Coaches and athletes look for every legal edge over their competition. However, you may be putting too much emphasis on new innovations. Sleep is a foundation of human performance. It has the potential to fuel or wreck an athlete’s performance. It may not be flashy, but your athletes may not be getting the sleep they need to have an edge on and off the field.

Counting Sheep Is An Athletic Advantage

Why do the Boston RedSox have a “sleep room” in their club house at Fenway Park? Why do the Seattle Seahawks wear Readibands to monitor player’s sleep? And why do MLB starting pitchers travel ahead of the rest of the team on road trips?

“Sleep is probably the most important thing we talk to [players] about,” said Brad Pearson, head athletic trainer for the Boston RedSox. “It’s critical to their recovery. You pick the low-hanging fruit first, the simple things. You create a stable base and build on that.”

If your athletes aren’t getting the right amount of sleep, it will dilute every other aspect of practice, preparation, and recovery.

Proper Sleep Gives Your Players an Edge

Sports science is clear that an athlete’s performance is impacted by the quantity, quality, and timing of their sleep. As a coach, it’s important to understand the impact that sleep (or lack thereof) is having on your players.

1. Risk of Injury

A recent study found that adolescent athletes who get less than 8 hours of sleep per night increase their risk of injury 1.7x compared to those who get at least 8 hours.

Injuries can decimate your roster and your shot at a winning season. If you can’t keep players on the field, you begin every game at a disadvantage.

2. Physical Effects

Studies reveal that inadequate sleep is linked to a reduction in a player’s natural growth hormone, slowed reaction times, and a weakened immune system.

This means that athletes who don’t get good sleep don’t get the full benefits from your strength and conditioning program. They won’t be as big, fast, or strong as competitors who sleep well.

3. Cognitive Effects

Sleep impacts your athlete’s brains, specifically the executive functions of the brain. These functions include decision making, concentration, memory, information processing, planning, and emotion regulation.

This carries a wide variety of on and off-field consequences. For example, athletes who don’t get adequate sleep make more mental mistakes and lose their composure more readily. They are at a greater risk for depression and don’t perform as well in the classroom.

A great example of an elite athlete who understands the cognitive (and physiological) benefits sleep offers, and benefits greatly from it, is five-time Super Bowl champion quarterback Tom Brady. He seeks every advantage to keep his mind and body operating at peak form, including going to bed at 8:30 PM every night.

4. Performance Effects

By increasing the amount of sleep they were getting, basketball players improved shooting percentages by 9%. The same was true of serve percentages in tennis players.

Athletes who don’t get adequate sleep are more likely to miss shots, drop catches, strike out, and get out hustled by opponents.

According to Sam Ramsden, the Seahawks’ Director of Player Health and Performance, “Some of the best players on the team are the best sleepers.”

Sleep is a foundation of human performance athletes can’t ignore anymore.
Click To Tweet

How much sleep do your athletes need?

According to the National Sleep Foundation, the assumed 8 hours per night may not be enough for your athletes.

Bonus Download

To help you encourage your athletes to get more sleep, I created a printable poster you can share with your athletes. It outlines 12 ways sleep effects performance on and off the field.

Put a Premium on Athlete’s Sleep

Coaches, teach your athletes about the importance of sleep. Share the printable poster with them. Hang it in your locker room. Don’t allow a lack of sleep to sabotage the hard work your team is putting in every day in practice. Sleep is just as critical to your athlete’s performance as hydration and good nutrition. Make it a fundamental of your program.

Plus, click here for 5 tips to help your athletes sleep better!

Question: Where do you see a lack of sleep negatively impacting your players on the competition surface?

I’d love to hear from you in the comments below, or on Facebook or Twitter.

• Post: Think Smarter, Play Harder, Be Better: Sleep
• Post: Why Should Leaders Encourage Employees to Get More Sleep?
• Post: 5 Powerful Tips To Help You Sleep Better Tonight

The post How to Convince Your Athletes to Get More Sleep first appeared on The Excelling Edge.

Why do 92% of people fail to reach their New Year’s goals? They don’t have the commitment, resilience, and determination to see their resolution through. Perhaps they just lack an effective plan. Avoid becoming a statistic in 2017 and set yourself up for success. Set big goals. Make 2017 the best year ever – in sports, work, or life.

There is a big difference between a dream and a goal. Author and speaker Willie Jolley said, “A goal is simply a dream with a deadline.”

