When I think about my time as an athlete now that I’m an “adult,” I start to think about all the little things that seemed so big that don’t even matter anymore (or should have when I was that younger athlete).

Here it goes... 

Things that don’t matter as an athlete:

1. What your coach thinks you are capable of doing - YOU are the only one that needs to think you are capable
2. Mistakes - Of course to an extent, but mistakes aren’t going to make or break your entire career, learn from them
3. Athlete rankings - Low? Prove them wrong. High? Keep your head down, stay humble, and work hard
4. What level college you go to - There is a school for YOU and DIII schools are just as important as DI schools
5. What college your parents think you should go to - YOU have to be there and do the work, pick a school that fits YOU
6. Comparing yourself to everyone else - You’ll never be her and that’s what makes you SO special, so use your gifts and be the best...

Hey girl (mom, dad, coach),

I know that sometimes it feels like you are falling short or feeling stuck or just not feeling like you are doing enough or good enough.

Here is my pep talk for you: 

1 Thoughts are just thoughts, not facts

We have thousands and thousands of thoughts a day. A lot of times our thoughts try to trick us into believing negative crap. Made up stories about ourselves. They are just thoughts oftentimes. Remind yourself of what is TRUE! 

2 Remember, you are exactly where you need to be

It’s easy to get caught up in where we want to be. Trust me, there are many times I catch myself wishing I was further along or already hitting a big goal I have for myself. Trust that you are exactly where you need to be right now. Slow down, take a look around, and notice all the things you can be grateful for. Notice that you are exactly where you wanted to be just a few months or a few years ago. 

3 Small steps every day

You don’t always have to go...

I know it’s scary to go first.

I know it feels embarrassing to say the wrong thing, give the wrong answer in class, feel dumb for asking a question, or mess up the drill at practice.

But, did you know… I think it’s the coolest thing when a girl pushes her fear aside and steps up to volunteer. To go first!

It says a lot about the person you are when you have the guts to just go first.

Leader

Confident

Brave

Trailblazer 

Courageous

You can be those things!

If you’re worried about what your teammates will think, what your fellow students will think, what your coaches will think, or what anyone else might think…

...you’re going to miss out.

When you go first, you learn.

When you ask questions, you learn.

When you say the wrong thing, you learn. And by the way, WHO CARES?! I’m sure someone else was thinking it too!

Don’t be afraid to go first.

Step up because the ones that go first go the furthest.

Paige

P.S. That self-talk...

Hey girl (or mom/dad)! 

Do you feel like you’re constantly being negative? Honestly…

I’m not judging you. I get in these ruts of being negative too. It’s very human of us. Normal.

I catch myself being negative a little too often with the people I trust the most, like my mom. Or my husband (wait, did I just say that?! Husband, still getting used to that new term!). 

My mom is one of my go-to’s. I call her almost everyday to catch up and talk about the little things that happen day to day. I will way too often start to complain about things. Even simple things like…

being tired

saying how hard my workout was

that I have so much to get done

nothing is going the way I wanted

blah, blah, blah

It’s an easy trap to get in. A slippery slope. 

So, I want you to really pay attention to what you are sharing, especially to the ones you love. And if you are catching yourself being negative or complaining or even feeling sorry for...

To my coaches, 

I’ve done countless mental training workshops for teams (if you want one for your team, reply to this email) and the #1 reason I hear why teams don’t work on the mental game is…

TIME

I get this. I get that there are so many hours at the rented field or courts. Only so many hours to work on the fundamentals. Only so many hours when you have the entire team together.

How is a coach supposed to work on the mental game too?!

I have a solution that will only take 5 minutes, but can make a big difference in your team’s confidence. 

Game Ready Confidence!

This is a mental pre-game routine that you can easily implement before every game. Here’s how you can do that: 

1 Get your team together 5 minutes before you start physical warm-ups

2 Have them complete the Game Ready Confidence questions (in notebooks or on their phone notes)

3 BOOM! Done! Now, they are mentally prepared to tackle warm-ups and feel confident at the start of...

Okay, okay, maybe not go that far... but, failure is and will continue to show up whether we like it or not. So, we can make friends with it or allow it to take us down into the fiery flames. 

