The Habits Of Highly Effective Athletes

I read a lot of books, one of which I’ve found has a lot of parallels with sport and the behaviour of athletes. The book I’m on about is called ‘The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People’ by Stephen R. Covey. Let me explain what I’ve found and how it can benefit you as an athlete.

You must start with the end in mind. If you can’t visualise or don’t visualise what the end goal will be AND how it will make you feel then you will definitely be more likely to quit. So focus on what you want to achieve, like making the county squad or the youth academy squad, AND THEN focus on HOW IT WILL MAKE YOU FEEL. Proud? Happy? Satisfied? Always keep the focus on both of these points and your motivation will go through the roof!

Be Proactive.

Plan out your weeks diet.

Plan recovery sessions and days off.

Set a bedtime for yourself so you always wake up rested and relaxed.

Be in charge of your day. Only you can make changes in your life.

Let me make a simple point here…How do you think professional athletes live? Do you think they get hungry in the middle of the day and skip a meal or grab a quick sandwich from the shop? Hell no! They are proactive, they will have all their days meals planned out to the minute, they may even be prepared already.

Do you think they wake up late and spend half the day playing xbox? Wrong again, they’ll use their time effectively to master the skills they need to master to be the absolute best at their sport, yep, this might mean spending an hour a day passing, or catching, or practising your footwork or whatever technique you need in your sport. But being proactive and taking the extra time to practise will prevent you being knocked on your arse every time you compete!

If you want to be the best, START NOW! If you started being proactive and living like a professional athlete TODAY, how do you think this would benefit your sport? Try it and see.

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Anthony Shaw

Raw Strength

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