My inner game

Back at home again and I decided to run a 2-miler this morning.

I was thinking about how I often get grumpy late in the evenings when something isn't where I think it should be or someone does something that bugs me.

Then I was thinking about what I should try and do differently when that happens next time.

After a few minutes of failing to think of anything, I remembered Tim Gallwey's book, "The Inner Game of Tennis", a fantastic book that probably led to coaching moving from sport and into the business world.

In Tim Gallwey's book he talks about there being two opponents in tennis, the one on the other side of the net, and the one in your head.

That applies to pretty much everything in life (apart from the bit about the net). There is usually an external challenge and an internal one.

Also, what doesn't work when dealing with the internal one is to point out what you're doing wrong and try to find something that you should be doing more of, less of, or better.

It is always far more powerful to take yourself out of your head (and no I don't mean alcohol or drugs) and to concentrate on something else other than how you are performing.

So, my challenge next time I get grumpy is just to notice it and be curious about what's going on, what I'm trying to achieve and how effective my current strategy is. That's all.