Have a watch of this clip from Leah Williams and her pre-match dressing room approach as captain of the England team. It really struck a cord with me. Leah talks similar to other key sporting achievers that it’s not all about the hype, the drama, the increase in pressure. It’s the simple. The doing. Focusing when focus is required. Being aware and enjoying the time you are in and not allowing the outcome to dominate.
The other interesting angle is the surprise from Graham as he mentioned the “movie” approach. Often the exact opposite. The crucial speech, the drama, the build up, the jeopardy.
In fairy tales there is a classic finish. After the result the story completes with “…and they all lived happily ever after”. But did they?
Whilst the result of an achievement can fuel you for a while, and Leah continues to talk about the amazing memories she has of the win, that runway can often come to an end too soon.
You can listen to Jonny Wilkinson for a very personal reflection on his career and how he found challenges in the highs and the expectations. https://youtu.be/O80qs9OEadw
The (your?) value is not in the achievement reached.
Instead the value is in the turning up, being in the process, enjoying the steps, each day at a time, maybe in sharing and connecting with others.
January can be a strange month. Often started with high expectations of a large change, an achievement to reach sometime in the future.
Like Leah, can you turn your focus to the incremental, the process, the daily steps, resist being drawn into the Hollywood hype or that value is only found at the finishline. There will be wins along the way but also there will be hurdles – personal challenges, injury, family stresses. There are so many phrases that talk to this. Here are a few that may resonate.
“Play every shot” “Hit the ball in front of you” “One play at a time”
“Play the hand you are dealt”
“One step at a time” “Brick by brick” “Take each day at a time” “Each day is a new beginning”
“Simplify to the here and now”
“Chop wood, carry water, enlightenment, chop wood, carry water”
I hope you enjoy your moment, your day, your week.
Love to hear your thoughts and comments on this approach – or if you are wondering about the wood references or the logpile picture and want to know more about wood chopping I can highly recommend a book by Lars Mytting, its more than dead trees 🙂