Chris Mance II - Mental Skills Coach

Behavior change requires commitment. If an athlete does not commit to the process of change there will be no change, no matter how much a coach or parent talks about it. As one of my favorite authors Dan Millman writes:

Decisions are not made with words, but with actions.

Experts say it takes anywhere from a 4 to 10 stage process to complete a behavior change. For example, Mezirow’s Theory of Transformation suggest 10 stages:

1. A disorienting dilemma.
2. A self-examination with feelings of guilt or shame.
3. A critical assessment of epistemic, sociocultural, or psychic assumptions.
4. Recognition that others share one’s discontent and that others have negotiated the process of transformation on a similar change.
5. Exploration of options for new roles, relationships, and actions.
6. Planning a course of action.
7. Acquisition of knowledge and skills for implementing one’s plan.
8. Provisional trying of new roles.
9. Building of competence and self-confidence in new roles and relationships.
10. A reintegration into one’s life based on conditions dictated by one’s perspective.

While this may be the high end of complexity for the process of change, this detailed breakdown illustrates two fundamental truths about why behavior change often fails.

Firstly, athletes must be extremely self-aware about their need to change before they will commit to changing. A lack of self-awareness within any of the first three stage in this process will derail the behavior change process completely.

Secondly, an athlete’s motivation to change is far more logical than it is emotional. While emotion may be what gets an athlete to talk about changing, emotion is not what gets an athlete to commit to changing. Moreover, this second point is ultimately the point I want to leave you with.

The Logic of Behavior Change Must Make Sense Before an Athlete’ Commits

Before an athlete commits to making a behavior change, they are going to make judgements on two variables.

1. How difficult is the change I must make to get the results I want?
2. How long will it take before I get that result?

Subsequently, there are four possible categories of logic an athlete can process.

1. Easy change with immediate results. Commitment will be high.
2. Easy change with delayed results. Commitment will be high initially but will need a system of reinforcement.
3. Hard change with immediate results. Commitment will be high if motivation for results is high.
4. Hard change with delayed results. Will not commit.

The Secret Sauce of Behavior Change Starts with Reframing

With this in mind, to coach an athlete through a needed behavior change one must start with how they frame the change to be in category 1, 2, or 3. If the athlete judges a change as being in category 4, then the athlete is being set up to fail. Unfortunately, however, most behavior changes that provide significant benefits are category 4 changes.

Therefore, the ability to reframe change from category 4 to another category is ultimately the secret sauce for behavior change. Reframing is a mental skill that helps athletes change how they judge their logic around a situation, which in turn changes their perception. When an athlete changes their perception of a situation, they can change their emotions. Ultimately, reframing emotions is how you move an athlete from category 4 to category 1, 2, or 3.

Reframing must be put in context with an athlete’s current state of thinking. Moreover, it’s not something most athletes can do alone. Athletes often trap themselves in thought loops and keep replaying the same thoughts over and over. Consequently, it’s important for coaches to work with athletes through the process of reframing.

If you are working with an athlete through the process of behavior change, I suggest you consider these five ways to reframe:

1. Goals from an outcome focus to a process focus.
2. Urgency from a short term mindset into a long term mindset.
3. Comparisons from an ego focus to a tasks focus.
4. Progress from focusing on the end state to focusing on a progression.
5. Growth from fixing weaknesses to building strengths.