Think Big for 2017

However, a compelling goal, one that inspires us to fully commit to it, has a few additional qualities.

The following 4 qualities of compelling goals greatly increase our chances of turning our dreams into our reality.

Values-based. Your goals should stem from your WHY – why you do what you do the way you do it. Connect your goals to your fundamental values to maximize determination. Goals rooted in values are the goals that get accomplished when the going gets tough.

Incentive. Your goals should have an exciting pay off. What do you stand to gain once you accomplish the goal? Career advancement, healthier body, peer acknowledgement, personal satisfaction, more money…? A compelling goal has a defined upside.

Deadline. This separates a dream from reality. There is just something magical about deadlines. They are a catalysts. We want to meet them. We don’t want to fail. Setting a deadline creates the urgency you need to begin making progress today!

Specific. You can’t cross the finish line if you don’t know what the line looks like when you get there.  I don’t know what “lose weight” looks like. But you’ll know without a doubt when you’ve lost 15 lbs. and kept it off for 6 weeks. Now that’s specific! A compelling goal is well defined with no wiggle room for a participation trophy.

Truly compelling goals are more likely to get achieved because they share these 4 qualities.
Click To Tweet

Make 2017 Your Best Year Ever

Stephen Covey nailed it when he coined the phrase, “Begin with the end in mind.”

If you want to make 2017 your best year yet, you’ve got to begin with the end in mind. You have to focus on a compelling goal – one that meets the 4 qualities above.

Envision what you want to be true for your life, your team, your family at the end of 2017.

Get clear on what it will be like, feel like, and look like to achieve it.

Maybe your goal is to…
– win a conference championship.
– turn battered program around.
– have a winning season.
– establish a dynasty.
– get a better job.
– grow your income.
– improve a relationship.
– be debt free.

Whatever your goal is, I want to help you get there.

Start now and make 2017 your best year ever!
Click To Tweet

Take Control of 2017

If you are tired of not achieving your goals, or you really want to accomplish something special – making 2017 your best year yet, you definitely want to sign up for this free webinar.

Reserve you spot now. There are several options to fit your schedule. The first one is today!

It is called 7 Steps for Taking Control of 2017.

In it you’ll discover:
– The one overlooked strategy that will increase your success rate by 43%.
– How to “quit-proof” your goals and finally achieve what you set out to do.
– The secret to making it through the “messy middle” when the going gets tough.
– One commonly toted best practice to goal setting that may be sabotaging your success.

New York Times bestselling author, Michael Hyatt, will be leading the way and sharing these 7 steps with you. When you register, you can even submit a specific question for Michael to cover during the webinar.

I’ve attended many of Michael’s webinars over the last few years and they are always action-packed with tons of practical tips and strategies to set me up for success. This one is no different! You don’t want to miss it.

You can reserve your spot here.

Make 2017 Your Best Year Ever

I’ve personally taught goal setting to thousands of people and continue learning better ways to set, plan, and achieve goals.

One thing I’ve learned is that now is the time to start planning for 2017. Christmas will be here before you know it. And soon, it will be January and you’ll be back at the grindstone wondering when you’ll have time to slow down and be more intentional.

Now is the time! Do yourself, your family, and your team a favor…sign up for the free webinar and make the most of 2017.

P.S. If you’ve got too much to do, too little time, and don’t want to leave your success up to chance, click here and sign up for the best goal setting course on the planet – 5 Days to Your Best Year Ever! The price goes up this Thursday at midnight. Check it out.

Question: What is your greatest obstacle to achieving your biggest goals? I’d love to hear from you in the comments below, or on Facebook or Twitter.

• Free Webinar: 7 Steps For Taking Control of 2017
• Course: 5 Days to Your Best Year Ever

The post Why Not Make 2017 Your Best Year Ever? first appeared on The Excelling Edge.

One reason I love watching athletes receive awards is the acceptance speeches. In them athletes thank God, their mom, their Little League coach, their teammates, the fans, and on and on. They express tremendous gratitude to all those who helped them along the way. What if we encouraged athletes to express gratitude more often?

I try to practice what I preach. I’ve written posts about cultivating gratitude daily and giving thanks to others. Since being more intentional about gratitude, I’ve noticed more of the benefits found in research. It is awesome stuff!

Why Should Athletes Cultivate an Attitude of Gratitude? 

As I thought about teams and athletes I worked with I thought of six reasons athletes should cultivate gratitude. It would benefit their character, attitude, teamwork, and performance.

