Powerful Benefits Of Journaling (And How It Applies To Hockey)
Powerful Benefits Of Journaling (And How It Applies To Hockey)
Daily Reflections = Powerful Positive Force for Hockey
In early 2019, I listened to a podcast episode of The Tim Ferriss Show that changed my daily routine.
In the interview with Jim Collins, who Tim describes as a polymath (a person of wide-ranging knowledge or learning), Jim went into detail about one of his personal systems, a daily spreadsheet tracker. In the spreadsheet, Jim tracks various metrics and assigns an overall grade to his day. While he gave details about his own spreadsheet, he was careful to point out that every person has different goals, and, thus, should track different metrics than what he pitched.
In the two years since then, I’ve kept my own version of this tracker. Some of the metrics I track include daily sleep, time spent with loved ones, time spent socializing with friends, etc. In the last cell, I write a brief blurb about the day. And while some would consider it a laborious task (and some days it is), it’s simply become another part of my day. I’m grateful that I have hundreds of records from days in my past to reference quickly and efficiently. More to the point, I’ve been able to determine what metrics make for the best (and worst) days.
This isn’t to suggest that a detailed, time-consuming tracker is right for you, the reader. But I do believe that chronicling one’s thoughts and then revisiting them later is valuable and something that more people should do.
How Does This Relate To Hockey?
Over the course of a hockey season, it’s easy to let games, practices, workouts, etc. blend together. It’s even easier to go through a season on auto-pilot, making changes when they seem appropriate, but never taking a step back to reflect on the ‘why’. Then the off-season rolls around, and we do it all over again.
Keeping a simple journal from each event allows a player, coach, parent, etc. to easily reference parts of the season, which allows for easy analysis and brings greater understanding.
Coaches - ever have a series of practices that miss the mark? Or a few practices in a row with particularly strong energy? Players - ever go on a cold streak? Or a hot streak? With a few sentences after the fact, you would be able to review those events to determine what may have caused the result?
Bringing it back to the Collins/Ferriss podcast, a player could track the following binary questions, all of which are controllable, and could tabulate them after every practice/game:
Was my energy where it needed to be?
Did I get a good night’s sleep?
Did I work as hard as I can?
How was my preparation to set up success in the game/pratice?
And a coach could track these:
Did I come to the rink appropriately prepared?
Was my energy where it needed to be?
Are my players in a better place today than they were yesterday?
After, you would tally how many of these you answered “yes” vs. “no”. Over time, was there a trend?
It’s also helpful to write a quick blurb (1-3 sentences) describing the event for context. This will allow you to have context paint a clearer picture about the direction of your season.
For coaches that jot down their practice plans (even after the fact), this would be an organic addition. For those who don’t, journaling could provide the insights that make the difference between a successful and unsuccessful season.
Quick Greg Note - Personally, I have a record of every practice that I’ve run. I can see where we have been and understand the flow of each season/team. It’s been a powerful force to help understand and see my strengths/weaknesses.
Players, too, can benefit from cataloging their experiences. Not only is journaling widely considered to be therapeutic, but also results in more thoughtful actions.
The best part of journaling is how personal it can be; nobody needs to know the criteria selected, or how you graded yourself. It’s an internal competition to be a better version of the person/player/coach/etc. you strive to be. That type of reflection is powerful positive force in the long run.
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