It’s worth considering the real story of the Sports Scientist working in AFL. They are as important to team success as Senior Coaches, but don’t get any of the kudos, accolades and on average, less than a third of the pay packet. Most of their work goes on behind the scenes – day after day, working with athletes to help them be the best they can be – which in turn creates team success. They are the whipping boy of the AFL – blamed by coaches if things go wrong (how many times have you heard ‘they were just not fit enough’ come out of a coaches mouth at a press conference upon losing a game?), but not given any of the positives if things go right – that is supposedly when the tactics and coaches skill win the game. The environment is unforgiving. And everyone I know that works in it understands that – however, it is time to put some perspective back in.

A few years back, my Sports Scientist was working for an AFL club.  After a thrilling win to get the team over the line and into the finals, we left the ground and went back to the club for an after match function. Every board member slapped him on the back and told him how amazing he was – that it was fitness and conditioning that had got the team through. An article was published calling him a ‘guru’.

6 days later, that very same team lost a final. Back we went to the club again, but only this time, the same people wouldn’t even meet his eye. Fitness was blamed. Coaches got defensive about their own performance – time for the whipping boy to come out.

Sports Scientists, or fitness coaches, or any number of titles they hold, work bloody hard to ensure the game of AFL remains strong. They go over and above any role description. In the decade or so I have either been living with one, or working with them through my own career, I have seen it time and time again how these people go the ethical extra mile to get the extra 1% – because they know that might make all the difference. I have had athletes live with us for periods of time so my Sports Scientist can teach them how to eat better, cook, and change behaviours that are standing in the way of high performance. I basically didn’t see my husband  for a year in 2008, he spending inordinate amounts of time with an athlete who arrived at the club so out of shape and plagued by injury, but ultimately played a significant role in winning the flag that year. That very same year, he went the extra mile to ensure that one of the heroes of the game had a fighting chance of playing in a grand final, a lifelong ambition not only held by the athlete but the thousands of supporters. The coach-athlete relationship is emotional in tone and the sports scientist role has a significant impact not just in the physiology of the athletes, but in the welfare and psychology as well. This takes time, trust and high professional standards.

All the sacrifices this lot make are understood to be part of it – lack of job security, missed weddings, and other significant family milestones as an example. But rather than give respect, they put up with a lack of understanding about the club environment and the dynamics they need to deal with, from all sides of the coin.

There is, in fact, incredible collaboration between Sports Scientists, Medical staff, and other allied personnel that play a significant role in the success (or otherwise) of a club. I have witnessed these teams be not so worried about hierarchy, and who is in charge of who and what, but more about what role does each need to play in order to be on that dais come that last week in September. Perhaps other parts of the football world could take a leaf out of their book.

I am still a bit stunned when someone asks me what my husband does for the 6 months of the year that the team doesn’t play. I used to get all defensive – now I just chuckle. If only you knew, I would think. If only you knew.

These people understand what it takes to create high performance and results for their clubs. Clearly there are some that don’t, for whatever reason. Let’s take the majority out of the dirty laundry and put them back where they belong – working with athletes to bring the dreams we all hold to reality. The fiasco at Essendon is not all about the Sports Scientists in question – it’s about a lack of leadership and what happens when ego & power are allowed to run wild. It’s about not having effective processes in place to engender ethical decision making and questioning. About not enough due diligence when recruiting in to the inner sanctum. Let’s keep this issue in perspective, and stop vilifying a group of people who for far too long have shouldered more than their fair share of whacks.

Words have enormous power, especially over you. Whining about your problems makes you feel worse, not better.

If something is wrong, don’t waste time complaining. Put that effort into making the situation better. Unless you want to whinge about it forever, eventually you’ll have to do that. So why waste time? Fix it now.

Don’t talk about what’s wrong. Talk about how you’ll make things better, even if that conversation is only with yourself. Don’t create problems on problems – be a problem solver.

