Inside my own mindset training
The opening night of Taylor Swift's Eras Tour started the toughest stretch of my life.
My wife, my daughter and I had flown from Toronto to Glendale so my wife, her sister, and her niece could go see the show. But my wife and daughter weren't coming back to Toronto with me when it ended.
We were going to kick off a month of being apart while I finished up the season and a 4-month stretch that saw me fly back and forth between Toronto and Tucson more than 30 times, including one stretch of 21 trips in 30 days.
This stretch was torturous in 2 ways.
First, I was missing my family. My daughter was barely 9 months old.
The only way I could consistently interact with her was sending her videos like this (try not to judge how run-down I look and sound):
Second, I was about to leave my dream job and I hadn't told anyone about it.
(I suppose a third was the amount of time I spent on planes, but I’ve sufficiently suppressed that part).
Both of these required a tremendous amount of mindset work - with myself.
Here’s how I got through it:
Maintained my routine. I stayed consistent with exercise, sleep, good nutrition, and other things that help me, like learning.
Stayed connected. I worked hard to make sure I didn’t spend too much time sitting around by myself, which meant more time at the office with friends I was about to leave.
Broke the time into goals and milestones. Marathons are run one mile at a time. I just broke this stretch into smaller chunks and gave myself goals to focus on each time.
Focused on how this could make me better. When things get hard, one of my personal strategies is to look for the opportunity to improve some aspect of myself.
Practiced gratitude. I’m lucky to have a family that loves me, a roof over my head, good food, and supportive friends.
It was a pretty simple formula looking back, but without it I doubt I would’ve made it through functioning at the level I did.
Thankfully, this story ends well. We reunite in late summer and start the next chapter of our lives, each in a much better position to be successful than we’d been just months before.
None of it ends well without a strong mental game, though.
Part of the value in mindset training is the benefits it provides outside the arena. If you do the work before you need it, your mind will be ready and resilient when it’s toughest.
Today’s goal for you is simple: just do some training.