To address the question of WHAT is my starting point, perhaps it is best to “Start With Why”, as suggested by Simon Sinek, author of a book of the same title. He writes about the “Golden Circle”, where we have 3 circles, one within the other in 3 separate layers. The outermost layer is the WHAT, the middle layer is the HOW, and the innermost layer is the WHY. Of course I need to understand where or what my starting point is, but I think it’s more important to understand WHY it is that way, because if I didn’t, then what’s the point?

So starting with WHY, I think I find great purpose in the mastery process: being a little bit better each day. The focus is more about improving the self daily, instead of competing against others, and trying to inspire others to do the same with the things that are important to them in their lives (e.g. sport). I think trying to be “better” is a worthier strategy than trying to be the “best”, as being better can be driven internally, while being the “best” is likely based more on external factors. However, if I were to include a vision statement, it would be to inspire others to be the best version of themselves, with the resources they have.

The latter part of the previous statement is important, because we are still limited to the resources we have. This would lead to the HOW, in which we would need to figure out how to get to where we want to go. Although we are limited to our resources, there is still a lot of room for improvement and further developments. I would like to think that we would probably still get to a pretty high level in whatever we choose to do if we were to maximize the opportunities bound by the amount of resources we have. For example, as a badminton player, despite limited funding, there should still be enough to qualify and compete at the World Championships and other major events. Perhaps the final outcome might improve with access to more resources, but that should not stop us from maximizing our opportunities at hand.

The outermost circle is typically where most of us start. WHAT do I do? I compete as an athlete, I coach as a coach. HOW do I do it? I learn from other sources, including athletes, coaches, NCCP, UBC’s HPCTL program, etc. and I do my best to implement what I’ve learned. But WHY? If we don’t have a WHY, then it becomes difficult to continue when you don’t really have a reason to. I know that there have been times I’ve continued on because “I don’t know what else to do”, or “I’ve spent so much time in it already, it would be a waste to just leave.”

So, what is my starting point? Figuring out WHY I want to do this, and thankfully, I think I finally have.

What am I interested in?
I’m interested in the concept of high performance and mastery. I find it fascinating to learn how people come up with ways to improve themselves in the things that they do. I’m also interested in the outliers, or those that don’t quite fit in the status quo, because those are the people who truly find ways to excel (or I suppose on the other end of the scale, fail miserably). With mastery, it’s about learning about different ways that people approach the same problem, and the little things some people do to be just a little better. Learning how to learn more efficiently is also interesting to me, and perhaps there will never be an end point. Mastery is something with an unreachable outcome. It’s just a matter of how far we can go until our time is up.

I also want to be a beginner again, because it helps me to understand other people in a similar position. As I have a large amount of expertise in certain things, I feel it is necessary to be a beginner in something to remind myself that we are all on a similar path but at different time lines. Being a beginner helps me practice patience with others, and also with myself.

What is my big question?
It used to be “WHY do I still compete?” and “WHY am I still in badminton?”, but I think I’m on the right track now. I still compete because there are still things I can do better while I still have resources, but that is likely to come to an end very soon. Without proper funding, I will be unable to make much improvements, which would be a good signal for me to stop. That would then take me to the next question of “WHY am I still in badminton?”. The answer is quite simple, because I want to inspire others to adopt a similar mindset (WHY), and give them the necessary skills (HOW) for them to become elite badminton players themselves (WHAT).

But my next big question for myself is: “Can I transfer this vision into a different sport, or even a different field?”

How could this relate to one of the four themes?
Coaching Effectiveness: Instill a mastery mindset in my athletes to be the best versions of themselves with the resources available to them.

Performance Planning: I think this is an interesting concept, as an athlete, performance planning can mean different things. Targeting results is one thing, but when performance goals become the priority, sometimes it increases the amount of stress on the athlete and that they start worrying about results more than becoming a better player. This is somewhat addressed by Maria Sharipova in her podcast with Tim Ferris. *SPOILER ALERT* In the podcast, she discusses how she never really cared about the results, the fame, or the money, but just trying to be a bit better every time (sounds like a mastery approach!). (Highlight text to read)

Coaching Leadership: When you have a WHY, you become a visionary and a leader. Starting with WHY will net followers because you inspire others to believe what you also believe.

Training & Competitive Readiness: Like performance planning, setting performance goals versus mastery goals may cause a very different mindset in different athletes. Performance goals may cause athletes to over-train in order to reach a certain performance goal as there are often time constraints attached to these performance goals. The mastery approach is likely to be a better strategy, as recovery then becomes a viable strategy instead of an obstacle for the athlete with a time sensitive performance goal. For example, an athlete might think: “I can’t rest today because I need to do well at the tournament next week” versus, “How can I maximize my recovery today so that I can train better tomorrow?”

Is there evidence that I can add to my portfolio that demonstrates a particular theme?
Upon discovering my “WHY”, training has been much more exciting as I now spend some more time analyzing the best players in the world and try to model some of their techniques and tactics. The curiosity is more about whether I can make it work and whether it is effective or not, instead of worrying about winning or losing. I then spend some more time reflecting on my current practices and deciding if changes need to be made or at least upgraded. The second part of this curiosity is whether I can teach others WHAT to do, and HOW to do it. But interestingly enough, most people don’t necessarily care for the WHAT and the HOW until they are influenced with the WHY. So if other athletes start believing in the WHY (constantly looking for ways to improve), then they may be more receptive to HOW I do things, and WHAT I’m trying to do. Otherwise, I am simply another coach with another technique/tactic.