Cultivating #gratitude improves an athlete’s #character, attitude, #teamwork & #performance.
Click To Tweet

Here are six reasons coaches should encourage more gratitude in their locker rooms:

1. Gratitude encourages humility. When athletes express gratitude they move further from the entitlement epidemic so prevalent in our society today. It is a small way athletes can demonstrate a we not me mentality.

2 .Gratitude deters arrogance. In what some call the “ME-llinial” generation some athletes are focused on their individual stats, highlights, and successes regardless of their team. Expressing gratitude to those who have contributed to each athlete’s journey acknowledges that other people matter. No one became successful alone.

3. Gratitude facilitates emotional control. Athletes who experience gratitude are likely to experience more positive emotions. This lowers stress, promotes problem solving, and greater self-regulation.

4. Gratitude fosters contentment. Not to be confused with complacency, contentment helps athletes to be grateful for what they’ve already received (playing time, involvement in a team, a scholarship, a platform to impact others, etc.). So often the focus is on what we don’t have, we forget to be grateful for what we do.

5. Gratitude stewards stronger teams. Research shows that when people cultivate an attitude of gratitude on a regular basis they act with more compassion, generosity, and kindness. This has a positive impact  on their relationships. A team with better relationships performs better.

6. Gratitude enhances athletic performance. Cultivating a consistent attitude of gratitude benefits athletes mentally, physically, and socially. Grateful athletes take better care of their bodies and they tolerate aches and pains easier. They sleep 10% more and feel more alert and focused. All that translates into better performance in competition and the classroom.

Free Download

Use this poster to encourage your athletes to cultivate an attitude of gratitude on and off the playing surface.

Cultivate an Attitude of Gratitude in Your Locker Room

Help your team and your athletes to cultivate an attitude of gratitude this week. But don’t stop there. Make it a mainstay in your locker room or facility by designating a space (like on a white board) where players can write at least one thing they are grateful for each week. It could be an opportunity they received, a class they worked hard to pass, kindness shown by a teammate – anything. Cultivating an attitude of gratitude will better your players as athletes and as people and also improve your team.

Every coach should add a #gratitude board to their locker room.
Click To Tweet

Question: How will you encourage an attitude of gratitude this week? Leave your ideas in the comments below, or on Facebook or Twitter.

• Post: Give Thanks: How to Share the Gift of Gratitude 
• Post: The Entitlement Epidemic: How You Can Be Part of the Cure

The post Did You Know Gratitude Improves Athletic Performance? first appeared on The Excelling Edge.

In sports we often ride the tides of emotion from wins and loses. We see this in athletes, coaches, and even fans. For athletes this can be a dangerous way to define success. Seeing success as black and white (wins and loses) creates a fragile sense of confidence and fear-based performance. 

The Problem with Wins & Loses

Let me give you an example. Suppose you and I were going to race in the 100 meter dash. There will be one winner and one loser.

I can train hard. I can eat my Wheaties and hydrate well. I can stretch out and get loose. Ultimately, I can run the fastest 100 meters I’ve ever run in my life. The problem is, you could still beat me. I can’t control how fast you run.

This is a hard truth for some athletes. You can do everything right, play your best, and still come up short.

Redefine Success

Here are two characteristics to help athletes and coaches redefine success:

1. Controllable Success

When success is defined by outcomes beyond one’s control, anxiety and stress go up. It’s better to define success by more controllable factors.

Set Performance Goals. Going back to the 100m race example, I can’t control whether or not I win. But I have more control over finishing by a certain time.

Performance goals are measurable check points, or statistics, that an athlete or team has some control or influence over.

Set Process Goals. In the 100m race I can set goals to maintain a certain form and breathe a specific way. These goals are well within my control.

Controllable goals lower anxiety and enhance performance.
Click To Tweet

Help your athletes set goals and focus on the aspects of performance they can control or influence.

2. Growth Oriented Success

Success is about getting better everyday. Compete against yourself to be better than you were yesterday. As Olympic gold medalist Carl Lewis said, “It’s all about the journey not the outcome.”

In the 100m I could focus on improving my start time (first 15 meters). If I tracked improvement from week to week or from my last race, that is a more productive way to measure success. I could ask, “How much better did I get?”

Tennis great Steffi Graf said her father taught her, “that if you really do want to reach your goals, you can’t spend any time worrying about whether you’re going to win or lose. Focus only on getting better.”

