Holistic Athlete Weekly Newsletter

Thermometer vs. Thermostat

In a given situation, are you a thermometer, or a thermostat? A thermometer gauges the temperature of the room. It clocks and reflects the external situation. A thermostat sets the temperature of the room. It creates the external circumstances for others.

Realistically, there’s a time and place to be either one. That said, it’s easy to fall into the trap of consistently being the thermometer. We often act and think based on the people we surround ourselves with. It’s easy to be reactionary and to “go with the flow” of how the team and staff are doing — to be in a good mood when you’re winning and a bad mood when you’re losing.

Being the thermostat takes confidence, clarity, and purpose. What should the temperature be, and why? What does the team need in a given moment? After a loss, are we fiercely fixing errors and being critical while watching film, or are we keeping the temperature down, staying the course, and maintaining positivity? You shouldn’t keep your house at 45 degrees and you shouldn’t keep it at 90 degrees. There’s a range of reasonable temperatures to operate under, and a coach’s role is to slide that scale to whatever most benefits the team at that time.

I enjoy asking players which of the two they feel like they are. If you’d like to do the same, it can be an interesting way to learn about how your athletes think of themselves, and to have them do some personal reflection!

A Bamboo Mind

Sport Psychologist Jonathan Fader has discussed the importance of having a “Bamboo" mind. The idea is the importance of being flexible to the extent that there’s essentially no visual damage regardless of the external circumstances. In mental health, psychological flexibility is a term that’s been used more and more often when discussing resilience and happiness.

Holistic Athlete Services

If you haven’t done so already, sign up for the 11 module Coaches Education Course! Contact me for a discount code

Also if you haven’t already, please sign up for a Zoom call for you and your staff to discuss the specific needs of your team, to asses what services may benefit you, to review content from the course, and to discuss any challenges with athlete’s you’re experiencing.