Keeping a Success Log
Last summer, I started to study the field of sport psychology. Most of the reason for that is self-serving. As a power soccer player, I want to be able to perform my best as much as possible. The better I perform, the better my team performs, and the more victories that result from those performances. Obviously, it is a team sport, so it is not like I can control everything, but I wanted to be mentally prepared to do my best with the opportunities that came my way during the course of play.
I have been trying to be good about keeping a success log. As suggested by the book 10-Minute Toughness by Jason Selk, a success log requires three things and should be completed after every practice or game. First, you must list three specific things you did well during your time on the court. You do not just want to say things like “made a good shot” or “passed the ball well.” Without specific details, you will not be able to return to this list later and revisit your successes. What does it mean that you did a good job? Did you redirect a pass to the weak side or hit a 360° spin kick from half-court? Specificity is key for this step.
The second part of a success log entails listing one item you could improve during your next session. Again, specificity matters. Okay, you are unhappy with your spin kicking. However, are you struggling taking corner kicks, penalty kicks, indirect free kicks, or unleashing the cannon in the open sport? Again, you might think you will remember what you were struggling with, but I can barely remember yesterday. Nobody else will see your success log, so you can be honest and transparent in this step.
Finally, the third item you will need to list involves something you will do to help improve that weakness. This is the forward-looking part of the process; ideally, you will look at this document prior to your next practice if you need a reminder of what you want to do better.
Writing a few sentences does not take very long, but I just looked over the past few months of records I have kept. Admittedly, I have not been perfect about doing this. I try to do it after every practice, but sometimes I get busy or forget. However, on Saturday, I could execute a specific shot, but I have been trying to do it for a long time. I will not try to explain it too technically, but here is a video for you of someone else doing it. It involves tapping the ball to set yourself up for a harder shot. It requires a difficult combination of gentleness and power. I realize that the player’s pass is blocked in this clip, but I think it serves as a decent example of what I was trying to pull off.
For whatever reason, I cannot embed a video to a particular timestamp, so please advance to 44:35.
As you might expect, I was pretty excited, but the excitement correlates directly to the concerted effort I have put into executing this shot. Theoretically, this shot could have been a passing thought after practice one day, but I would likely have forgotten about it by the following week. Focused attention over a long period of time yields greater excitement when the goal is achieved.
Power soccer is something I practice, but I do not think this technique is limited to athletics. Some problems are complex and cannot be solved in one sitting. Sometimes you have to chew on the problem for a while and break it down in your head until you finally can make it happen in reality. Perhaps this technique might be of some use to you as well.
Many of my friends are working on their dissertations right now, and I remember how draining that process can be. It feels like a swamp of endless information sometimes. However, if you can note specific successes and ways to improve, you will see that you are indeed coming along and are making progress.