And do the same with your friends or colleagues. It is easy to fall in the trap of having ‘water cooler conversations’ – discussions that don’t have a solution focus and are usually negative & personal. Be the person that helps solve challenges, not creates them, who avoids putting petrol on a fire. Don’t just be the shoulder friends or colleagues cry on – real friendship or collegiality doesn’t let whining happen –but it spends the energy making their lives better.

Leadership has become the sexy business term. It’s everywhere and you can spend a zillion dollars on all sorts of courses and resources.

In fact, there is now even a sexier, more jargonistic term than that being overused – ‘thought leader’ (does it imply that the other sort of leaders are not the thinking kind? I’m confused).

Everyone it seems wants to be one. While there is plenty I would like to pass on about leadership and my lessons learnt from the pressure cooker of elite sport, there is one main tip that will impact your success like no other: don’t confuse leadership with popularity.

I want to coin a new term today: ‘real leader’.

Just because you have the title, doesn’t mean people will want to be led by you. It doesn’t mean you have the skills. Mostly, real leadership is bloody hard work, behind the scenes, getting your hands dirty. About others, not you. It’s incredibly rewarding of course – the world needs (is desperate for!) so many more real leaders. But it is important to check in on where you are at with leadership – your motivations, expectations and awareness level of where your strengths lie.

When was the last time you asked yourself why anyone should be led by you?

How dirty are you prepared to get to become a great leader?

What are you going to do differently today to be a different kind of leader? (The real kind, not the thought kind!)

Coach yourself to do this more often than not to get a different result!

Be clear – It’s not about abusing situations, but pushing the boundaries. I’m not suggesting using this coaching tip irresponsibly.  But having an understanding that the first response for many people is to say no, or tell you all the reasons why it can’t work.

We can ask for permission too much, rather than being assertive with our needs or ideas. If you believe you’re right, and it’s something you should do, take bold action.

A great article using the example of Ricky Gervais  to inspire you….

http://www.success.com/articles/1841–no-apology-necessary

Love what you do, or leave.

When we don’t like our workplace, or our job, or the business we are running, it is easy to make excuses – I can’t leave because it would be hard to replace me, I would be letting people down, I can’t afford to. Or we put it off – maybe next year. Maybe I will look at it after this major project is finished. These type of excuses keep us prisoner and certainly not feeling in control of our own path. The energy focus is around surviving rather than thriving. On complaining and whining, draining your energy and the energy of those around you.

Worse still, if you don’t love doing it, your performance will not be as good as it can be.

This is not a dress rehearsal. You can be replaced. People will get over it. You can arrange your finances, especially with a bit of strategy.

Stop finding the excuses, start planning for something different. Figure out practical (and perhaps some non practical) steps you need to take – remembering that change will come, step by step. Get your CV happening. Go and have a few coffees and put the word out there. Explore and research a new career. Plan a new business idea. There is a heap of productive, path changing activities you could do. What are you waiting for? What are you going to do differently today for a different result

Not sure how to make your idea happen?

Think you might be off track in your business or job?

If you are stuck, the solution is not to sit around spinning the wheels. The solution is to do something – anything.

When you find yourself stuck, consider the small steps to help get unstuck. Decide on one, and then say out loud – “ACTION”!! Move. Take a small step, see how it feels (use hot / cold if that helps). If it doesn’t feel right, move in another direction. Repeat it as often as you need to.

Clarity doesn’t come from doing nothing…but something, not matter how small it may seem.  Staying still will keep you stuck.

Comparing yourself to others is one of the most useless activities of all time, but we can spend a lot of time doing it. It’s useless for one main reason: the comparisons we use, that then have a way of making us feel inadequate, threatened or any other number of emotions, are generally rubbish. Most of the time, we are not even comparing apples with apples.

Lots of what we give out to the world is a façade, but this ‘evidence’ can keep us locked in feeling not up to standard.

