Do you ever feel as though you don’t have enough time to play as much hockey as you would like and wish that you had more time to work on your game? Maybe you feel like you are trying so hard to improve but getting into a higher team just isn’t happening…
I know what it’s like when you are busy at school, studies or work and you are trying to fit your training in around everything else that is happening in your life. You land up getting frustrated and going round in circles, trying harder and getting more frustrated.
We all have the same amount of time; 24 hours in a day, so how do some people manage to do well in school/studies or have a successful career whilst also making top teams? Not only does research prove that this is often the case with successful people but I also speak from experience and I can tell you that it is possible to do well in both, without sacrificing either.
Finding the time – how do others do it?
The answer is… it comes down to your priorities and being productive with your time. If hockey is important to you then you will make the time for it. I managed to train and play at international level whilst also working 12 hour days! It’s not easy, but it’s possible, anything is possible if it’s important to you…
Now I am not saying that school and studies are not important, what I am suggesting is that maybe you are not spending your time wisely. What if you spent the same amount of time on your hockey that you are right now (maybe even less) but you became more efficient with your time. What if you worked on things that will make a difference to your game, like your mindset for example instead of doing what you think everyone else is doing (practicing skills 24/7) to get into these top teams?
Think about exactly what you do in a typical 24 hour day versus what you actually get done. What do you accomplish?
Here’s an example: You may be at school/work for 8 hours per day (incl travel time), sleep for 8 hours, 1 hour for homework, 2 hours for hockey/sport, 1 hour for getting ready in the morning including breakfast, 1 hour for dinner and downtime. That leaves you with another 3 hours per day to spare… what are you doing with that precious time?
If you have been following the Hockey Performance Academy for a while, you will know that my mission is to help as many hockey players around the world that I have time for. I want to make you realise what is actually possible, to show you what you could be doing to improve your game in the time that you have and to teach you about the things that hold people back from reaching their goals.
I want to equip hockey players with the best armory of tools to give them the best chance at success, whatever your goal is.
Finding your motivation
Can you answer straight away why you really play hockey and what you want to get from it? Think deeper than just enjoyment!
It often takes some time and deep thinking to come up with an answer. Eventually you 
will probably come up with something along the lines of: It gives me confidence in everything I do, I want to prove to myself what I can do or I want to show others how far I can go. Maybe you just want to inspire others so that they want to become like you.
A lot of people love playing hockey, normally because they are quite good at it but most people don’t admit what they are actually striving for deep down, not even to themselves.
Every teenager wants to play for their country, think of the players that inspire you when you watch the Olympics, World Cups and the Commonwealth games on the tv. They just wanted to get there more than others and never gave up because they were motivated.
You too could be playing at the Olympics… if you really truly want to! But often we are our own worst enemy.
The problem is that most people don’t decide to give it 100% effort and commitment. Now, the reason why a lot of people don’t commit themselves to reaching the top level is because they don’t truly believe that it will happen. I can tell you that without a bit of belief, motivation and commitment, it won’t happen as these are some of the key factors which you need to push you ahead of everyone else, especially when you go through the bad times.
If you feel like you are trying everything you can but not getting very far then I can assure you there is a more effective way to move forward than what you are doing at the moment.
What could be stopping you from progressing further in your hockey?
From experience it is likely to be either of these:
1. Fear of failure or worried about not being selected and being judged by others – this is cribbling and causes you to go inside yourself!
2. A lack of confidence and belief in your ability – you must be able to stand on your own two feet!
3. Thinking you’re good enough already and not doing enough to stay ahead – you can’t rely on natural talent for long, I promise you!
4. Lack of knowing exactly what to do to give yourself the best chance – knowledge is power but only if you actioning the right things!
5. Blaming everything else and not being accountable for your actions – most people are guilty of this and often don’t realise it!
6. You think you are already working as hard as you can and choose to deny that you are not working as effectively as you could be.
Now think about this… if you have known about the HPA for more than a week, then why haven’t you booked your FREE strategy session yet? Is it out of fear, lack of confidence, maybe you don’t realise what it could do for you or perhaps you think I don’t know what I’m talking about?
Maybe you have thought about getting in touch but something stopped you… Whatever has stopped you is probably also holding you back in your hockey… and it will continue to hold you back from reaching your goals in the next 5-10 years and beyond, in every area of your life.
I have spoken to lots of hockey players and every single one of them have found the free session with me extremely helpful, so the chances are that I can help you move forward in some way, you just have to bite the bullet and put your hand up to be counted.
“I am too busy” is an excuse that I hear all the time…
As I said before we all have the same hours in the day and it has never been a problem for those that I work with that go on to be very successful.
It doesn’t even matter where you are in the world because modern technology makes that easy. In order to take part in the free session with me, all I ask for is ONE HOUR of your time so that I can understand more about how I can help you to that I can give you more personalised advice, I can even give you suggestions on how to make better use of your time if you want.
Don’t focus on the things that are not getting you anywhere, instead ask for guidance from someone who knows exactly what you need to be doing, in order to achieve your goals.
Recognise what is stopping you in every area of your life… and then do something about it!
If you have been too scared to get in touch because maybe you are shy, not confident, you have some kind of fear, you think you don’t have time, maybe you think that I can’t help you or whatever other excuses you are telling yourself, then… STOP IT!
Your chance to get in touch so you can move forward
If you would like some great advice on how to improve your hockey and make a higher team then let’s hop on skype or facetime and I would be happy to point you in the right direction. If you don’t have either of those, you can just download skype from www.skype.com or as an app on your ipad or smart phone, it’s free and easy to use.
I sometimes get asked if I can do a free session via email. My answer is no I cannot do “calls” over email because I need to speak to you to understand where you are at mentally and I also want to ask you some key questions to help identify how to help you to move forward. The mentoring techniques that I use to help people strongly rely upon the way that you respond to the things I am going to ask you, so it needs to be done this way to be effective.
Jump out of your comfort zone and don’t miss out on this opportunity because you are too scared or don’t know what to expect.
The next step is to: Click here to request a free strategy session with me
Then keep an eye on your email and reply back with the time that best suits you to have a chat – this blog/message has gone out to thousands of people and spaces are extremely limited, so do it now before I am fully booked up. Have no regrets!
