“Mind right. Game right.”
Thad Matta, Ohio State University Men’s Basketball Coach
I happened to see an interview with Thad Matta last Saturday before OSU’s big game with Wisconsin. Matta explained his mantra for the team: “Mind right. Game right.” Meaning that if you focus your thoughts and beliefs on things you can control versus all the “stuff” on the periphery that are beyond your control, you put yourself in a position to make a difference in your performance.
I thought about this concept on Tuesday as I was in a coaching conversation with a client who was laser focused on a laundry list of worries and concerns. Guess what? None of them were under his control. This unproductive thought process took his “head out of the game” and negatively impacted his performance at work.
How often do we get caught up in a thinking process or series of beliefs that set us up for some unproductive habits or behaviors?
I ran across the list below a while ago and it has been useful in my work coaching individuals and teams on emotional intelligence best practices. The list comes from a resource titled Quick Emotional Intelligence Activities for Busy Managers by Adele B. Lynn.
See if you can identify any of these irrational thought patterns or beliefs that may be holding you back from outstanding performance:
The Dirty Dozen:
- Needing Approval: “Everyone I work with must approve of me at all times.”
- Making Mistakes: “I must prove thoroughly competent, adequate, and achieving at all times.”
- Changing Others: “I have an obligation to change others who act unfairly or obnoxiously.”
- Catastrophize: “When I get very frustrated, treated unfairly or rejected, I have to view things as awful, terrible, horrible and catastrophic.”
- Others Cause Misery: “My emotional misery comes from external pressures that I have little ability to change.”
- Worry, Fret, and Fear: “If something seems dangerous or fearsome, I must preoccupy myself with it and make myself anxious about it.”
- Avoidance: “It’s easier to avoid facing difficulties and self-responsibilities than to do something about them.”
- The Past: “My past remains all–important, and because something once strongly influenced my life, it has to keep determining my feelings and behavior today.”
- Unrealistic Expectations: “People and things should turn out better than they do, and I must fix them.”
- Competition: “My worth can be measured by competitive situations.”
- Source of Problems: “The people and conditions in my life are the source of my problems.”
- Negativity: “Basically occurrences or events are negative by nature.”
I know we could come up with many more irrational thought processes and beliefs but you get the picture. “Mind right. Game right.” OSU fell just short of victory in their big game on Saturday. You can bet that the coach and the kids are analyzing what went wrong but with a focus on all the things that they COULD control.
So when you find yourself going down the path of one of The Dirty Dozen, exercise your self- awareness muscle. Tune into the thoughts and beliefs that are taking you down this dead end road. And then make a U-turn.
To your success,
Mary
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