I know we are all sick of hearing about Covid and its effects on our lives, but I wanted to touch on the things that many of us may have learned this year. Listening to Dr. Cindra Kamphoff’s podcast recently titled, “High Performance Mindset,” her guest Morris Morrison continuously referred to Covid 19 as “Coach Covid.” Morrison is the CEO of StoryMaker Brands and the author of his latest book, “Disrupt Yourself.”
His analogies for 2020 were very eye opening talking about how Coach Covid benched him this year. He had to cancel many speaking engagements and traveling while also trying to keep his business alive. He then goes into details about what he was able to learn while “sitting the bench.”
During a competition, your coach may sit you on the bench for various reasons whether you are not performing well, you are getting caught up in your emotions, or you simply need a breather. No matter the reason, sitting on the bench is supposed to be an opportunity for you to look from the outside in to see what changes you can make as an athlete or competitor in order to help yourself or your team succeed.
I think all of us have this feeling that we were benched in 2020 because of Covid 19. If you are feeling that way, reflect on what you learned over this past year. Did you take on a new appreciation for time with your family? Did you begin appreciating a job that you were previously taking for granted? Did you make some changes to help your overall wellbeing whether it was a change in your nutrition, activity level, sleep schedule, etc.?
When we spend time on the “bench,” it is ultimately up to us to figure out the lessons that are to be learned. Similar to being benched in a competition, we do not necessarily have control over our coach’s actions or decision to put us on the bench. However, we can absolutely control how we handle that situation.
The good news about being benched during competitions is that most of the time you have the ability to figure out the lesson before your next competition. This year when your athletic schedule or training program may have changed, what are some things that Coach Covid taught you? Did you begin some personal training routines where you were motivating yourself instead of being around other people? Did you have more time to focus on a particular skill that you were wanting to master?
As this year comes to a close and many of us are wishing for 2020 to leave and never return, I encourage you to think about some ways that this year has allowed you to grow as an individual, as an athlete, as a parent, etc.
What are your takeaways from Coach Covid?