In last week’s episode, the Champions School podcast was fortunate enough to have Josh Kozuch join as a guest. Josh is a Mental Performance Coach with the Tampa Bay Rays organization. For those of you who don’t know, a Mental Performance Coach aims to help the athletes and team develop the critical mental skills to perform consistently during competition. They work with athletes to help them break through mental barriers to improve their mental skills like confidence, the high demands of training, performance pressure, and adversity.
Josh spread some absolute knowledge on how to cope with many of the mental barriers with athletics. He hit home on one aspect that is not just important in athletics but in life: your foundation. Josh said, “When you have that solid foundation… That is the one thing you know will be there. Everything might be different, but if I have that foundation, I know what I need to do to give myself the best chance to succeed.”
How Do You Build Your Foundation
You might be asking yourself, “Well, how do I build my foundation?”. Just like building a house or skyscraper, the answer isn’t always straightforward. In the process of building a house or skyscraper, you must start with a level foundation. The same goes for crushing through mental barriers in the game of baseball or life. The higher the goals you want to achieve, the stronger the foundation you need.
The first step is to remember to be patient. Not everything will come overnight, just like a house or skyscraper isn’t built overnight. Once you take into consideration the fact that your foundation isn’t built in a day or even it a week, it is time to put the work in:
- Layout the goals you want to achieve: This is a massive step to setting a foundation. Why are you creating your foundation? What is the ultimate end goal? Is it to become a better listener so you can be a better teammate? To get stronger so you can become more durable and play longer? Change lifestyle habits to help you focus on the game more? No matter what it is, remember to always have an end goal in sight.
- Figure out the pieces for your foundation: After you decide on your end goal, find the elements to help get you to that goal. Is it hitting the gym, practicing meditation, taking the time to journal daily, or as our fearless leader Austin Byler discussed on the podcast, establishing a morning ritual
- Structure your foundation: Once you have the pieces needed, get yourself organized and develop routines. The organization will help you develop clear and focused thinking. If you think about the pieces as items to help you become better every single day instead of a task on your to-do list, it becomes much easier to get motivated to do them. Secondly, a daily routine can raise your baseline level of productivity. It turns it into a habit.
- Maintain your foundation: This might seem like the most challenging task. It is important to remember that your goals may change, or the situation you find yourself in may change. As Josh stated in his quote earlier, “Everything might be different, but if I have that foundation, I know what I need to do to give myself the best chance to succeed.” Don’t be scared of failure. Sometimes your habits will slip, and you will have to rebuild some of your foundations. That is okay.
What Can a Strong Foundation Help You Do
The work you out in to build your strong foundation never finishes. We go back to the metaphor of building a house or skyscraper. Even a finished product needs maintenance and repairs every once in a while. There will always be new challenges, setbacks, or something new to learn in your sport and/or life. A strong foundation will help you power through any of those new challenges or times of failure. It will help pick you right back up off your feet and allow you to tackle that same challenge again. When those setbacks hit, a solid foundation will enable you to reflect and figure out what you need to change to get past those mental barriers. Don’t let life come collapsing down on you. Always take it slow and remember what brought you to where you are. Sometimes it may feel like there isn’t a way past your mental barriers, but never forget the strong foundation you built, and you will know deep down you can crush it.