Help your athletes to monitor improvement in their performance. Encourage them to define success in terms of getting better everyday.

Success isn’t about winning or losing; it’s about continuous improvement.
Click To Tweet

Free Download

To help you and your team redefine success, I created a downloadable PDF poster for you.

Emphasize Improvement Over Outcomes

Coaches set the tone for how athletes define success. Your team members will take their cues from what you emphasize and highlight. Do you talk more about wins and loses? Or do you focus more on the journey of getting better? Help your athletes define success as controllable and growth-oriented, and watch their performance soar.

Question: What are other ways to help athletes redefine success? I’d love to hear from you in the comments below, or on Facebook or Twitter.

The post How to Redefine Success for Better Performance first appeared on The Excelling Edge.

Aristotle said, “We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.” I love this quote. It is a reminder that success comes from doing the little things, consistently, over time. I’ve written before about 11 habits that cultivate excellence, but many people struggle to develop habits in the first place. 

We Run On Habits

The truth is, we all have habits. Some are good for us and others aren’t. According to a study published in 2006, nearly 40% of our daily actions are a result of habit, not conscious choice. Whether we like it or not, our habits form a large chunk of our behavior, decisions, and performance.

In his book, The Power of Habit, Charles Duhigg  explains a habit as formula that our brains have learned to follow: “When I see CUE, I will do ROUTINE in order get a REWARD.” Ideally, our brain develops these pattens to make life easier by putting certain behaviors on autopilot.

How I Became A Morning Person

I used to sleep in as long as I could. After hitting the snooze alarm two or three times, I forced myself to put my feet on the floor. Then I’d spin around like the Tasmanian Devil getting a shower, eating breakfast, and whirling out the door.

I wanted to do more, be more, accomplish more. I decided to become a morning person. My wife didn’t think it would last a week. It was going to be tough. But I did it – for a week. Then another week. More recent research says it can take 60 days to form a new habit. Now, five years later, I’m a morning person. I get up at 5 o’clock every weekday morning (with rare exceptions of course).

Understanding the Habit Loop

In my case, I needed to change a habit. Hitting the snooze button and dozing off was the old habit. Getting up for self-development was the new habit. Let’s explore 3 components of Duhigg’s habit loop to help you learn to establish a new habit and help you cultivate excellence.

There are three parts to every habit:

1. Cue
2. Routine
3. Reward

To understand our habits (good or bad), we need to identify the components of our habit loops.
Click To Tweet

Going back to my early riser example, the alarm was my cue, hitting snooze was my routine, and the reward was the joy of rolling over for a few more z’s.

How to Create a New Habit

“You’ll never change your life until you change something you do daily. The secret of your success is found in your daily routine,” according to John C. Maxwell.

What habit do you want to change? What habit do you want to develop? What habit have you tried and failed to start? Dissect the habit loop and finally make the change you want to see in your life.

1. Routine

As Stephen Covey taught us, we have to begin with the end in mind. What is the routine (read habit or behavior) you want to create?

Do you want to exercise more consistently? Do you want to skip dessert? Do you want to respond differently to your kids?

What do you want the new behavior to look like?

2. Reward

In The Power of Habit, Duhigg encourages us to experiment with rewards. Every habit has a reward, even if it is to avoid the pain of getting up off the couch to exercise. The reward is enjoying your favorite TV show or just relaxing instead of doing the hard things that lead to success.

To reinvent a habit, you’ll need to find a suitable reward. Rewards can be tricky. For example, do you struggle to get off the couch because you just hate running, because you need to elevate your blood sugar with a snack, or for some other reason?

Remember that we often trade short-term comfort for long-term success. It feels good in the moment but we regret it later.

For your new habit, experiment to find the reward that will work best for you. It may be tangible. Or it may be the personal satisfaction of knowing you’re getting better everyday.

3. Cue

Lastly, you need to identify the cue to kick off your new habit. It turns out that we’re wired for certain types of cues.

Use these 5 types of cues to set yourself up for success:

• Location
• Time
• Emotional State
• Other People
• Immediately Preceding Action

For example, I’m much more likely to exercise if my immediate preceding action is changing into my running clothes. And that is more likely if I’ve had a snack and bottle of water in the past hour. These cues can work for me or against me when it comes to getting my workout.

Together, an intentional cue and a compelling reward vastly increase your chances of executing your habit. Now put the habit loop to work for you day in and day out until it becomes automatic.

