In order to come up with a PLAN for your workouts and practices, each gymnasts should really take the time to answer these questions.
- What’s the #1 thing I need to accomplish next week? Having a weekly focus on your biggest goal means you are more likely to accomplish it.
- What am I most grateful and thankful for? Being in the proper frame of mind is key to accomplishing things. Being grateful for what you have goes a long way to putting you in the best frame of mind.
- What did I learn last week in gymnastics and what was my biggest accomplishment? You should be learning something new every day so you should have a list of things you learned last week. Looking at this list will help you figure out what you are going to work on this week and will help your confidence level as well. Confidence comes, in part, for success and your accomplishments.
- How can I organize myself and what can I do to make next week better? Pack your gym bag, set your daily goals and do anything and everything now that will make your week work better.
- What problems and challenges did I have last week that I may also have next week? Learn from your mistakes and take action to directly confront and solve problems and challenges, so you can progress faster.
- What did I waste the most time on last week? Did I spend too much time talking at the chalk bucket? Did I worry more than I practiced? Eliminating your biggest time wasters will improve your practices.
- What do I need to put behind me to perform at my best this week? Forgive and forget any minor problems with coaches and teammates. Forgiveness, surprisingly, frees the mind to focus on accomplishing future goals. Any excess mental baggage, mental clutter or unnecessary negative thoughts and emotions that you drop before next week will make you feel and progress better.
- What have I been avoiding that has to get done? Putting off problems often makes them worse and never makes them better. Plus you waste too much time thinking about them, when you could have just faced and solved the situation.
- Is there anyone that deserves a “Thank You” from me? In whatever form, you choose to give it, a “thank you” is appreciated and can lead to better relationships, friendships and better team spirit. Take some time each week to thank anyone who may have helped you.
- What can I do to help someone next week? Part of success in any field is giving back. Focusing outside of yourself on helping someone else often helps you even more.
- What are my goals for my gymnastics career? Thinking about how this next week of training fits into your gymnastics career goals will make you work harder this week to focus on and accomplish steps toward your goals.
- What are my top goals for this year? Every week should be full of work that directly leads you to your short and longer term goals. Make sure you are keeping your goals for this year in mind all week while you are working in the gym.
- What weaknesses do I need to work on to correct next week? Is it finally time for you to get all three splits down? Or do you have one event that is keeping you out of the all-around medals? Get to work on it next week. Eliminating weaknesses can often results in overall higher score increases than improving your best skills and events.
