talent. Talent is a gift. Greatness is a choice!

• Embrace discomfort. Discomfort marks the place where the old way meets the new way. Discomfort indicates that change is about to happen. Push through the pain. If it doesn't challenge you, it will not change you. 

JOURNAL ACTIVITY

Look back at each of the 6 situations that you identified in last week’s journal activity, the 3 that tend to turn your HYPE DIAL up and the 3 that tend to turn your HYPE DIAL down.

Which of the RESPONSES mentioned above would help you keep your HYPE DIAL locked in for each situation? Write about how you could start to practice that response in practice so it is ready when you need it most…in competition!