One day a coach and I were going over the day's track workout plans. His final speed drill was made up of doing four 400's within a certain time goal for each. To motivate the athletes, the coach announced that there would be an extra 400m for the athlete each time he didn't meet his goal time.

The guys weren't happy with the idea. A runner would run 400's if he made his goal times. He would have to run up to eight if he was having a bad day. Several athletes felt that they were being punished, especially if they were running their best, but couldn't make the times. Some said they wouldn't have worked as hard in the previous drills if they knew that this was coming. Others questioned the wisdom of the coach's standards. How did he select the specific time?

In a post-practice meeting, Coach and I talked about this. He wanted to be more positive, so, we decided to try something different next time. He "reframed" the approach to: "We've got eight 400's to do before we finish practice. I'll knock one off for every one you make in your goal time." The guys responded positively to this approach.

Coach turned a punishment system into a reward system. The athletes looked forward to making their times now. They could "go home early" and recover if they made their goal times. The resulting change in attitude added a positive light to the work-outs.

We will usually work harder if we are rewarded, but the beauty of this ploy was that it was the same practice plan as the earlier one. If a runner hit his four laps in time, he was through. If he had a bad day, he still ran eight. Yet, no one realized it was the same workout and the attitudes were better with the reframed plan.

Salesmanship

Some people can put a positive spin on anything. Great salesman are great at this. For any question or problem the salesman has a new spin or idea's that smooths over or erases the customer's concern. It helps us psychologically if we can do the same thing with our own thinking by reframing the negative and turning it into a positive.

A typical mind set for a negative-based thinker might go: "Ahh, man! We are going through two-a-days. It is murder. We stay out there and get so over worked. I can't wait to go home and rest." I hear this type of talk often during early season workouts. The negative thinking athletes focus on the time, the work, and the drudgery of getting into shape.

Great coaches and athletes see things differently. They are like great salesman, framing their thinking in such a way as to make it positive and rewarding. They could also think about two-a-days as a drag, tiring, and to much work, but when you talk to these successful, positive people you hear a different story.

"Yea, two-a-days. I'm getting big and strong. I'm going hard and getting into shape! I love it. Can't wait to get into the season. I'm going to kick it this year!" That is quite a different way of looking at things. This athlete took the same situation and framed it in a positive light.

Your thinking

Once you learn to recognize how you are speaking to yourself you will be able to take control of your thoughts and change the direction of your thinking. By controlling your thinking you are also taking steps to control your emotions and your performance.