I carry a small notebook/ journal with me. I write down thoughts after practice. Things that worked, things that didn’t. I write down if I hear a good song that I want to remember. I write down random thoughts that are stimulated by what I am reading or I see in my coaching.
Here are few that might get you thinking:
Combine instinct with intellect
Don’t let urgent overtake important
Rather than reorganize reprioritize
The difficulty is not in finding the right answers but in asking the right questions
Forget meeting expectations, work to exceed expectations
Accrue micro gains everyday and everywhere you can. Little bits make a difference.
Just get 1 day better every day.
Beware of algorithms for human movement – The body is too smart and movement too complex to fit an algorithm
When you teach/ coach, you often do subtle things that you learned by experience and you also occasionally make errors in judgment when handling situations in the gym. The inexperienced observing coach is likely to miss it all. Go over items in both categories during staff meetings.
When inexperienced coaches get into trouble in the gym, fight off the temptation to rescue them immediately. Instead, prompt them in staff meetings to figure out for themselves what went wrong and how to fix it.
Offer suggestions, not prescriptions. What you lay out for younger coaches explicitly is unlikely to stick. What they discover for themselves with your help, they will own. Give them responsibilities and hold them accountable.
Don’t try to turn your proteges into clones of you. Instead, help them find the coaching style best suited to their own strengths and personalities and encourage them to develop and perfect that style.
and then sometimes the random thoughts get a little strange
Next Birthday: fill the kids piñata with guacamole
Working the overnight shift and having a drink after work is really weird.
Woke up with a stiff neck: I used to get hurt doing gymnastics. Now I get hurt sleeping
