The key differences I built in my mindset that I would have never learned just by sitting in school. Image: SFGate The Problem With Grade SchoolWell, there are many problems but this is just a noticeable one... You know how it went when you were in grade school.... you sign up for some B.S. classes that you didn't really care about but need them to graduate and they proceed to to find a way to do the least amount of work and cheat your way through the class in order to pass it. What's the problem here? It forces you do de-value education in your mind, seeing it as something that "has to be done" rather than something that you get to do in order to excel in your life, relationships and career. Guess what? That isn't even the biggest problem. The bigger problem here is how the structure of schools is absolutely wrecking our mindsets. There is zero value given to the process of learning, instead you learn to get good at test taking because they train you that the grade at the end of the course is what matters most. You need that grade to get into college, to do well in college and do well in your career and if you don't have that grade you have to study more to get it. It doesn't matter if you actually knew what you were learning or not, if you didn't get the grade on the test then obviously you didn't know the topic and were inferior to the students that did. Looking back, my major problem in grade school was that I got really, I mean REALLY, good at test taking but not actually learning anything. This allowed me to get solid grades but never actually put value on the education aspect of what I was learning. Sports, Probably The Greatest Thing My Parents Did For My MindsetThanks mom and dad. What do sports do that school fails to do? Probably the most important thing for your mindset actually... They put emphasis on enjoying the process, not just the end results. You practice night and day, form a community with your teammates, go through ups and downs each game and enjoy the process on the way to that "Championship." Even if you don't get there, you have stories and relationships that last forever and you eventually forget about not making it to the Championship but you never miss the lessons you learned, the stories and the relationships that you formed. The best part? You are enjoying the showing up everyday to practice because you have the chance to get better and form these relationships, all while pushing your mental and physical limits. Mindsets Developed From SportsWhat exactly are some mindsets that sports can help us develop? Well, let me give you an few ideas and don't worry this applies to sports after grade school as well, join that club team or join that "beer league" you won't regret it....
The Risks of Not Developing These Mindsets...You run the risk of living probably the opposite of how you want to live if you never take the time to develop these mindsets. Why? You are going to start to do what is easy compared to what you should actually be doing. You are going to fall into a routine that never really challenges you to grow and be stuck there because you won't even realize you are there. You are going to stop learning and trusting the process of continual education because you have never seen it really pan out after cheating your way through school. You are going to start chasing instant gratification and want everything now, not respect the process like you need to if you want to see any sort of significant change in your life. This is just a few things, there are so many more out there. How Sports Instills These In UsWhether you realize it or not, you likely have been influenced by these mindsets if you played. I am going to focus this section on the most important things that sports teaches us because there are simply too many to write about in this short article. Plus, the mental benefits can be different for all of us... there is no "this is exactly what is going to happen." Much like different workouts or diets work for different people. The three main areas of mental growth that come from sports are your ability to trust the process, the ability to do what is hard and the ability to rebound after a loss/ hardship. Sports, for a lot of us, were like no other area of our life. We showed up almost daily to practice for hours on end and for years at a time. This is something that sort of fell by the wayside as we grew older and even going to the gym for an hour a day for a month can seem like a daunting tasks. Even in work, we show up everyday, but a lot of us just show up because we have to and not that we really enjoy showing up because we aren't where we want to be or doing what we want to be, like we were in sports. Sports have a natural process of pratice, implementing in games and letting the season and playoffs play out to a conclusion. Sure, while we are focused on the end result, we have to pay attention to the day to day aspects and excel there as well. We find joy in the wins even though we are not winning the championship. This mindset is a major struggle for many as they believe they will only be happy or joyous when they reach that end goal. Going right off of this idea of trusting the process, is the ability to "bounce back" after a loss. We have that long term goal in mind and realize that it is a process to get there that we just have to take it game by game, one loss doesn't define your career. Finally, sports can help us start enjoying or at least enduring doing the things that are uncomfortable and hard, but necessary in order to reach goals. Maybe taking that face off or that game winning shot isn't something that comes natural to you and you get uncomfortable. Sports puts us in this constant state of uncomfort and gets us used to doing what isn't always the first thing we would be doing. Maybe thats trying a new trick, a new spin move or guarding their best player. It also forces us to do the hard things in life, such as hours of practice each day. Showing up to practice and busting your butt definitely isn't the easiest thing to do when compared to things such as going home to "chill," but it is necessary if you want to reach your goals. In an age where everyone seems to be chasing what is easy and comfortable, such as eating whatever they want and watching Netflix for hours on end, sports might be the answer to some mental problems. Translating This To Other Areas of Your LifeHow exactly do you take these things you might have learned from sports and translate it into your daily life? Well, you can take the lesson around practice and doing what is hard/ what you don't want to do and translate that to school or your job. Maybe the last thing you want to do is study because it is boring and harder than just sitting here and watching Netflix, but you know you have to in order to learn about what you care about. You can relate this to "practicing" much like you would practice for a sport. Or maybe you are just going through the motions in your job because you know what you are doing and it is easy, but that's not getting you the promotion. Maybe it is time to start going that extra mile, doing that extra work, or coming up with new ideas, even though it may be much harder. Same goes for your diet and exercise, something a lot of us struggle with. Sure, eating those Oreos are much easier than the salad or chicken, but if you look at it in terms of a long term goal of how you want to look and feel, you will realize that it won't help you in the process of getting there. Going to the gym is anything but easy and especially when you aren't seeing results. Many people stick with the gym for a few weeks or months and then quit when they aren't where they want to be, they lost trust in the process and chased that instant gratification. There are literally a million ways to apply these mindsets that sports can teach you into your own life. It is just your job to figure out what areas you need a drastic shift in. Weren't In Sports? Don't Worry It's Never Too Late To Start Working on Your MindsetHere is some content to start with: How to Actually Be More Present in Your Day to Day Life >> What You Need to Hear Today But Don't Want To Hear >> Two Ways To Upgrade Your Mindset Using Instagram Today >> You Make This Realization and You Will Unlock an "Unfair Advantage" In Your Life >> Wow, just like that another day on the blog is in the books! Thanks for all the support and if you enjoyed this or learned anything I just ask one thing: bring a friend back tomorrow! Time to make personal development more "normal" because it is at the foundation of every area of our lives. Stop back with a friend tomorrow-- yourmmntm.com/blog
-Taylor
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