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  • hockey for all centre - Manitoba's Community Hockey Complex
  • Winnipeg Jets
  • Manitoba Moose

Get Better One Step at a Time

Every athlete has goals. Whether that’s playing AAA, making their high school team, going to college or playing in the NHL. The distance between where an athlete currently is and where they want to be can seem so great that it almost feels insurmountable. This overwhelming feeling can lead to inaction on the part of the athlete.

No matter what the goal, there is one thing that has to happen – you have to get better. Getting better everyday is a goal we have for all our athletes, and it happens one step at a time. Don’t worry if you can’t see the way, all you need to be able to see is your next step. In this case, your next step could be a workout, a recovery meal, a good night’s sleep or a mental health exercise.

In the gym, we use the rule of progressive overload. This means each time you go to the gym, you should try to increase your loading parameters slightly. So, if you used 100 pounds for an exercise one week, the next week you should try for 105 pounds, or try to get one more rep. These small increments don’t seem like much at a granular level, but when you look back after a month, you have added 20 pounds to your lift. Small steps add up.

In the kitchen, that next step is your next meal. You don’t receive the benefits of consistently eating healthy all in one shot – you reap the rewards in small increments that add up to significant changes. For your mental health and performance, this process is found in solution-focused therapy techniques and interventions. Determine where you are currently on a scale of 0 to 10 with your mental health goal. Once you identify where you are, determine what it would be like to move one point in a positive direction. How would you know you moved up one point? That becomes your next small step.

If you are an athlete, dream big and don’t be scared. Dream bigger than anyone around you can even imagine. When they doubt you, or when you doubt yourself and don’t know how you are going to make it, remember that the longest journeys start with a single step. See that next step and take it.

Until next time,

Strength, Courage, Hustle, Commitment

AJ Zeglen