Controlling the Controllables
Article Summary
“Controlling the Controllables” is a concept from Sports Psychology and the military. This concept can be very beneficial to you as a coach, entrepreneur, and/or team member. When we separate and evaluate the things we can control it helps us to focus our attention and energy where we get the most bang for our buck. Instead of wasting our energy in places that leave us drained and ineffective.
This is the December 2022 Motivation Speech that I gave as the Fitness and Wellness Director at Southwest Research and Technology Center aka OCuSOFT.
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Mental Toughness
One of the Mental Toughness principles I coach is called ‘Controlling the Controllables’. This is a Sports Psychology and Military term. Knowing exactly what you can control and what you cannot control helps athletes conserve their energy for events that matter. This can help you too, as a coach, entrepreneur, and/or fellow team member.
We all have a limited amount of physical and emotional energy. So wasting time and energy on things you have no control over and can’t do anything about, not only can empty your energy tank but also lead to frustration and decreased performance.
Examples of What’s Outside Our Control
Weather
Other people’s opinions and thoughts
Past and Future
Conditions in our workplace and environmental factors
The opposition, enemies, and competitors
Officials, the boss, and the hierarchy
Outside influences, spectators, and unknowns
And so much more…..
Examples of the things we can control
Our response to situations
Our attitude
The effort we put into something
The energy we create within ourselves through diet, exercise, and mental wellbeing
Our attention and what we budget our attention towards
Our planning and strategizing
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Top 5 Controllables
Let’s make a conscious effort to focus on the things you can do something about and have control over. Here is the Top Five list I have encouraged to focus on controlling.:
1. ATTITUDE
Everything starts and ends with attitude and if you get it right, all else will fall in line. A positive, winning attitude helps you succeed and helps impact those around you.
“Attitude is a choice that can color any situation and it is contagious. You must act as the player you want to become. Confident players focus on what they can do and don’t worry about what they can’t.”
Tony DiCicco, World Cup champion coach in 1999
Easy ways to control your attitude include:
Avoiding negative news
Realizing that your attitude is entirely up to you
Being grateful for everything good in your life
Keeping the big picture in mind
2. EFFORT
How hard you work is up to you and no one else. If you give up that control, you are giving away one of the main things that set you apart from the rest.
Your effort must also be smart and reflected in your work rate in practice and games.
“Winning is not something built in a day; it is constructed year-round. As always, it comes down to progressive, consistent effort, with a view toward a long-range goal.”
-Anson Dorrance who has won 21 National Championships
Giving a 100% effort all the time guarantees that we are doing our part to develop not only fitness but the mental toughness that enables us to overcome adversity, push when we want to stop, and fight off the cave reflex because that’s who we are.
Muhammad Ali eloquently stated,
”The fight is won or lost far away from the view of witnesses – behind the lines, in the gym, and out there on the road, long before I dance under those lights.”
3. FOCUS
I define focus as relaxed concentration; it becomes especially important in games where outside distractions can keep you from performing at your best. Your focus must be on the here and now, on each play, one at a time.
“The key is seeing and doing. If you’re focusing on anything other than reading the court and doing what needs to be done, the moment will pass you by.”
-NBA coach Phil Jackson
Ways to improve focus:
Eliminate distractions
Reduce multitasking
Practice mindfulness and meditation
Get more sleep
Choose to focus on the present moment. A great book on this is The Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle
Take a short break
Connect with nature
Exercise
Music
Eat well
Set a daily priority
4. FITNESS
The work you put into your physical conditioning will directly affect your ability to perform while making a positive impact on your team.
“Be committed to the one thing you can control – your fitness. Be smart and be aware that your decisions and actions on and off the field affect the team.”
-Two-time World Cup champion Michelle Akers
Start your day with simple exercise and get your body moving. Regular exercise releases chemicals key to memory, concentration, and mental sharpness.
Other research found that exercise can boost the brain's dopamine, norepinephrine, and serotonin levels and all these will affect focus and attention.
Individuals who do some form of exercise or sports perform better on cognitive tasks when compared with those who have poor physical health.
Physical movement helps relax the muscles and relieve tension in the body. Since the body and mind are so closely linked, when your body feels better so, too, will your mind.
