No kid looks forward to it, but it’s that time of the year again! Labor Day has marked the end of the summer, and the school year is about to begin! Instead of dreading the end of vacation, let’s embrace the opportunity with your student athlete and get them a head start on the year.
Here at Pursue PT, we believe in foundations being essential for elevating performance. We put something together that will set your student athlete up for success this school year!
Lifestyle Coherence
Lifestyle – the way in which a person or group lives
Coherence – the quality of being straight, logical and consistent
What does life look like for your student athlete? Do their daily habits align with their goals? They have to balance school, social life and athletics. A lot is required of them in each of these areas. With the athletes we work with at Pursue, we see how the rigors of the student athlete lifestyle can affect their daily mood and performance.
Consistency and discipline are key when talking about Lifestyle Coherence in the life of a student athlete. You can assist your student athlete in guiding them in their ambitions by simply asking them questions about their lifestyle. To create self awareness in our athletes here at Pursue, we do this through our Pursue Athlete Game plan Worksheet, and you can do something similar at home!
Set a time to talk with them and come up with 5 goals they have this school year as a student, teammate, child, and athlete. Post those goals where they will see them each day, and at the bottom ask…
Do your daily habits align with your goals?
Below is an example of one of our professional athletes, who has reached an elite level and still does this to make sure her lifestyle is coherent with her goals.
Julia Topor Goals 2019 Season
“Lead my team by example, exhibiting my hard work daily
Continue to be super coachable and take criticism
Become more consistent and aggressive in my play
Increase “kill” average by 2 per match
Win the Euro Championship”
Julia Topor played collegiate volleyball at Boston College, where she was named to the All ACC Academic Team. She then did a graduate year of playing beach volleyball at the University of San Francisco. Julia now plays professional volleyball overseas in Hungary. Her ability on the court is matched by her discipline and commitment off the court.
This short exercise will have a profound and positive long term effect on their mindset. Establish a foundation lifestyle coherence early in the school year, before their schedules become too busy. You can and will set your student athlete up for success this year! Let us know how we can help and or if you have any questions about this mental exercise.
In our next issue of Pursuing Greatness, we will talk about how sleep and nutrition lead to elite performance and continuing lifestyle coherence.
Thanks for reading and always pursue greatness.