Leverage the Habit Loop

In order to cultivate excellence in sports, work, or life, you’ll need excellence building habits on your side.  Legendary Packers coach Vince Lombardi said, “You don’t win once in a while, you don’t do things right once in a while, you do them right all the time. Winning is a habit.”

Leverage the habit loop to cultivate excellence in your chosen arena. What separates the good from the great is often consistency. Habits build consistency. Excellence is a habit.

Question: What is the hard part of creating a habit? I’d love to hear from you in the comments below, or on Facebook or Twitter.

• Book: The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg
• Post: Cultivate Excellence Daily

The post How to Create a New Habit first appeared on The Excelling Edge.

Taking responsibility can be easier said than done. Blaming someone else or external circumstances can be a way to deflect ownership, soften mistakes, and protect an individual’s ego. 

Blame Is Everywhere

We see leaders blame their subordinates. Employees blame their leaders. Children blame their siblings. Athletes blame the referees. Parents blame the teachers.

A motorist blames slick roads. A manager blames competing priorities. A salesman blames a poor economy. When a deadline is missed, it’s easy to blame a shortened timeline. We all know how to point a finger.

Making excuses and blaming undermines your competence, leadership, and integrity.
Click To Tweet

Errant Thinking

Psychologist Aaron Beck called blaming a cognitive distortion. These distortions are errors in our thinking which cause use to believe things that are untrue.

David Burns, author of “Feeling Good,” describes those who fall into this errant way of thinking, saying, “they blame other people or their circumstances for their problems, and they overlook ways that they might be contributing to the problem.” In his companion handbook, Burns likens placing blame like playing hot potato – it keeps coming back to you.

Avoid The Dangers of Blaming

We stand little to gain from blaming others or circumstances for our mistakes or misfortunes. Perhaps we put off feeling embarrassed, guilty, or hurt. But that won’t last. We should avoid the error of blaming for 3 specific reasons.

1. Decreases our sense of control.

By blaming others for our problems, pain, and mistakes we relinquish control of our lives to others. This kills autonomy and tells our brains that we have little control over our lives or circumstances. Hopelessness can soon set in.

2. Decreases our optimism.

When we blame others and give up control over our emotions and actions we can become pessimistic. We feel trapped, stuck, or hand-cuffed. We lose hope for successful outcomes in our work, relationships, and lives. We don’t think our time, energy, or efforts will make a difference. Thus, pessimism prevails.

3. Prevents us from taking responsibility.

By blaming others or our circumstances, we are denying how we contributed to the issue, problem, or poor outcome. Denying our degree of responsibility diminishes trust and respect with our teams, colleagues, and families. When we deny ownership we tell those around us that we aren’t in this together and that they are on their own.

Free Download

To help you avoid the dangers of blaming as a leader, check out this free checklist 5 High Impact Areas to Assess in Your Leadership Evaluation.

Own Up and Take Responsibility

Passing blame and pointing fingers inhibits your effectiveness. On the other hand, taking responsibility increases trust from those around you. Claiming ownership increases your optimism and helps you identify what’s controllable in sports, work, and life.

Question: What dangers of blaming have I missed? I’d love to hear from you in the comments below, or on Facebook or Twitter.

• Book: Feeling Good: The New Mood Therapy by David Burns, M.D.
• Post: Let Go Of What You Can’t Control And Reap Massive Rewards
• Post: Optimism: Your Secret Weapon

The post What Is The Danger In Blaming Others? first appeared on The Excelling Edge.

We live in a busy world. Distractions abound. It’s challenging to stay focused on the most important things. We have big plans and big dreams but are halted by never-ending to-do lists. My wife often reminds me to just do the next thing. Turns out simplicity is the answer. Truly we can WIN.

The Simplest Question

In Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less, author Greg McKeown shares the secret behind a basketball team’s success.

The secret is a relentless pursuit of the question, “What’s important now?”

“The players apply the question constantly throughout the game. Instead of getting caught up rehashing the last play that went wrong, or spending their mental energy worrying about whether they are going to lose the game, neither of which is helpful or constructive, Larry encourages them to focus only on the play they are in right now…By focusing on their game in the here and now, they can all unite around a single strategy. This level of unity makes execution of their game plan relatively frictionless.”

It’s Time to WIN

What game are you playing? What goal are you chasing? I’m not just talking sports; I’m talking life.

