picture: https://quotefancy.com/quote/1717055/Jon-Gordon-Challenges-ONLY-make-you-STRONGER
A common phrase “Challenges only make you stronger” can be a powerful message during difficult and challenging times. In my opinion this is only true with the right amount of challenge, how that challenge is overcome and the resulting situation. I intend to be critical here for the purpose of creating discussion and sharing some of my recent experiences with challenges that I have had.
Something that seems to be ingrained into my DNA is to go towards the fire, go where others might shy away, go into situations I later reflect and wonder why I chose to engage in certain things or take on certain tasks. Whether these turn out to be the right or wrong decision, it varies. Some challenges can be sought after and some happen by chance; do you ever find that a challenging situation you have sought after gets compounded by more and more challenges, creating the perfect storm? How do you cope with this?
A challenge I recently sought after was the decision to go back to school to complete a masters program in high performance coaching and technical leadership at UBC. The start of this program happened to land in the middle of my busiest weeks of the year in my current role building this years off-season on and off-ice development camps with elite players from around the globe coming for 8 weeks of our world renowned program. In the middle of this throw in 2 out of town weddings, another work related annual presentation (that was out of my control in scheduling) along with still managing day to day functions of the facility and training my athletes. The only choice I have is to jump in the fire! Live it. Not a problem, but a challenge.
Some coping strategies, other than the nice local IPA I have beside me:
- Lists – lots of lists
- Get enough sleep – mental fatigue is your worst enemey
- Exercise – nothing clears the mind and gets the juices flowing better than a good lift! Today I chose 4 lifts, complexed them and banged them out in 20 mins with a decent sweat, good to go.
- Delegate – handed over a few less important tasks to staff which also gives them some leadership of their own.
- Put the phone away – dump the easy distractions for an hour at a time and get it done!
- Utilize your support system – family and friends are great people to keep you motivated, give them a call.
- Take some brief time away – I have a tee time booked with some friends tomorrow morning to reset the mind. Get outside!
A recent presentation I listened to the other day by Dr. David Henry brought about the study by Rees et al, 2016 about the difference between elite athletes and super elite athletes. An interesting finding was that almost all super elite athletes had a negative life event (challenge) and compounded that with a positive sport-related event. They found ways to deal with a challenge that created a positive outcome. Having the proper tools to manage the challenge at hand is the key becoming stronger from the challenge.
A friend and mentor Peter Twist often presents the phrase: opportunity is nowhere. Do you see the word “nowhere” or do you see the phrase “now here”. Opportunity is now here!
Hi Sean. Love your post and reflection on your situation in addition to the coping strategies you noted. During the times we are challenged these are great ways to get to the other side of the fire. I am sure those around you learn from you leading by example and challenging tasks head on.
Best wishes to you throughout the duration of the High Performance Learning experience. I look forward to having you as a cohort.
Sean, great first blog and nice reflection. Be sure to tie it back to the NCCP core competency and consider some of the questions in the blog description. I can see how the blog relates to critical thinking, but would challenge you to identify some assessment of this competency. That said, it seems like your strategy is to gather the facts / tasks and prioritize what is important. This is key to the planning process. It is great to here some of your introspection and thanks for sharing. I am looking forward to the next 12 months.
Sean, love the coping strategies you provided. I do have a question though, I often find myself lacking the time to get a proper work out in during the busiest of my days. My workouts tend to last almost three hours with warm up and cool down included in that time. Is there a way to get an effective workout in that will see benefits despite time constraints? I also really enjoyed the “opportunity is nowhere” insight, I am a big advocate of positive perception with my athletes and this quote reminds me of one i often use with them that is along the same lines. “impossible says to itself, i’m possible” It’s all about, as you stated so eloquently in your blog post, framing “problems” into opportunities, helping to change the mindset of athletes is as important as the physical gains one may make. Great job and i look forward to reading more of your work!
Thanks for the reply Mel and glad you enjoyed the post!
As for getting time to fit your workouts into a busy day, it can certainly be tricky. Being still a competitive athlete your training obviously needs to be focused and purposeful, and likely can’t be neglected. For myself and most other busy working people that aren’t necessarily training for as much importance and have a hard time getting their training in, I recommend two opposing approaches. Someone less experienced should have training plan that they can stick to that is simple and variable. Someone like myself who have spent years training with purpose, I just pick major lower body lift (DL, squat, split stance variations), a push (usually bench!) and a pull. pick 3-4 exercises that I feel like doing on the day in those categories, complex them, and hammer them out – done in 20-25mins, add other accessories if time permits. Conditioning I get outside and ride my mountain bike.
In your case, I’d say you need to look at what priorities you might have. What takes president in your week and stick to it. Sacrifices of something will have to be made, but that’s part of being an elite athlete! Training doesn’t need to be 3 hours. Have a plan, warm up/activate, do your movement/plyos/sport specific drills, then lift. Get in and get out if you are busy. Might need to find some external motivational sources.
Hope this helps!