Gratitude

Take a moment to list 5 things, people, places, or memories you are thankful for. Now take a

few seconds to appreciate each of those things. Don’t postpone joy. It is yours for the taking.

For example, I am grateful for 1) My family and my girlfriend 2) My job with The MindStrong

Project 3) the platform to write these articles 4) the people all over the world responsible for

developing the technology and manufacturing for this computer 5) the game of baseball and

everything it has taught me.

We could LITERALLY go on and on. No mention of my apartment, my car, my roommates and

friends, microwaves, dinner tables, my faith, hockey, Minnesota Mash, traffic lights, my

education, heat, air conditioning, remote controls, Chipotle, meaningful Minnesota Gopher

football in November, and thousands of other things. At times we are all guilty of taking these

simple luxuries for granted.

Hang tight with me as we weave in and out of how these simple things can make a world of

difference.

Gratitude

Now is always the perfect time of year for me to talk about one of my favorite concepts:

Gratitude. The idea of gratitude is certainly not a new one in the field of Sport Psychology. In

fact, many of you may have already heard that gratitude is important because our brain cannot

be anxious and grateful at the same time. This is true. Any time we are feeling stressed or

anxious, we can think of what we are grateful for and literally become less stressed or anxious.

Think of the performance impact that our own thoughts and emotions can have. Here lies the

problem I see in society and with many athletes: we are stuck in a culture of comparison. Now,

I have to remind you that these are my thoughts and opinions; please take the time to form

your own if you haven’t. But, this is what I see and what my experiences tell me. I want to be

extremely clear that this is not a “kids these days…” soapbox. I believe most kids are well-

intentioned and work hard – or at least want to work hard; and if they don’t, it has more to do

with how they were developed than somehow they just ended up lazy for no reason. Back to

my point. 

The current generation of young people does not have to deal with survival, but the

brain still thinks in terms of survival. We have food, water, shelter, etc. So what has the brain

done? It’s come up with a new, heightened level of survival: Social survival. We all want to fit

in. We all want to be liked. Brand-named companies know this. They have teams of people

that get paid to market. They market that the grass is greener on their side of the fence. These

messages are developed and reinforced through clothing, music, movies, Instagram, Twitter,

SnapChat, and all of the places that have access to consumers. Their message is abundantly

clear. 

“You’ll be cool if…” “You’ll be happier if…” “You’ll perform better if…” 

“You’ll make more money if…” 

And we too often their arguments are quite compelling. However, we find a generation of 

youth that has higher mental illness rates than ever seen before. Even though we have all 

the things that supposedly make us happier, we’re not happier.

Why? Because there is always more. Always. There is always a new product. Thus,

we’re always chasing something superficial rather than being grateful for (and using to the best

of our abilities) what we have. Guys, the grass is not always greener. So can we please take

some time to appreciate what we have? What we have is enough. Comparison is not the

answer. In fact, it separates us from part of the real answer: connection.

This “grass is always greener” mentality is not limited to consumer goods, though. This

happens in many situations. It happens on our teams. “If we just had one more arm in the

bullpen.” “If only we had more pop in our lineup.” Both of these statements send a

subconscious message to yourself and those around you saying “We’re not good enough.” It

happens in our own lives. “If only I could get rid of this belly.” “If only I knew how to _____.”

Again, the message to yourself is that you’re not good enough, which lowers confidence. It’s a

cat-and-mouse game of comparison. Remember, nobody is perfect. Question: How can I

perform my best of I am constantly criticizing myself or wishing things were different? Follow-

up question: What if I make the most of what I have and use my strengths to my advantage,

and build on them consistently in other areas?

Think to yourself about which makes more sense to illicit high performance, given equal talent

ability:

Player A: Compares to others, constantly critiquing self and others, thinks new glove and bat

will make all the difference.

Player B: Consistently thinks about one’s own strengths and how he/she can use them to

empower self and others, constantly grateful for circumstances – both good and bad, knows

mindset, attitude, and effort make all the difference.

The truth is that player A and player B could theoretically be the same player, the only

difference is how they view their circumstances. One is grateful for what they have, one wishes

things were different.

90% Mental?

Here is the scary part (in a good way). Not only does gratitude positively affect our psychology,

it also affects our physiology in a major way. Those of you who are skeptical or don’t believe

in the mental game, start reading here. Our psychology and physiology are intimately

connected. How we think can affect how we feel, and how we feel can affect how we think.

The game is not 90% mental, as suggested by some. It is 100% mental, but also 100% physical,

if you will. Neither can happen without the other. Thus, if I’m constantly thinking negatively,

my body can’t produce the right endorphins that activate my muscles and joints to work as

quickly and efficiently as possible. In fact, the first two performance decrements we see in

someone who is stressed are loss of fine motor skills (physical) and critical thinking skills

(mental). 

Each of these is vitally important in our ability to execute on a baseball field.

Gratitude as a performance hack is awesome in and of itself. However, that’s not the only

reason I want you to use it. I don’t want it to be a tool. I want gratitude to be the lens or the

frame through which you see life. Gratitude is something we can embody. Gratitude can be

life-changing. The simple concept of appreciating what we have rather than wishing for

something different can transform our daily lives. By appreciating the people in foreign

countries making cents on the dollar to provide us with cars and baseballs and bats and food,

we get to play this beautiful game of baseball, to live a life of freedom. Freedom, my friends, is

where we find peak performance. Free of worries, of negative thoughts, of comparisons, of

stress, of technical swing cues. Freedom is where we find our flow. Freedom is where we just

play.

We Talkin’ ‘Bout Practice

Combining gratitude, which provides mental freedom, with physical training and preparation to

provide physiological freedom, we allow our minds and bodies to withstand higher levels of

stress and reach peak performance with more consistency. Just like physical skills, we must

also practice the skill of gratitude. This can be as simple or complex as we make it. It can be

starting our day by writing down one thing we are grateful for, it can be finding mid-day

stillness through breathing and meditation, or it can be journaling what you are grateful for at

night.

Reflection: What are you thankful for today? This week? This month? This year?

- Austin Hanson 

MindStrong's Mental Performance Coach