HeadGames World

“The best revenge is not to be like your enemy.”
— Marcus Aurelius

One of the things I love about coaching is that my athletes think I’m teaching them.

The truth is, they’re teaching me all the time.

I remember working with a gymnast years ago who was furious with a teammate. She replayed every slight, every comment, every eye roll. By the end of our conversation I think she had convinced herself that this other girl occupied about 80% of her brain.

I finally asked her, “Who has the power here?”

She looked at me like I’d asked a trick question.

“The other girl,” I said. “She’s not even in the room, but she’s deciding how you feel, how you practice, and probably what you’re going to think about on the drive home.”

I wish I could tell you I learned that lesson because I was such a wise coach.

I learned it because I’ve done exactly the same thing.

Someone says something. An email lands wrong. A conversation doesn’t go the way I’d hoped. And suddenly that person has rented space in my head without paying a dime.

Marcus Aurelius had a much simpler solution. Don’t become what upset you in the first place. Don’t let another person’s behavior recruit you into becoming someone you don’t want to be.

I’ve been practicing that for years.

Some days I deserve a gold star.

Other days...let’s just say it’s still a practice.

Ancient wisdom. Modern pressure. Real practice.

If you’d like to build an unshakeable mind, I’d love to help.
[email protected]

What the Monks Taught ME About Gymnastics

These are the young monks who decided they wanted to learn gymnastics while I was studying in Nepal.

What started as a few cartwheels in the grass somehow turned into "Monks Gymnastics Class." Every day we'd meet outside the monastery and practice handstands, cartwheels, rolls, and whatever else we could figure out together.

What struck me most wasn't how quickly they learned.

It was how they learned.

They weren't worried about being the best.

They weren't comparing themselves to each other.

They weren't trying to impress anyone.

They were doing gymnastics for the pure joy of it.

Laughing.
Falling.
Trying again.
Laughing harder.

And honestly, it was a lesson I needed.

I had spent so much of my own gymnastics life focused on achievement, performance, scores, improvement, and getting somewhere. These young monks reminded me of something I had forgotten:

Growth happens fastest when joy comes first.

Somewhere between childhood and adulthood, many of us lose that. Athletes lose it. Leaders lose it. We become so focused on looking good, achieving, and proving ourselves that we forget why we started in the first place.

The fastest path to mastery often runs straight through beginner's mind.

One question worth sitting with today:

Where am I chasing achievement when I could be rediscovering joy?

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For private sessions with Doc Ali or a member of the HeadGames Team, reach out to Doc Ali at [email protected]

For our live and recorded small groups (which are awesome), write Doc Ali to try them for free or go to www.headgameswebcamp.com

WE NOW HAVE THE ATHLETE WARRIOR APP! Learn the 8 pillars of mental toughness through videos, audios, and quests at AthleteWarrior.passion.io

Frustration isn’t an emergency

One thing I teach my clients during summer training is this:

Stop treating frustration like an emergency.

You missed the turn.
You balked.
You had a rough day.
You felt behind.

Okay. Now what?

A lot of athletes waste half their practice emotionally reacting to what already happened. The best athletes learn to recover quickly and get back to work.

Your ability to reset is a skill.
Train it this summer like everything else.