If you find yourself continually comparing to others, make a choice to stop it. Now!

I have found women are particularly good at doing this – looking at others around the same age, wondering why you haven’t done this or that yet, because she has.

My least favourite statement of all time: “I don’t know how she does it”, usually followed quickly by “I couldn’t never do that”…followed by all the reasons why not.

You DO know how she does it. She works hard, makes sacrifices, takes risks. You COULD do the same – the choice is yours. Whatever you choose though, quit comparing and enjoy the journey you are on, and the unique way you do it.

Did you identify your limiting beliefs from the last post?

Beliefs stick with us for a few reasons –

1. We label and rationalise them (“I’m not good at public speaking. Neither was my mum”). Labelling and rationalising helps us feel ok about them.
2. We become data gatherers…but selectively. We seek out evidence to support our beliefs, and ignore evidence to the contrary.
3. We disguise them. We turn them in to something that works for our ego. For eg. For example, “I’m not as smart as…” can become “I work harder” – an empowering belief

Here are some steps to do it differently for a different result.

1. Identify your limiting belief and commit to wanting to change it (this sounds logical…but without the WANT to change it, nothing will happen. Simple.)
2. Create a new belief that you want – that supports the results you want. Make sure you –

• State it in the present tense (I am, I know..etc)
• Speak it as a certainty – no maybes, possibly, etc
• Includes abundance – so no caps, no limits
• Strikes an emotional chord with you

Then -

1. Look for evidence for your new belief – other examples, inspiring stories or research from the web, mentors etc.
2. Visualise this new belief in your life – daily for a good length of time (30 days is usually about right)
3. Acknowledge old emotions & behaviours as they come up but don’t get frustrated or reprimand yourself – just choose to shift your energy and focus on the new belief.
4. Add a daily action step to reinforce your new belief – it can be something very small – but for that short period of time, completely be the person who holds this new belief

Eventually, the new belief will become automatic, but it takes work. However, if you do it differently for a different result, that is exactly what you will get.

Beliefs drive your behaviour. They are incredibly powerful – they guide how you work. They guide how you treat others. But what do you REALLY believe? Ingrained beliefs become assumptions…with these assumptions usually out of our awareness, unless we really tap in to them.

What assumptions are you working under, and are they working for you? Everyone has some sort of limiting / negative belief system going on…figure out what yours are and start letting them go. Instead, focus on building beliefs that are going to help get what you want.

If you want success, you have to believe you are able to achieve it. Even if you say you want to be successful, if there is some belief you are carrying (e.g. “if I’m successful, that will mean I will have less time to for my family or for hanging out etc.) you will not let yourself make it happen.

Letting them go might be easier said than done, because even though they are negative, they are familiar and safe, and on some level, make you feel ok. The irony is, if you let them go, you can feel even better and more successful. What are you going to choose?

Scientists believe that we only access a small percentage of our mind consciously – most of what is going on lies within the subconscious. So what do you REALLY believe?

Do you talk the talk and walk the walk, or only get to the talk part? Changing your limiting beliefs starts with a decision to do so. What are you doing differently today to get a different result?

There has been lots written this year on passion, asking the question if it is a necessary part of finding & having a successful career. There are a few writers that disagree that passion is essential. This may be true for some of us, but thing one thing remains constant in my view – and that is, everything is easier if you have passion.

The world is full of opportunity – but which one is right for you depends on the answer to one question:

“What problem / challenge do I passionately care about solving?”

Thank goodness the answer to this is different for everyone! Spending some time working this out will identify your sweet spot…and there is nothing better than working right in the middle of it. When I worked with athletes we talked about a phenomenon called “flow”. Mihaly  Csikszentmihalyi, the psychologist who coined the term, describes it as “the feeling of total engagement in the activity so that you don’t notice anything outside of what you’re doing.”

And here’s the thing: finding flow reduces stress, increases happiness, and improves mental health.

When was the last time you felt flow?