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The Art Of Coaching

E176 | When Positive Thinking Doesn't Work

The Art Of Coaching

Brett Bartholomew

Health & Fitness, Business, Education

5642 Ratings

🗓️ 5 July 2021

⏱️ 56 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Positive thinking is overdone and often ineffective when applied to the messy realities of life and leadership.  I’m not saying there isn’t a use for it but rather that we should rethink when and to whom we recommend it. Why? Positive thinking can lull us into a false sense of security, make us overconfident and keep us from taking action when we need to.  What if instead of judging thoughts as positive or negative we measured them in terms of how productive they are? What if we embraced feelings of anxiety and nerves because it means we care and/or are pushing our limits? On today’s show we will tackle these questions and many more. Also, we were thinking… Why is it that we look for physical asymmetries in athletes and clients, but we don’t measure them in our learning or communication? People are the ultimate performance variable so if we aren’t assessing gaps here, aren’t we missing a huge piece of the puzzle?  The Apprenticeship, a two day interactive workshop specializing in how to deal with people, power dynamics, hard conversations and the messy realities of life and leadership is aimed at closing that gap. Check us out at one of the following cities: Chicago, IL - July 24-25: Just a few spots left! Seattle, WA - August 28-29: Just a few spots left!  Boston, MA - September 11-12: Available!  Nashville, TN - September 25-26: Available! Cardiff, Wales - October 9-10 Asheville, NC - November 13-14! We’d also like to thank our world class sponsors: SAGA: the world’s first wireless BFR cuffs (Brett20 = 20% off) VersaClimber: the world’s toughest low-impact workout  Momentous: world’s cleanest, best tasting performance supplement (Brett25 = 25% OFF) Follow me on social media: Via Instagram: @coach_BrettB Via Twitter: @coach_BrettB Subscribe to my YouTube channel here Learn More About My Courses, Clinics, and Live Events At: www.ArtofCoaching.com

Transcript

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0:00.0

One of my favorite quotes is, we are all apprentices in a craft where we never become a master.

0:12.6

Now that is credited to Ernest Hemingway, and he was talking about writing in that context.

0:18.1

But for me, that is speaking directly to the fact that no matter what position you're

0:22.5

in, as a leader or a coach or an educator or however you define yourself, learning how to deal with people, power dynamics and politics

0:30.5

will always be a critical part of achieving success in any profession.

0:35.0

And if you want to be a profession here, you have to have a better understanding of people

0:38.5

communication and persuasion.

0:40.5

I think we'd all agree on some level at least about that.

0:43.8

And these things are simple and necessary, but they're not easy.

0:47.8

Right?

0:48.8

People are the ultimate performance variable.

0:51.2

So when we think about this idea that we need to be lifelong learners, when we think about

0:55.6

this idea that in our lives, whether it's regarding our finances, us striving for work

1:01.3

life balance, our technical skills related to our job, there's always going to be

1:05.7

asymmetries. There's going to be times a year where work gobbles up more of your time,

1:10.2

and you're not able to see your family as much. Then the holidays come around, and perhaps your job

1:14.5

allows you to see them and spend some time. I know there's certain jobs that, of course, don't allow

1:18.9

for that, but you get the context here. There's going to be times where you realize you need to cut back on your spending, or maybe you need to invest more. These asymmetries are rampant, and it was

1:27.2

the world that I lived in in performance as well. We would inevitably see athletes that

1:31.9

didn't move that well, that would have an issue with one hip versus another, or maybe

1:36.3

they wouldn't even display power or force appropriately through both limbs, and we'd

1:41.9

see asymmetries in how they produce or express force. But what about asymmetries in our education? Now you know where I'm going with this if you've listened.

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