Since I am only counting the IA days, if I choose to jump rope and do RKC today it would not count as day 9. I have been making progress with my rope jumping skills. I am not on to double unders yet but I am up to a full minute of jumping without a break. That took me 20 minutes to achieve by the way. Not only that, it brought home a point that I will share with my girls today at gym about focusing on the wrong thing.
For ages I was focused on the jump, how high, which foot, together, one by one etc. and was having little success. It took me 20 minutes of constant work just to get 15 seconds and I must have restarted about 80 times. Â Then I decided that I would concentrate on the “SLAP” sound that the rope makes when it hits the ground in front of me and try to make it as loud as possible. As soon as I tried that, I made 45 seconds, then a minute within 2 attempts.
The point is that as much as you may think you are mentally in the game, it may be in fact that you are defeating yourself. All the belief in the world would not have made the difference to the degree that changing my focus made. To that end, when the girls are learning new skills it is important to not only bolster their confidence but also to try and have them focus on different pieces of the puzzle to find out what works for them. When it comes to physical activities, there are as many ways to do things as their are people, not because the physical move is any different but because what we choose to focus on makes our experience completely unique.
If you want to play a fun trick to see just how critical of a difference this makes and how it affects your brain grab a friend. Tell them to take a look around the room at everything that is green, what kind of green, what it is, how big etc. For 60 seconds let them study to room. Then, tell them to close their eyes and describe in detail everything in the room that is red.
It’s fun, and educational too! Just remember, what you focus on becomes your reality, so changing your perspective can often change your whole experience.