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In today’s issue…
A look at self-leadership
A conversation on coaching, leading, and mental performance
And more…
🖼️ VISUAL
📝 NEWSLETTER
Effective leadership contains three elements.
Know Yourself ➡️ Lead Yourself ➡️ Lead Others
Today, we’re going to look at the second of the three elements: Lead Yourself.
LEAD YOURSELF
I’ve yet to spend time around a leader I enjoyed, respected, or admired that wasn’t a healthy person who knew how to lead themself.
The best leaders know that great leadership starts with self-leadership.
But leading yourself can be hard, especially in high-pressure environments like sports.
I wrote about this in-depth a few weeks ago in “4 Keys to Coach Wellness in Sports.”
Today, I’ll provide a brief overview of those 4 keys, as well as some other examples and resources anyone can use to grow in this area.
The 4 Keys (Inspired by Dr. Michael Gervais)
Eat and Drink Well
What we put into our body matters, choose good fuel!
This has the power to transform how we feel and show up each day.
Sleep Well
Prioritize getting 7-8 hours of sleep a night
A lack of sleep negatively impacts our immune system, energy levels, and social relationships.
If you want a deep dive into this topic, I’d encourage you to give this podcast a listen.
Move Well
Regular exercise and movement is essential to physical and mental well-being
It lowers stress, clears the mind, and helps us regulate our emotions.
Start small, even 10-15 minutes a day can make a huge difference
Connect Well
Prioritize the relationships in our life (spouses, children, family, close friends) that matter more than coaching ever will.
Hold a weekly check-in with your spouse and quarterly planning meetings where you put time on the calendar to spend with people that matter!
Some other effective strategies for leading yourself:
Morning Routines
Starting your day off intentionally is powerful.
There’s no shortage of content you can find online about what to include in a morning routine. Find things that work for you and make you feel fueled and grounded for your day.
Mine consists of reading, praying (replace this with mindfulness or meditation if that’s not you), journaling, and planning my day.
For more on the power of a morning routine, take a listen to my conversation with Brian Smith, Missouri head wrestling coach, about his routine (47:59).
Journaling
This is a really healthy and helpful habit for any leader. There’s tremendous power in getting our thoughts and feelings out of our head and onto paper.
I’ve been filling out a 5-year journal daily for the last 6+ years. I do it each night before bed. It’s been one of the most powerful, positive habits of my life.
Start small, just write one or two sentences a day to start.
Habit Tracking
Select a few habits that you want to grow in and start tracking them!
James Clear has some great free resources on this as well as a fantastic book, Atomic Habits, into the science and methods of building habits.
Goal Setting
There’s tremendous power in setting goals. I love Jim Collins’ concept of a BHAG for long-term goal setting.
BHAG = Big Hairy Audacious Goal
It should be set at least 3-5 years in the future and feel like quite the stretch to get there
Consider what you want your future to look like and set a BHAG to achieve it.
Block Your Time
“I just don’t have enough time.” — Every Coach Ever
Coaching is demanding. Making time time see to all your work responsibilities and all the things outside of work that need your time is challenging.
One of the most effective strategies I’ve found for managing my time effectively and being present with what matters at that time is blocking my time.
I simply put blocks of time on my calendar for various tasks that need to be completed. For example, “write a newsletter,” then I would block out 1-hour on a Tuesday morning to work on it.
🧠 COACHING APPLICATION
Choose one item above and take one small step to implement it this week!
🎧 PODCAST EPISODE
#130. Mental Performance Made Simple: Practice Design, Parent Communication, and Handling Adversity with James Leath
Topics include:
🧠 Integrating mental performance into your practice
🧠 The lasting impact of coaches
🧠 Handling adversity in competition
📝 Download the Notes 👉 Free PDF
👋 CLOSING
Thanks for reading, I hope this serves you on your journey.
To your growth,
Luke Gromer, RYG Athletics | A NIKE Sports Camp Provider
P.S. If you’re interested in becoming one of our NIKE Sports Camp directors, reply “NIKE” to this email, and we’ll get on a call! You can see testimonials from over 100 athletes that attended our camps last summer.
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