Read more fitness posts here! Kathie is a Certified Fitness Trainer, a Certified Specialist in Sports and Conditioning, and a Certified Specialist in Senior Fitness.
5. PREPARATION
Preparation and practice are synonyms in this controlled situation.
The will to win is overrated in athletics, because everyone wants to win. It’s the will to prepare to win that makes the difference. A side benefit of proper preparation is that it also helps you feel more confident.
-Bobby Knight
We practice before every competition. Sometimes we practice with a clear purpose and a sharp focus on “how” our preparation will be tested in competition.
Preparation requires time, study, and an organized plan to make sure that we do an effective job considering every likely scenario in competition. Preparation comes when we are motivated and care to bring our best and enjoy “showing” our opponent what we can do.
Preparation lets us feel as if we “deserve” to win because we did our homework. It is gratifying in significant ways when we employ the preparations we engaged in during competition.
We can’t win a game by preparing well, but we sure can lose one when we fail to prepare.
”Failing to prepare is the same as preparing to fail.”
-John Wooden, the legendary UCLA basketball coach
Here are some bonus tips on things you can control:
REST AND NUTRITION
Your performance is directly impacted by your food and hydration choices as well as the amount of rest and sleep you get. Some research on your part will help you make better choices in this area.
COACHABILITY
This has to do with your ability to receive, accept, and apply the coaching points from your coach. The smartest players, coaches, and entrepreneurs not only learn from the coach, but also from their teammates.
EMOTIONS
Controlling your emotions is also a powerful way to transform your life. You can start to control your emotions through self-care, setting clear boundaries with those around you, and practicing mindfulness.
Prevent emotional outbursts by noticing them and observing them, but don't act on them. Separate yourself from the outburst. If you've ever blown something small out of proportion, you probably felt pretty bad afterward.
You must act your way into feeling and not feeling a certain way before you act.
“You can act yourself into a new way of thinking more easily than you can think yourself into a new way of acting.”
Former University of North Carolina basketball coach, Dean Smith
COMMUNICATION
Positive, assertive, and clear communication is not only something you can control but will also give you and your team an edge.
Practice power, presence, and warmth. These 3 characteristics are described in detail in the book The Charisma Myth by Olivia Fox Cabane.
Power: Being perceived with some level of power--the ability to affect the world around you with influence, status, expertise, or intelligence--is another key to creating charisma (Cabane, 2013). A person’s level of power is typically discerned by others through their appearance and body language so it is important to always be conscious of these.
Presence: Presence is the ability to stay engaged in our communication interactions. Remember to regularly check yourself next time you are in a conversation to see where your mind is engaged. The ability to be present creates an emotional connection and makes you memorable, which in turn creates the perception of charisma.
Warmth: Warmth can be described as having goodwill towards others and being perceived as benevolent, caring, altruistic, and willing to act in positive ways (Cabane, 2013). While like power, warmth can be observed through body language, it is evaluated more directly than power and is almost entirely assessed through body language and behavior. One study found that even infants can recognize smiles, suggesting our natural ability to recognize warmth (Willis & Todorov, 2006).
BODY LANGUAGE
It is estimated that 90% of communication is body language. While this is a part of communication, it is actually the most visible and easiest thing you can change. If you walk out with confident body language and remain that way under pressure situations, it will send a clear and powerful message to your teammates, your coach, and your opponents.
Please see the above-mentioned Power, Presence, and Warmth factors for body language in the aforementioned communication paragraphs.
Conclusion
In closing letting go of the things, you can’t control in life is one of the most powerful and transformational things you can do.
Realizing what you can control is also powerful! Sports psychologists teach us to control our controllables in an effort to help athletes improve and win. Keep in mind the things you can and cannot control to drastically and effectively enhance your performance whether as a coach, entrepreneur, or team member.
Things you can control
Attitude
Effort
Focus
Fitness
Preparation
Rest and Nutrition
Coachability
Emotions
Communication
Body Language
Thank you for spending part of your day with me. I trust that you found this beneficial. If you know someone who can benefit from this please feel free to share it with them using the simple share buttons to the side.
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