It is so easy to get caught up in trying to have a perfect plan. Some of us want to know what’s coming up 10 steps down the road. Others are stuck on missed opportunities or yesterday’s mistakes.

Either way, focusing too far into the future or holding on to the past prevents us from making the most of the current moment.

If you’re pursuing a big goal ask yourself, “What’s important now?”

If you’re trying to overcome one of life’s curveballs, ask yourself, “What’s important now?”

If you’re trying to win a conference championship, ask yourself, “What’s important now?”

If you’re trying to get through the 12 tasks on today’s to-do list, ask yourself, “What’s important now?”

Get the idea?

It works for teams too! When your next project meeting gets off topic ask, “What’s important now?” When your team is scrambling and making mistakes on the field, call a time out and ask, “What’s important now?”

Free Download

To help you focus on What’s Important Now, I developed a free desktop background image for you.

Keep It Simple

Regardless of what you’re trying to accomplish, keep your focus on the here and now. By continuously asking yourself, “What’s important now?” you prevent yourself from feeling overwhelmed or scatterbrained. Keep it simple. Make it a habit. Whether you’re at work, rushing the kids here and there, or trying to win the Stanley Cup trophy, just focus on WIN.

To keep your focus in the here and now, ask yourself, “What’s Important Now?”
Click To Tweet

Question: Where do you most need to ask, “What’s important now?” I’d love to hear from you in the comments below, or on Facebook or Twitter.

• Post: Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less by Greg McKeown
• Post: How to Get The Most Important Thing Done Today
• Post: Size Matters. Set Your Sights On BIG, Scary Goals for 2015

The post How to Instill a Winning Focus in Sports, Work, & Life first appeared on The Excelling Edge.

As a child you may have been told that, “good things come to those who wait.” My family often said this around holidays when I was waiting for a birthday or a Christmas gift. It was only later that I learned this lesson has powerful implications for our lives.

The Marshmallow Test

Fifty years ago, reachers at Stanford University, led by psychologist Walter Mischel, conducted a series of famed experiments which became known affectionately as the “marshmallow test.”

During these studies, children was brought individually into an empty room, offered a choice, and left alone. They could eat a single marshmallow (small reward) set in front of them by a researcher. If they chose not to eat the reward until the tester returned (approximately 15 min), they would be given a larger reward (i.e., two marshmallows).

What happened? In the study of over 600 children, few chose to eat the marshmallow right away. Most interestingly, of those who attempted to hold off for the greater reward, only about one third of children held out long enough to get the bonus.

The Impact of Delayed Gratification on Success

The children who successfully held off for the greater reward were better equipped to delay gratification than the rest. Indeed, good things came to those who were able to wait – to the tune of a 100% profit of sugary goodness.

In follow-up studies, Mischel and others found this ability to delay gratification linked to powerful life outcomes. Children who waited longer for the extra reward further distinguished themselves from their less patient peers as seen by:

• performing better in school
• scoring better on SATs
• achieving higher levels of education
• handling stress better
• better concentration
• being healthier
• being less inclined to addictions
• exhibiting greater self-control when frustrated
• having greater willpower
• greater happiness

Sounds good, right?

As adults, trade offs aren’t marked by marshmallows. Recovering smokers avoid a cigarette to avoid lung cancer and enjoy time with their families. Shoppers stay on budget to take a long-awaited vacation and save for retirement. Runners run to stay fit, improve overall health, and live longer.

Implications for delaying gratification are as endless as the dreams we aim to fulfill.
Click To Tweet

How to Cash In on The Marshmallow Test

What allowed some children to wait while others did not? Under the surface, what we’re really talking about is self-regulation – our ability to manage our thoughts, emotions, and actions.

In later studies researchers found evidence for these differences in how different individual’s brains responded to temptation. Those individuals with low self-control demonstrated an increase in activity in parts of the brain which process desires and rewards. However, in those with high self-control, brain activity increased in the parts of the brain responsible for planning, decision making, and regulating behavior.

In order to reap the greatest rewards, we must stimulate the parts of the brain which drive self-regulation.

When we regulate our thoughts, emotions, & actions we give ourselves a shot at succeeding.
Click To Tweet

The most successful people successfully manage their attitude, time, behavior, and efforts in order to achieve what they value most.

