Dallas Ice Jets

October 10, 2010

Discipline. It’s kind of a scary word isn’t it? And along with being a scary word, it means making yourself do things you don’t really want to do. Doesn’t that sound fun! But there is a reason this blog is about the daunting “D” word: It’s important. It’s not just important, it’s very important, no, it’s integral to being a successful athlete, being a successful team, musician, business person, designer, chef, whatever you want to be. It doesn’t just happen overnight. It takes years of self-discipline to achieve your goals.

So how can you as an athlete develop more discipline in your life to achieve your goals? Develop these three areas:

1. Disciplined Thinking
You were given a brain. Use it. You’ve probably heard that the average human only utilizes 10% of their brain power, well that’s not really true. It’s not even close to being true, but what is true is that we could push ourselves to learn more. Hockey is the most read and react game in the world; it is very much a mental game as much as it is a physical game. We want you to keep your mind active, learning about the game and skills and constantly growing and developing your mental strength. No matter what your skill level is or how much knowledge you possess, in hockey or any other subject, discipline yourself and your brain to learn more. Disciplined thinking will go a long way in helping your success.

2. Disciplined Emotions
Hockey players and disciplined emotions is not typically their strong suit. Hence the fights that breakout on ice that lead to broken teeth, blood, black eyes and more. One could even argue that not having control over their emotions in hockey is a good thing, and even beneficial to the game. False. Disciplined emotions means that you are in control of you. You either get control of your emotions, or you let them control you. This does not mean that to be an exceptional team player or athlete you should turn off your feelings. But it does mean that you should always recognize your feelings, and be disciplined to choose how you handle those emotions. This will lead to disciplined emotions.

3. Disciplined Actions
Keeping your mind sharp and being in control of your emotions is important, but that can only take you so far. You must put those thoughts into action. If you know everything there is to know about puck handling, nutrition and off-ice training, but eat cheeseburgers everyday and don’t practice, you’re not going to be effective. The saying 10,000 hours practice is necessary to master any skill is applicable here. Discipline your mind, emotions and actions; put in the physical work and time necessary to succeed.

So how are you as an athlete, a team player, or just as a person when it comes to discipline? Do you constantly strive to push your limits, challenge your mind and body, practice your skills to challenge and better yourself? Or are you always trying to stay in your comfort zone?

Discipline is hard. It’s difficult and not always fun. But you are in control of your outcomes. What you put in, you get out. Remember, discipline is doing what you really don’t want to do, so that you can do what you really want to do. In the end, success is the sum of many small efforts.