Make It a Winning Season

I have a confession to make... Even though I live in the Bay Area, I hate the Golden State Warriors. I am a hater. I try so hard to hate the Warriors, even though I even had the opportunity to o meet a lot of their players during their championship run for a photography opportunity. I met Klay Thompson, Draymond Green, Javale, and many others; most of them were incredibly kind too. I am a diehard Los Angeles Lakers fan since I was a little Filipino boy, so my heart won’t let me like another team. What doesn’t help is that the Golden State Warriors had a few years where they were so insanely good. 

Taken by Cru Creative at Donaldina Cameron House (Pursuit of Happyness)

The Golden State Warriors have some of the most special accolades in NBA History. They have the best 82-game season record in NBA history, beating Michael Jordan’s Bulls records. For one of their championships, they swept the Cleveland Cavaliers in the NBA Finals so they beat them 4 times in a row. One of their strengths has always been their depth. I remember for Steph Curry, Klay Thompson, and Draymond Green’s first championship their motto was “full squad” because they were so deep with talent. This team also has two of the best shooters, not just in the nba, but in history. The Splash Brothers are dynamic scoring threats that can destroy your team from the inside-out. But I think one of the most important tools to their success was a simple thing, winning. 

When basketball teams have bad chemistry and when they seem like they are falling apart, often the commentators just talk about how winning will fix all their problems. Because when you win, you gain momentum. When you win, you gain confidence. When you win, you finally feel successful. The Los Angeles Lakers just tied the Boston Celtics for the most championships in NBA history and they are not done yet. When new players are first asked about what it feels like to be a part of the franchise, they often speak about the championships and then the winning culture. Being a part of the Lakers means that you have an expectation for a winning season and that makes the players want to be the best that they can be. Here are a few tips to create a winning season in your life. 

Best Duo in the NBA btw

CELEBRATE THE SMALL WINS

So often when I talk to clients about their goals they can create these massive goals that they want to accomplish, especially in the beginning of their training. People will either enjoy the process of getting to the goal or just get discouraged that they are not there yet. When we dream about our goals, it can lead to motivation but when that motivation wanes we might feel like something is impossible to accomplish and even painful to think about. Motivation does not last. Motivation is something is like gas in your car, we need to refill it every now and then in order for it to actually get us anywhere. How do we do that?

“Motivation isn’t something you have. It is something you get from feeling good about small achievements.” Jeff Haden, The Motivation Myth

We have the opportunity to create motivation and that is through small wins. Not necessarily completing small wins, but actually acknowledging the small wins. I love working with clients and helping them notice even the tiny gains they are making. Whether that is their arms getting more toned, gaining some thiccness, endurance getting better, or even just working out 3 times in one week. The acknowledgement of achievement is one of the most powerful tools we can use in creating motivation. 

You can also quickly create some small wins in your life. Right now, I am learning Spanish and I use an app called “Busuu” to do daily Spanish lessons that are only 10-15 minutes. Every assignment that I complete makes me feel like I am moving forward int he right direction. That is a win that I start my day off with and I carry that winning attitude towards other aspects of my life. 

All It Takes Are Some Baby Steps

Goals can be troubling because we can be defeated every before we start. If someone sets a goal to run every single morning for 1 hour per day, that is actually really intimidating. That intimidation can lead to inaction. That inaction can lead to you believing that you the inability to actually do what you set out to do. We freeze ourselves in our tracks through our goal setting. One way to unfreeze yourself is to reframe your goals to something that is actually achievable. 

Instead of thinking about all the steps that you need to take in order to achieve your goal, think about the baby steps that are required. You are quickly going to notice that the hardest part is usually just getting started. There is a sort of corny cliche in fitness classes, “you made it and making it is half the battle”. Corny, yes. True, also yes. Going back to the running example, instead of focusing on running 1 hour per day. Set your baby step to: putting on your running shoes in the morning, selecting your route the night before, or figuring out a playlist you want to use. This works with all goals. You want to eat healthier then try: creating a menu on Sunday’s for the week, finding a healthy restaurant you like, or looking at new recipes once per week. Sometimes baby steps are the fastest way forward. 

baby steps

ESTABLISHING WINNING ROUTINES

One of the biggest lessons that I learned in 2020 is that there is nothing in our control. The way our year pans out isn’t necessarily in our control, but on top of that each day has its own battles. When some things are out of control, we might feel like our whole world is out of control. But on the flip side, when we feel like there are a few things under control we might actually feel like we have a grip on this crazy thing called life. That is when your routines come into play.

I write about gratitude a lot and I think it is so important to have a gratitude journal and to go into that every morning and night, but that is not the only routine you need. One of my clients was doing a music course online, but was getting so frustrated because he tried to do his course at night after work and he was always so wiped after a long day. it was really discouraging for him to feel like he was not doing what he felt he really wanted to do. So we just moved his music class to the morning before work started. And that one little shift helped him not only progress in his class, but also made him feel so much better about himself. In Jim Kwik’s book, Limitless, he writes about how when you want to do something but do not get to it the task weighs down on you. You might feel like a failure or you might just feel lazy. But it actually takes more energy for you to not do something than to go out and do what you need to. On top of that, when you make progress in something then you gain momentum and build motivation. 

Establishing a winning morning routine looks like: starting off with some gratitude, moving your body, progressing on something, and a mindfulness exercise to bring you into the present. Gratitude can quickly shift your mental state to something that Tony Robbins calls a beautiful state. You can see the world as more positive and notice the good things. Moving your body will allow you to wake yourself up and get your blood flowing, even if it is only 10-15 minutes. Honestly, sometimes I think it is more important to build strength in small bursts of 15-minutes daily than long bursts of 1-hour sessions. The consistency over time is what makes the difference. Progressing on something can give you the motivation  and spark that you need to crush the rest of your day. Mindfulness exercises are all about bringing you into the present moment. That can be guided meditation, breath work, yoga, or even going on a walk. 

2021 IS GOING TO BE YOUR WINNING SEASON

We all have the power to take control over our lives. No matter how you feel about 2020, if you thought it was a wasted year or maybe there were some good things for you I believe you can make it a winning year in your life. Notice the little wins every single day and learn to create them too. Focus on the baby steps forward because in this life every inch matters. Let the baby steps create momentum for you. Create your winning routines and stick to them. Winning routines set yourself up for success. Remember that winning leads to more winning. With that being said, I hope you have the best year ever.