You never know who you’re going to meet.
At a birthday party the other night, I met a man who coaches athletes for a living. Todd Herman wasn’t your usual business or laid-off banker guy. He was passionate and excited about what he did for a living. I was tempted to ask him what advice he’d give Tiger Woods, but resisted, instead asking how athletes reach their goals.
Todd said the same rules that apply to athletes apply to common city-goers.
In other words, if it works for Michael Jordan it’s probably going to work for you. Think about this: Every time an athlete fumbles, his or her mind is focusing on winning. When an athlete gets in a zone and thinks about the present, all goes swimmingly.
Todd shared other ways for reaching your goals in your life, sporty-spice style.
Break It Down
Todd breaks goals down for his clients into three-month periods. Turns out, we’re visual creatures who can generally only see three months ahead. So forget about the five-year plan: If we can’t see it in our minds, it won’t happen. Breaking down our goals or projects lets us we believe we can accomplish them, thus giving us more motivation and momentum.
Get Clear and Focused
Hazy goals produce hazy results. Most people have between 65,000 and 85,000 thoughts per day. There’s a lot of opportunity for confusion in there! On the other hand, athletes only have between 12,000 and 18,000 thoughts per day. The reason? They’ve mentally zoned in on exactly what they want. Your brain won’t take your thoughts seriously if you’re not clear.
Write It Down
You might say you want a new career or real love, but what does that mean? Articulate your goals by writing them down and describing them on different levels. Who do you want to become? What do you want to be doing? How does your dream guy or girl make you feel? What do you love doing together? Ditch the checklist of the perfect mate and job and get deeper with your descriptions. Writing creates clarity and triggers your brain to create your reality.
Get Over the How
When most people start dreaming big, they think in terms of how. That’s a surefire way to trip yourself up. “How” isn’t a goal, it’s at task on your to-do list. Ever serendipitously bump into the perfect connection or the cutest guy on the elevator? You didn’t plan that, but you knew you wanted it to happen. Your spirit is way smarter and knows how to achieve your goals. Just have faith in the process.
As I exchanged Facebook and Twitter info with Todd, I thought wow, it was really cool we met—and no, I couldn’t have planned our meeting if I tried.
20 Comments for Thinking Like an Athlete
Bob Weisenberg | March 25, 2010 at 10:11 pm
Todd Herman - The Peak Athlete | March 26, 2010 at 9:40 am
My advice for Tiger is to keep his game-playing to the course. 
Thanks again for the great chat and article.
- Todd
Melanie Notkin | March 26, 2010 at 12:06 pm
Smiling…. Loved this piece, Ilana – and of course I love Todd! Great job – and very powerful stuff!
Kriss Akabusi | March 26, 2010 at 4:07 pm
Very good post about the common links betwixt high performance sport and success in business and life in general. Certainly sports men and women who reach the higher levels are totally focused on their goals, setting small performance targets along the way, and living the design stage each and every day. Their commitment to the cause seeps through deep into their connective tissue.
Tweets that mention Urban Zen,Zen In the City,Find your Urban Zen -- Topsy.com | March 26, 2010 at 4:08 pm
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Kriss Akabusi, Kriss Akabusi. Kriss Akabusi said: RT@DorothyDalton GT POST @krissakabusi Thoughts? RT @todd_herman think like an athlete in business&life http://bit.ly/dyHjfR via @ilanadonna [...]
Ameno | March 26, 2010 at 4:48 pm
While I am not a Yoga practitioner, I am a serious beach volleyball player (very similar mentally to tennis). I totally concur with Bob’s comments on the power of single-minded focus. Training and competing in a sport of “deflection,” where it is your positioning and understanding/handling of the energy approaching you has been hugely influential in altering my perception of the world around me.
The sport of beach volleyball requires the player to be a master of 5 skills with completely different mechanics (serving, passing, setting, hitting, and blocking) and each one requires a change in focus and being in the moment. Focus, in the game, is literally everything. The more focused team, not always the more skilled, and rarely the more athletic, is generally the winner.
I find myself at my most productive when I move through my day, and life, as I move through a volleyball rally, being fully focused and present with the task at hand, free from mental distractions (including the score).
