Do you pay attention to the little things?
In sports (and in life) success oftentimes comes from the details. Are you overlooking the little things in your profession? Are you prepared for all possible scenarios? With the NFL in full swing and witnessing many teams suffer defeat because they didn’t pay attention to detail, I wanted to discuss in the #CJJblog this week. Here are some tips and tricks to better position yourself to winning close games. Enjoy.
- Do your job. When I saw the Arizona Cardinals kicker commit a penalty on the kickoff with less than a minute left in a tie game, giving the Seahawks prime field position to go down and win the game, I immediately thought “do your job.” He did not. There are countless other examples of careless plays in crunchtime in NFL games so far.
- Leader. The quarterback and head coach of an NFL team are the leaders. Act like it and embrace the pressure. Tom Brady? Thrived under pressure. James Franklin? Crumbles under pressure.
- Mantra. Do you have a team mantra? For example, we play our best at the end of games.
- Practice. Do you practice crunchtime situations with your team or simply discuss them? Having open discussions about rules is also helpful, especially if rules are changed or altered.
- Communication. What is expected of each team member? Is there clarity around these expectations? Master the art of correcting mistakes fairly and quickly.
- Mental imagery. Get your mind right. Visualize yourself (and your team) having success.
- Grit. Teach your team grittiness and what it means to stay strong. Use stories to illustrate this in practice and how it leads to success.
- Learn from the best. Bring in outside people to share their stories and traditions. Hearing from former players and coaches who have been successful is incredibly inspiring.
Did You Know? Coach Jim Johnson’s friend, Lee Salz just released his new book The First Meeting Differentiator and Coach highly recommends. You can get your copy HERE.
Life Tip #34: Live by the 6P Formula – Proper Prior Planning Prevents Poor Performance