More specifically, high achievers leverage self-regulation in 3 distinct ways:

High achievers master their thinking. They retrain the emotion-driven parts of the brain that persist in promoting laziness, complacency, and taking the path of least resistance. They avoid counterproductive patterns in their thinking such as focusing on limitations rather than possibilities.

High achievers understand that willpower is a limited resource. They use strategies like implementation intentions to set themselves up for success. It is easier to regulate ahead of time, creating a plan and anticipating obstacles and opportunities.

Mischel found that willpower fails when we let emotions and desires dictate the decision we make in the moment. Remember, the goal is to hold out for the second marshmallow.

Self-regulation is an ability to be developed, honed, and exercised. By instilling success-building habits and routines you can build your ability to regulate over time. As John C. Maxwell said, “You will never change your life until you change something you do daily.”

How to Get Good Things

What do you really want in life? Financial wealth? A healthy family? Happiness? All roads lead through delaying gratification and building self-regulation. In our microwave, instant gratification society, we want everything on demand – now.

However, those who learn to stimulate the prefrontal cortex of the brain, responsible for planning, prioritizing, and regulating will go further faster. They avoid distractions, act with purpose, and achieve greater results over time. The challenge for the children in Mischel’s studies is no different than the one we all face. We must choose the hard right over the easy wrong, consistently. That is how good things come to those who wait.

Question: What do you want most in life? I’d love to hear from you in the comments below, or on Facebook or Twitter.

• Post: How to Master Your Thinking: Think on Purpose
• Post: Retrain Your Resistance: 3 Steps to More Productive Thinking
• Post: How to Develop a Possibility Mindset, Not a Limited One
• Post: Willpower: Boost Yours
• Post: How to Conserve Willpower & Boost Goal Achievement with Implementation Intentions
• Post: Cultivate Excellence Daily

The post How to Finally Get What You Want Most in Life first appeared on The Excelling Edge.

Our brains filter information 24/7. Some information makes it to our consciousness, some doesn’t. Some information we believe. Other we dismiss. A hidden process in our brains causes us to make assumptions, judgements, and decisions without having all the information. It is called the confirmation bias.

What Is The Confirmation Bias?

It is our human tendency to develop a belief about a situation and then seek out information that bolsters our belief.

In Decisive, authors Chip and Dan Heath write give an example of Smokers in the 1960s, when effects from smoking were less clear, “were more likely to express interest in reading an article headlined ‘Smoking Does Not Lead To Lung Cancer’ than one with a headline ‘Smoking Leads To Lung Cancer.’”

Put simply, we seek out self-serving information to reinforce what we believe about situations, research, people…anything.

The Confirmation Bias Creates Blind Spots

Suppose your daughter has been down in the dumps since moving to a new school. When you ask her what’s going on she tells you, “I don’t fit in.” She proceeds to explain that she didn’t make the volleyball team last week, no one sat by her at lunch today, and she wasn’t invited to a sleepover this weekend that two other girls in her class were.

However, she neglected to mention that several girls sat down next to her at lunch on Thursday, she high fives from her teammates in gym class, and two classmates complimented her outfit today.

The confirmation bias filtered out evidence that didn’t match your daughter’s belief – “I don’t fit in.” It caused her to completely overlooked the evidence that contradicted her belief.

The worst part is that the confirmation bias isn’t intentional. It just happens!

The confirmation bias filters critical information & creates mental blind spots.
Click To Tweet

Deeper Beliefs Magnify the Confirmation Bias

The confirmation bias acts on our beliefs. The stronger the belief, the more powerful the confirmation bias. For example, the confirmation bias will tighten its filter for the belief, “I suck at math,” moreso than my belief, “Everyone will notice that spot on my shirt.” My belief about math is much deeper than what I believe about people’s abilities to notice that I spilt coffee on myself.

Why Is That A Problem?

This gets in the way when it comes to how we make decisions in life and evaluate our abilities.

Dan Lovallo, professor at the University of Sydney and decision-making researcher said, “Confirmation bias is probably the single biggest problem in business, because even the most sophisticated get it wrong. People go out and they’re collecting the data, and they don’t even realize they’re cooking the books.”

If I believe I’m a good parent, leader, brother, coach, typist, etc….I won’t notice the evidence that suggests otherwise. I become less likely to seek other’s opinions. I dismiss anything that goes against my belief.

I certainly won’t pursue opportunities to learn and grow in an area that I believe I’ve mastered. I’ll keep doing the same ineffective things again and again with a blind eye toward my shortcomings.