Steve | April 5, 2010 at 12:09 pm
I see it Ameno’s way as well. Being focused and present, e.g. in the zone. You don’t just fall into it, you plan, prepare, and work your way into it. Combined that with an understanding what you can and can not control…
Can You Have it All? - Downtown Dharma | April 6, 2010 at 7:17 am
[...] friend Todd Herman told me that Forrester Research released a study a couple years back stating that married women [...]
Kylie BattName | April 11, 2010 at 12:13 pm
Michelle | April 19, 2010 at 6:36 pm
[...] friend Todd Herman told me that Forrester Research released a study a couple years back stating that married women [...]
Kylie Batt | April 20, 2010 at 8:11 am
Amy | April 23, 2010 at 6:22 am
Smiling…. Loved this piece, Ilana – and of course I love Todd! Great job – and very powerful stuff!
Jeff | April 26, 2010 at 9:13 pm
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Kriss Akabusi, Kriss Akabusi. Kriss Akabusi said: RT@DorothyDalton GT POST @krissakabusi Thoughts? RT @todd_herman think like an athlete in business&life http://bit.ly/dyHjfR via @ilanadonna [...]
Simon | April 27, 2010 at 12:35 pm
Very good post about the common links betwixt high performance sport and success in business and life in general. Certainly sports men and women who reach the higher levels are totally focused on their goals, setting small performance targets along the way, and living the design stage each and every day. Their commitment to the cause seeps through deep into their connective tissue.
Winston Franco | May 27, 2010 at 8:37 pm
You have done it again! Superb post!
Denise Gamble | May 31, 2010 at 7:43 pm
If I had a dime for each time I came here.. Superb read!
Liza Lovell | June 1, 2010 at 9:46 am
If only I had a buck for every time I came to downtowndharma.com.. Great read.
Marc Carlin | June 10, 2010 at 1:00 pm
Nice article.
I’ve been working with pro and amateur athletes for over 10 years and hearing what Todd had to say sounded a beautiful chord in my head.
I too had my start with Galway’s book on Tennis. It’s what we used for help with skiing at the time, before he actually wrote his book on skiing.
The mind is the last frontier of improvement for athleticism and it’s such a powerful force, that when the athlete gets it right, it’s like homecoming week, Christmas, and a major birthday celebration all rolled into one.
Kylie Batt1 | June 13, 2010 at 4:08 pm
Вы попали в самую точку. В этом что-то есть и я думаю, что это хорошая идея….
http://rel” rel=”nofollow”> He was passionate and excited about what he did for a living. I was tempted to ask him what advice he’d give Tiger Woods; but […….
nursing schools | June 17, 2010 at 1:25 am
nice post. thanks.
Good blog.
I’ve been a competitive athlete all my life–tennis, basketball, windsurfing. In my efforts I’ve studied sports psychology (starting with Tim Gallway’s “The Inner Game of Tennis”, the best of which always seems to draw on Eastern religions, to the extent that it’s just sort of built in now.
It was sports that originally brought me to Yoga. Here’s how I describe it in my eBook:
“I am a serious tennis player. You might recall that all this Yoga stuff started for me when I took Hatha Yoga classes to improve my flexibility for tennis. Yoga was great for this. I did become much more flexible and it did improve my tennis.
What happened next was unexpected. I found that the philosophical practices of Yoga, especially focusing on the present moment, and detaching my ego from the results, had a far more beneficial impact on my tennis than the flexibility. The Yoga of the mind had a bigger effect on my tennis performance than the Yoga of the body.”
Just like you describe in your blog. Later I wrote this poem about how the ancient Yoga texts affected my tennis:
Yoga Tennis
Yoga has transformed my tennis
Like it has transformed everything else.
From the Sutra
I learned to focus on the ball
With single-pointed concentration
To the exclusion of all distractions.
From the Gita
I learned to play hard
Like Arjuna the Warrior
While detaching my ego from the results.
From the Upanishads
I learned cosmic exultation
That all these diverse molecules
Can do all these wondrous things together.
I no longer throw my racket
When I miss an easy shot.
I no longer stay depressed for days
After losing a tough match.
The only problem is
Today I was beaten badly
Because I was distracted
Writing this poem in my head
While I played.
Bob Weisenberg
http://YogaDemystified.com