Catch Them Doing Good?

One of the easiest things to do in this world is to criticize. It is easy to criticize. It is easy to complain. It is easy to find fault. It’s so easy. It’s so easy, a caveman can do it. 

Our brains are hardwired to see errors, to detect danger, to isolate and capture the things that are “not right”. Some may call this a survival mechanism, but the majority of us engage in this behavior because we are selfish and negative… especially those of us who live, work and compete in high-performing environments.

As an athlete, everything is caught on film… everything. You can’t get away with being lazy, you can’t get away with taking shortcuts, you cannot get away with jack! Athletes are used to being coached, corrected, and criticized on a daily basis. It comes with the territory. If you are a coach reading this, you are a part of a fraternity of individuals who pushes people to higher heights for a living. You are responsible for taking Athletes from where they are to where they could be. As easy and glorious as this might sound, it is difficult because there is a lot of criticism and hard coaching that lies ahead.

If you want to positively impact your Athletes’ development, “catch them” doing something good. What does that mean? The higher the level of athlete, the more criticism he or she has endured. High level Athletes are conditioned to criticisms and micro-criticisms. If you catch them doing something good, and, you let them know about it, you are opening up the floodgates of higher levels of performance.

When you complement an athlete who was not expecting a compliment, you are releasing unexpected stores of dopamine. When you point out the minuscule, the mundane, and the meaningless that an Athlete is excelling at, they feel ‘seen’. This is powerful because you are introducing novelty (new experiences) to an athlete who is used to being coached/criticize/critiqued on a daily basis.

Try it, and watch what happens!

-Josiah Igono, PhD