No Belief Is Too Small

Do you think Payton Manning is the best NFL quarterback to play the game? If so, you might highlight that he is the only quarterback to win a Super Bowl with two different teams. On the other hand, if you believe he isn’t the best quarterback you might site the record-setting number of interceptions he threw in the 2015-2016 regular season.

How to Fight the Confirmation Bias

Now that you know the confirmation bias exists, what can you do about it?

1. Be Skeptical

Whether you think your child is an angel or believe your boss has it out for you, be skeptical of the evidence supporting those beliefs. The confirmation bias is filtering out the evidence that disproves your theory.

2. Be Proactive

When it comes to making key decisions, choice, and judgement calls seek out counter evidence. Reality test your assumptions. Act like a detective. Does your child drive you crazy on occasion? If so, perhaps they aren’t the sweet little angel at school all day like you’d hoped.

You’ll have to dig deep here. Like a good detective, seek out evidence that is based on facts. What is observable? What can be measured?

The point here is to make sure that you gain a more accurate understanding of the situation – not based on brain filtered assumptions.

3. Act With Confidence

Now you’ve played the skeptic with your own beliefs. You’ve verified the facts. Essentially, you’ve overcome the confirmation bias because you now have all the information. The information you have is reliable because it is based on facts and is measurable. You now have the best information with which to move forward.

You are ready to take action, make that decision, or argue your point. You can do so with much more confidence knowing that your beliefs didn’t go unchecked. You can identify room for improvement in yourself with more clarity and accuracy.

You can prevent the confirmation bias from sabotaging your decisions & leadership.
Click To Tweet

Overcome the Confirmation Bias

By keeping a heightened awareness and a skeptical mindset you’ll detect those times when the confirmation bias is at work on your thoughts and beliefs. I pick out the confirmation bias in myself and others on a daily basis now that I’m attuned to it. Then, by hunting the evidence counter to your gut reactions, you can gain more clarity and accuracy in your thinking. Sometimes you may need to help others do the same. In all, you’ll become more effective in how you think, lead, and make decisions on a daily basis. It all starts with fighting the confirmation bias.

Question: Do you have an example of the confirmation bias? If so, share it in the comments below, or on Facebook or Twitter.

• Post: Decisive: How To Make Better Choices In Life And Work by Chip and Dan Heath
• Post: The Resilience Factor by Karen Reivich and Andrew Shatte

The post How to Overcome the Confirmation Bias first appeared on The Excelling Edge.

I once heard that the hardest person to lead is yourself. I’d never seen leadership in that way. However, since that day, I have proven the concept to be true. I am my toughest leadership challenge. Others have said you must first lead yourself before you can lead others. So, are you leading yourself well? Where do you start?

An Enduring Precedent

A few weeks ago my father-in-law introduced me to a book he thought I’d find interesting, Heroic Leadership by Chris Lowney. It outlines the rigorous and lengthy training process which has guided the great success of Jesuits for more than 450 years.

The legacy and enduring excellence of Jesuits is alone impressive. But what struck me most was their emphasis on coaching their recruits to lead themselves.

Leadership Begins With Leading Yourself

Jesuits cultivate their leaders through 30 days of exercises to “order one’s life.” This is the foundation upon which leaders are built.

“All leadership begins with self-leadership, and self-leadership begins with knowing oneself.” – Chris Lowney
Click To Tweet

In order to lead yourself well, you must become the expert on the topic of you.

The Challenge of Leading Yourself

I coach myself everyday to focus on the task at hand and do the hard things (like exercise and get up early). I set expectations, establish timelines, and do my best to maintain self-accountability. That’s leading myself, and I certainly don’t make it easy. How about you? Are you easy to lead?

If leading ourselves starts with self-awareness, then where do we begin? Where do we shine the light? What questions must we ask?

Leading Yourself Well Requires A Strong Foundation 

Lowney wrote, “A leader’s most compelling leadership tool is who he or she is: a person who understands what he or she values, wants, who is anchored by certain principles, and who faces the world with a consistent outlook.”

Isn’t this true? Aren’t the most effective leaders people who are grounded in a set of consistent values, which drive consistent attitudes, which guide their decisions, and direct their every actions?

Know Thyself

You can deepen your self-awareness and lead yourself well by inspecting 4 fundamental areas within yourself.

The post How to Lead Yourself Well: 4 Proven Fundamentals first appeared on The Excelling Edge.