Here's what I want you to think about...

What if you thought of failure as a tool?

What if you took your failures and learned from them?

What if you talked to your teammates about failure like it wasn't a big deal?

What if you had more conversations with your coaches about failing?

What I mean by let's make failure cool is... let's normalize failing. Because when we can learn from our failure, we can come back stronger, better, empowered, and more confident.

Talking about failure is why I do what I do. I want to have more conversations about failures and how to move through them because it's the only way to success. If we have more of these conversations together, we will learn faster! 

I am hosting a local event here in Arizona called Girl Talk to do exactly this! I'm inviting girl...

I think this is one of the biggest reasons most athletes don't ever start working on the mental part of being an athlete.... they don't know where to even start! ‍

So, let's start from the beginning.

Preparing for games!

You already have countless hours of practice and lessons each week, all year long. Perfect! What you're missing is practicing and preparing your mind for competition.

You need a pre-game routine to mentally prepare you to perform since you've already put the physical work in.

I have made this so easy for you. It's something called Game Ready Confidence (aka your new pre-game routine)!

Here's how it works...

1. Buy it.
2. Download it.
3. Print it.
4. Use it.

Pretty easy right?! Let's go into a little more depth with using it. 

Game Ready Confidence is a PDF with journaling prompts on it. All you have to do is fill them out before your game. These journaling prompts are going to allow you to...

Give yourself some slack

Help you notice how you're feeling

...

Wouldn't it be nice if you could just sit back, relax, and watch your athlete do her thing with full confidence? 

To know that your athlete is fully equipped with the tools she needs to show up confident?

To watch her bounce back from mistakes?

Well, you're not dreaming!

I have a really simple, yet very effective tool she can use to have full confidence going into her next game!

Game Ready Confidence

Your daughter's pre-game routine for her mindset!

It's a quick journaling session that will allow your athlete to be mindful of how she feels, create intention of how she wants to show up, let go of pressure, and have a plan for failure (because failure happens)!

Anddd... to make this pre-game routine even better, I'm offering a one-time opportunity to add a Pre-Game Guided Visualization MP3 she can listen to before her games.

Positive Thinking + Visualization = CONFIDENCE!

Things don't just happen. We create what happens by thinking about it, practicing it, and believing it.

...

Have you ever felt afraid to fail? Mess up? Say the wrong thing? Do the wrong thing? Have the wrong answer?

If yes, you're not alone. Pretty sure almost every single athlete I've ever worked with has felt like this at some point and time.

It's okay. But, it's also time to leave that fear behind because it is only holding you back!

Failing, messing up, saying the wrong thing, doing the wrong thing, having the wrong answers ARE ALL PARTS OF LIFE.

Those things are supposed to happen and they WILL happen. Once you can accept that, it will be easier.

This is going to sound weird, but I want you to think about the worst thing that could happen?

Maybe the worst things that could happen are...

You fall, get back up, and try again

  People laugh at you and you decide it's not that bad, then laugh with them

  You don't succeed that day, but you learn

Are you starting to see a pattern?!

Sometimes, we make those things way scarier and harder than they really are. When you can accept...

Ugh... this feeling sucks right?

I believe that the best coaches instill belief in their athletes.

Good news... there are coaches that do this!

Bad news is... not all coaches do this (we can have a whole conversation about this another time).

This feeling still sucks though. Which is why I teach athletes how to create their own confidence when they feel like this.

Here is what you can do when you feel like your coach doesn't believe in you:

1. I want you to decide if this is a thought or a fact.

Thought = A story we tell ourselves, our imagination, our opinion

Fact = 100% true, can be proved in a court! 

A lot of times we tend to create a story in our minds that isn't totally true - it's all good, it happens to everyone. 

2. Ask yourself, "What do I want to believe about me?" 

This is the truth time. This is the time to step into your power and decide what you want to happen, who you want to be, and how you want to show up! 

3. Choose who you surround yourself...