EP29 Mindset Monday - Add Fun to Change Your State

This is the Empowered athlete podcast, episode 29. This is the empowered athlete podcast mindset Monday. 10 minutes with Kari Schneider to learn new mindset tactics and tricks to optimize your performance in sport, business and life. Let me take you back to the summer of 2008. It was my first summer not playing for the national team. I had it off and I got to train the entire summer with Kari on a specifically made program that was tailored to me, my injuries, my body and my goals for that next upcoming season. And I was 34 years old. Well, the result went back over to Turkey and won a European cup in incredible physical condition. Thank you to that program setting me up for the perfect season. Well, now you have access to the exact same thing. Hit email ksempowerconditioning.com that's KS for Kari Schneider. And get started on one of Kari's incredible online training programs. The program is tailored to you. It has video of each exercise you're doing so you know what you're doing. Your reps are laid out, the sets are laid out. You can't go wrong. Reach out now to reach your best.

So today's topic is fun because it's. It is one of those Mondays that is cloudy and cold and just very, very gray. There's no brightness, there's no kind of good things to look forward to out there. So on a day like this, this is where your state really, really matters. And I have fresh in my mind an experience with my clients this morning, so I want to share some of that with you. That made a difference for all of our states. So just a reminder, when I talk about state, state is that way of being that really influences your energy, your mindset, how you're going to be in the world. And the three things that make up your state are going to be your physiology. So it's very much a physical thing, your focus. So where is your mind or your emotions? And also your language. What kind of a language are you using? Because that's going to influence your. Your thoughts, your feelings, and then your actions. So the three things that are making up your state are your physiology, your focus, and your language. So today we're talking about getting into state, but what are some of the ways we can use to do that? And the topic is fun. Using fun to get into state. So this morning it's a Monday. Everybody's dragging everybody. It's February, so it's that feeling, that time of year that it's just not feeling very good at all. And my clients this morning were showing that when they showed up, I felt it. And I'm intentional in showing up to be the energetic, enthusiastic and very intentional coach. Yet when I'm seeing it in my clients too, I felt it, they felt it. But what are some quick ways that you can make a difference not only for your own state, but also for the people around you? Because everything you do and however you are is impacting every everybody that's around you. So this could be in a team setting, this could be with co workers, this could be while traveling. This could be in all sorts of scenarios. For the first one is fun. Fun is the topic, but what can we do? So number one, when somebody is in a down state, make eye contact with them. Maybe wink at them, but make eye contact with them. When somebody is in their head and in an awful state, they're not gonna make eye contact. They're gonna be looking down, they're gonna be thinking in their head. They're not gonna be looking to be out in the world with other people. So number one, make eye contact with an intention of fun. So it might be a smile, a wink, but make the eye contact. Number two is gonna be movement. I'm always starting my training sessions with obviously warming people up. So whether it's an athlete or a private client, we're moving right immediately in the session. But that movement is the number one of state. It's the physiology, getting the heart rate up, getting that ballistic movement, getting the blood flow happening, that all creates a change in the mindset. So the movement right there. But if I can combine some other things with the movement, then I've done a double whammy in the mindset or the overall state. So the next thing would be some sort of game, something that can cause stimulus and something dynamic where people don't know what's coming next. And before you note it, before you know it, you're going to have people who are laughing, dodging, having fun and changing how they feel overall. So this morning's game was super simple. It was a game of catching of a ball. But the repercussions are five push ups. If somebody's really, really good at catching a ball, then we do it on their weaker side, or we're doing it while we're running in a circle. There's all kinds of ways you can do that. But I promise you, for adults who haven't done this for a really long time, or you mix up the rules if you're in a competitive sport so that it becomes fun, people are laughing in no time. They're completely engaged in the task at hand and they can't be busy feeling like crap because the day is gray or because they're not feeling very good or because it's slow or whatever it is. So the, the game is key. Adding humor, adding jokes, adding other things in there that are stimuli that is going to be vital in order to change the state. So again, going back, the three things that will change your state are the physiology, your focus or your emotions that are happening and also your thoughts. So starting something and this can be with kids, this can be with teams, this can be with anyone. But starting your day with something that's dynamic, something that's fun, fun, it's going to change everything around and then it doesn't matter whether it's gray, you've taken the power back in deciding how you are going to perform, how you are going to feel and how you are going to affect other people. Instead of feeling like the victim, like you're subject to, oh, it's February. Oh, it's cold. Oh, it's gray. Oh, I don't feel quite right. Well, too damn bad because you have the control over that. You have the responsibility for that. And you can make a difference toward other people and how they feel. Whether it's a family member, a co worker or a teammate. You can have that impact. Make the eye contact, make the joke, cause the game, do the movement, be the person that's going to change your state and also change someone else's.

Sam.