I have been thinking and observing...as I always seem to do. The thing I have noticed lately, and forgive me if I seem to be talking almost secretively in my choice of words here, that is not my intent. Anyway, I have been thinking and come up with this...
"It is not that you are doing it ("it" refers to pretty much anything you want it to refer to in this post...), it is how you are doing it that can really make the difference"
I could ask two people to complete the same task and what they produce can and will no doubt be vastly different. Of course. Obvious. No brain wave there Andrew. This thought just came into my mind when I was standing in the gym last week and I thought I could ask someone "do you lift weights?" No doubt they will say yes, most every athlete lifts weights. This is the thing. So many people do it, almost all athletes do it. But I have done a lot of reading lately and I am convinced there is such a vast difference between "doing it" and "doing it." How the very best people do what can be a simple task like squatting can be so different and therefore what they get out of it can be so very different.
How would you distinguish who are the very best people is a good question...and maybe not one I can totally answer here but maybe some of my thoughts below answer that question.
The standards the above 2 people bring to a task and what they understand about how to do it "as well as they can" will very likely mean the task is done with very different levels of execution. I could be saying this in regard to squatting, as I mentioned above, with my athletes, but I think it is everywhere in life. Maybe this is all really just about quality. Quality behaviour and actions will generally bring positive quality results.
What is quality I guess anyone would ask? I don't think I can answer that but my observation is that you ask an athlete or coach..."are you squatting in your training program?" They say yeah, as will pretty much any athlete. But do they do it well? Do they really do it and get as much out of it as they possibly can and therefore maximise its potential benefit? Or do they just do it, generally safely without any mistakes but not really to its fullest potential? The results that come from the former approach over the latter are considerably different in my current observation and opinion.
The people in life who become successful (sometimes doing essentially the same thing as everyone else) are the ones who know how to undertake simple tasks and get the most out of them. They do the task and its benefit is maximised. They do it better than the average Joe. They understand it intimately. They examine the task and see how it fits in with the big picture and they break it down to see how each piece can be executed to maximise what is obtained by undertaking the task.
How does one know what to do to ensure they are getting as much out of the task as they can? A good question. I guess they can observe others and take their ideas on board and therefore refine what they used to do so that the task can now be done in a "better" way. Or maybe they can just analyse what they are currently doing and ask themselves...with a very open mind...is this really the best way I can do this task? Could I do this better? Is this being done with quality or just being done? Do I really understand what is the best way I could do this? Why I am doing this and what am I hoping to get out of it?
I have been through plenty of these questions lately about doing a simple task such as squatting and I believe my thinking and execution of the task is now much more profitable for my athletes than it used to be. I guess time will tell but the change in emphasis when doing the squatting has lead me to think we are now getting much more out of it than we used to. Again, time will tell I guess.
Perhaps my thinking will change again in a few years time and I will get my athletes squatting differently. It's an interesting process to see the evolution and understanding of the task and it is what I do enjoy about coaching and working with athletes.
To have the vision to see that perhaps things need to change and that a task could be done a better way is a great realisation. To then modify what you are currently doing to a new and "better way" of doing it which produces superior results is what I find extremely satisfying and something I think I will always search for. I doubt I will ever be content to just keep doing what I have always done. I will always be looking for a better way to do a task. Not just coaching but in many things in life. I guess I may never find the "ultimate" way to do a task and to keep looking keeps my brain working, which I really enjoy.
Going with this is that I may never be satisfied with what I have. I think I have realised this. This might drive me crazy in some ways but I think it will always help fuel me to keep searching for how I can find the better way.
"It is not that you are doing it ("it" refers to pretty much anything you want it to refer to in this post...), it is how you are doing it that can really make the difference"
I could ask two people to complete the same task and what they produce can and will no doubt be vastly different. Of course. Obvious. No brain wave there Andrew. This thought just came into my mind when I was standing in the gym last week and I thought I could ask someone "do you lift weights?" No doubt they will say yes, most every athlete lifts weights. This is the thing. So many people do it, almost all athletes do it. But I have done a lot of reading lately and I am convinced there is such a vast difference between "doing it" and "doing it." How the very best people do what can be a simple task like squatting can be so different and therefore what they get out of it can be so very different.
How would you distinguish who are the very best people is a good question...and maybe not one I can totally answer here but maybe some of my thoughts below answer that question.
The standards the above 2 people bring to a task and what they understand about how to do it "as well as they can" will very likely mean the task is done with very different levels of execution. I could be saying this in regard to squatting, as I mentioned above, with my athletes, but I think it is everywhere in life. Maybe this is all really just about quality. Quality behaviour and actions will generally bring positive quality results.
What is quality I guess anyone would ask? I don't think I can answer that but my observation is that you ask an athlete or coach..."are you squatting in your training program?" They say yeah, as will pretty much any athlete. But do they do it well? Do they really do it and get as much out of it as they possibly can and therefore maximise its potential benefit? Or do they just do it, generally safely without any mistakes but not really to its fullest potential? The results that come from the former approach over the latter are considerably different in my current observation and opinion.
The people in life who become successful (sometimes doing essentially the same thing as everyone else) are the ones who know how to undertake simple tasks and get the most out of them. They do the task and its benefit is maximised. They do it better than the average Joe. They understand it intimately. They examine the task and see how it fits in with the big picture and they break it down to see how each piece can be executed to maximise what is obtained by undertaking the task.
How does one know what to do to ensure they are getting as much out of the task as they can? A good question. I guess they can observe others and take their ideas on board and therefore refine what they used to do so that the task can now be done in a "better" way. Or maybe they can just analyse what they are currently doing and ask themselves...with a very open mind...is this really the best way I can do this task? Could I do this better? Is this being done with quality or just being done? Do I really understand what is the best way I could do this? Why I am doing this and what am I hoping to get out of it?
I have been through plenty of these questions lately about doing a simple task such as squatting and I believe my thinking and execution of the task is now much more profitable for my athletes than it used to be. I guess time will tell but the change in emphasis when doing the squatting has lead me to think we are now getting much more out of it than we used to. Again, time will tell I guess.
Perhaps my thinking will change again in a few years time and I will get my athletes squatting differently. It's an interesting process to see the evolution and understanding of the task and it is what I do enjoy about coaching and working with athletes.
To have the vision to see that perhaps things need to change and that a task could be done a better way is a great realisation. To then modify what you are currently doing to a new and "better way" of doing it which produces superior results is what I find extremely satisfying and something I think I will always search for. I doubt I will ever be content to just keep doing what I have always done. I will always be looking for a better way to do a task. Not just coaching but in many things in life. I guess I may never find the "ultimate" way to do a task and to keep looking keeps my brain working, which I really enjoy.
Going with this is that I may never be satisfied with what I have. I think I have realised this. This might drive me crazy in some ways but I think it will always help fuel me to keep searching for how I can find the better way.
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