Wisdom Wednesday | 9/28/22
“Flush it & Make The NBD”
OK HERE’S HOW THE FLUSH IT & MAKE THE NEXT BEST DECISION STRATEGY WORKS…
Step #1: Understand your actions and decisions are like bricks
If every time you made a mistake you were to grab a physical brick and carry that brick with you, it would weigh you down both physically and mentally. This would invariably inhibit performance to the best of your ability.
Imagine a mistake from your past that you are still bitter about and think of it as a mental brick. When you carry this mistake with you, this mental brick, it takes the same toll as carrying a physical brick. The difference is, of course, you cannot see it because it is a weight within your mind. In your quest for peak performance, you must train yourself to release the mental bricks that weigh you down.
Step #2: “Flush it”
A fun way to think about releasing mental bricks is by conjuring up the image of a toilet. After you’ve created awareness around the concept of a bad decision or mistake being like a brick, use the metaphorical concept of “flush it” as a verbal cue for how to respond.
Once you’ve made it a practice to reflect on a bad decision and learn from it, take each mental brick and “flush it.” Let it go!
The University of Vermont Men’s Ice Hockey head coach Kevin Sneddon took this concept and integrated it into part of his team’s post-performance routine. He keeps a miniature foam toilet in the team locker room, and after a frustrating period or a hard-fought game in which the Catamounts don’t get the result they are looking for, he and his players flush the mental bricks from their performance. “I ask each of my players to flush the game down the toilet and move on,” says Coach Sneddon.
After the Boston Celtics beat the Los Angeles Lakers 98–88 in Game One of the 2008 NBA Finals, Kobe Bryant was asked, “Can you describe what you got for looks out there tonight?” His answer was, “I got some great looks tonight; they didn’t fall for me. I will lump them in with all of other games where I got good looks and they didn’t fall for me, flush it, move on and hope I get the same looks again.”
Step #3: Make the next best decision (NBD)
The final step of this strategy is to embrace the fact that, no matter what has happened, you’re in control of what to do next. No matter the severity of the mistake….
- picked up fast food for lunch instead of eating the salad you packed
- made a goal for the wrong team
- lost the job
Whatever happened – you can learn from it, flush it, and make the next best decision to get back to an elite level of performance and on the path to your goals.
It is inevitable that you will face forms of adversity that you will hold on to and will weigh on your mind. It is at this pivotal point to remember to reflect and learn, flush it, and make the next best decision.
