Positivity

“I was in trouble many times, but didn’t realize it because I never had a negative thought.” – Jack Morris, after pitching 10 shutout innings to win Game 7 of the 1991 World Series

 “Positive energy can change the world.” – Coach Quick

                As a coach I spend a lot of time studying the connection between the mind and the body.  Long-distance athletes are not physiological machines depending solely on their muscles, lungs, and heart.  Much of performance in a workout or a race has to do with the individual’s attitude, his mental outlook on the task at hand.  This mind-body connection has mystified scientists for thousands of year.  It is difficult to determine just how much impact the mind has on our physical well-being or our athletic performance.  In a number of laboratory tests, doctors have proved that patients who are given a placebo drug often recover as quickly as patients actually taking a drug.  A placebo has no medical affect, but if the patient believes that it will help, it often does.  If belief in a positive outcome can change someone from sick to well, then how can it alter athletic performance?

When he gives talks around the nation, Joe Newton often tells a story about Sebastian Coe.  Sebastian Coe had already set world records in both the 800 and the 1500 when he came to train in Elmhurst prior to the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics.  Coach Newton got to know him a bit, and he asked him what the key was to his success.  Coe responded by saying that he worked tirelessly to master the “upper eight inches.”  He was referring to his own mind.  Coe is perhaps the most physically gifted middle distance runner in world history, but even he knew that mastery of his own mind was the real key to unlocking performance.  All of us face the same task when we approach our daily workout or an important race.  There are always forces within the mind dictating our behavior.  Our mind may tell us that it is too cold or too hot, that we are sick or tired, that it is raining or snowing, or a myriad of other excuses.  Our mind also carries pre-conceived notions about our competitors.  Going into any race there is usually a certain amount of fear associated with other top teams or individuals.  Maybe we have not beaten them before and fear that same failure again.  The point is that it is easy to create a long list of factors within our mind that preclude us from performing at our best. 

One key to mastering the mind-body connection with regard to running is positivity.  A person with a positive attitude goes through his daily life with a “can do” attitude.  He believes that the tasks facing him during the day are possible to complete and approaches all challenges with certainty in himself.  “Can do” people are not afraid of challenges or new experiences.  They relish the opportunity to perform.  It is much easier to defeat a foe when you run with belief in yourself and your teammates rather than thinking about how good the opposition is.  “Can do” people train and race with reckless abandon.  They succeed more often because they refuse to place artificial limits on their performance.  Too often in life, people establish a ceiling for themselves and thus fail to realize their great potential.  I wish I had $1 for every time that an incoming freshman told me a long story about his asthma, his sore muscles, or his inability to run more than two miles at a time.  A lot of times, novice runners see only the limitations.  Reframing their minds with a positive attitude helps them to move beyond their own arbitrary limits.  I also talk with quite a few joggers I know who have decided to tackle a half-marathon or full marathon.  These people are usually awash in newfound confidence.  By believing that they can do the necessary training and complete the distance, they realize that they have been much better runners all along than they ever realized.  A person with a “can do” positive attitude can accomplish things his mind had previously told him were impossible.

Maintaining a positive attitude is also important when you are in a leadership role.  The duty of a leader is to inspire and motivate others.  The manner in which we treat others directly impacts their performances.  I heard in a class once that it takes ten pieces of positive reinforcement to match every one piece of negative reinforcement.  I have a teaching story that helps to prove this point.  One day late in my first year of teaching at Palatine, I was getting ready to go home from school.  I had had a really good day in the classroom, and my track practice had gone very well.  I was walking to my car down the Special Education hallway when I spotted George, one of my senior composition students.  We were alone so I just expected to say hello to him and move on with my day.  Instead, George stopped me.  He told me point blank that my class had been awful that day, and he felt that I had wasted his time.  Granted, this was just one student’s opinion of my class that day, but it was such a shock to hear.  All of the positive feelings I had been having about my day and my progress as a teacher were wiped away.  I remember driving home and dwelling on whether I was making any progress as a teacher.  I take my job seriously, and what George said really thrust me into a space of self-doubt.  All it took to ruin my entire day was one sentence from one student.  This story just proves how easy it is to dwell on your own faults or the faults of others.  Too often as leaders we focus on the limitations that people have.  We see only the things that are wrong.  People’s faults are often easy to diagnose.  To see the potential and the goodness within people is hard.

Now think about my one example and how it relates to leadership in athletics.  How often do we see coaches screaming at players or getting in their faces for a mistake?  How often do we see older kids on a team making fun of or hazing the younger kids?  Granted, there are often times when a coach needs to correct a mistake in performance, or kids are just having some fun with each other.  Negativity though tends to wear people down and drain their motivation.  How much would you like to part of an organization or team where you were constantly belittled, made fun of, or screamed at?  The truly dedicated athlete or employee will soldier through large doses of negative feedback because he cares so much about the team or the job.  However, a large percentage of people are not motivated by negativity.  People, especially kids, want to be inspired.  They want to be part of a team where everyone supports each other.