Embracing Progress
Embracing Progress
Recognizing Small Wins
While the world has its problems and things are far from perfect, I am of the thinking that there has never been a better time to be alive. All the stats you see seem to suggest this. One example I recently heard was the treatment of heart attacks. Since the 1960’s, we have seen a seventy percent decline in heart attack deaths due to modern medicine. However, the world and the news are full of bad news. What do we make of this?
An author/thinker I have grown to love over the last year is someone named Morgan Housel (Show linked below). One of his recent podcasts was titled “Why Pessimism Sounds Smart”. In it, he talks about how studies have shown that we perceive pessimists to sound smarter. Why is this?
Housel says something that I thought was profound…. he talked about the compounding effect of progress as opposed to how the bad can change quickly. He said, “bad news happens very quickly, and you can’t turn your head away”. Housel talks about Daniel Kahneman’s perspective that losses linger and loom longer than positive progress. Housel says, “progress happens to slowly to notice while setbacks happen too quickly to ignore”.
As I listened to his podcast, there were some pretty obvious connections to leading and coaching. It is so easy to get distracted by the negatives. Even just the everyday annoyances. For me, this fall has been one where I have let myself get to distracted by the frustrations of the job and the predictable frustrations. However, when I step back, it has been a good fall.
Same thing for coaches. While the negatives are easy to see, having ways to see the good and track the progress are important for long term sustainability. Here are a few basic ideas to this:
Keep a notebook and jot down a few small wins each week that you think are important. Look back on it from time to time.
Find some things to measure to track progress. Could be as simple as weightroom attendance, punctuality, or simple behaviors during practice that you have been stressing.
Develop “Systems of Care” that focus on the good and connect people. You can read more about a past post
Have comments or other ideas? Comment on this post or message us by clicking the button below.
Things That Are Making Us Think
Check out the Morgan Housel Podcast episode mentioned in our post here.
The Friends University Strength Staff (@Falcon2Strong) does a great job cultivating a positive environment and doing put ups and gratitudes. Check out their social media account to see more.