“This is easy!”
This is a phrase that my husband says repeatedly to our children daily. My husband tries to teach them how to talk to themselves, and you know what, it works! I can see a change in my kids, I know when they’re using these short little phrases to talk to themselves, to push through something at school, sports, etc. My husband and I use it too, we’ve learned that it’s all about how you talk to yourself.
My mother is the smallest bundle of Auburn energy that you will ever see/hear and growing up it was contagious. I was fortunate enough to spend four wonderful years on the Plains. But, for those of you who know my husband, he is one of the biggest Alabama fans you will ever meet. Now, he’s not just a Saturday fan. No, he’s a die-hard, knows all the players, studies the plays, knows the stats, stands up the entire game three feet from the TV kind of fan. My kids know if The Tide scores a TD they’d better hide their little hands because daddy is coming by to pass out some “stingers” (high-fives). You can imagine what a pleased fan he is with all the success Alabama has had under Nick Saban for the last nine years.
Why are they so successful? Sure, there is the obvious, talent, hard work, strong program…. but what sets them apart? I mean, there is good (winning seasons, a conference championship and maybe a national championship here and there) and then there is dominant (4 national championships, 2 Heisman Trophy winners, 37 First Team All-Americans, 55 players drafted to the NFL… 18 of which were first round selections and all within 9 years). I think it has a little something to do with how the coaches coach the players to talk to themselves.
Before I go any further, please know I am on the outside looking in, I have no insider scoop, I don’t know any of the players or their families and while I would love to shake Coach Saban’s hand, I can say without a doubt he doesn’t even know that I exist… so these thoughts are simply my own.
My husband, being the Bama fan that he is, introduced our family to Dr. Kevin Elko. Check out his bio and website here (I can’t even attempt to do him justice with my words… read for yourself). Dr. Elko teaches people, teams (yes Bama), business organizations how to talk to themselves. His series Think Like a Winner is all about how you talk to yourself, how you set yourself up to be a winner. People who are high performers and enjoy what they do speak differently to themselves. They don’t look at adversity and immediately go to the negative. They talk positively to themselves and power through.
I think one of the best things that Coach Saban does as a coach, is introducing his players to Dr. Elko. Yes, it produces winners on the field, but it also sets them up for the future, in whatever they become. What if you could be as successful as the Alabama Football Team in your everyday? It starts with how you talk to yourself!
I said to myself… “I’m going to have a meaningful, productive day and bring joy to someone else.”
What do you say to yourself?
2 thoughts on “I Said to Myself…”