The Be You Performance Model

        Over the past several years, I've dived into the field of sport psychology and performance in general.  With that has come a lot of time taking classes, reading books, watching sports, working with teams, talking with coaches and athletes, discussions with teachers, talking with others in the field of sport psychology...well, you get the picture.  Just as teachers and coaches of athletic teams evolve in their philosophies, so to have I as a Mental Performance Coach.  For me that is one of the coolest parts about growth in coaching or whatever we do.  If we don't look back every now and then and think to ourselves, "I can't believe how dumb I was to _______(insert dumbness here)," then we aren't doing it right.  I spent a great majority of the summer preparing for an expanded role at our school in working with teams and academic classes.  That meant a lot of brainstorming and reflection about what I believe as a practitioner.  In doing so I came up with a model I think encaptures what performance is about.  It's called the Be You Performance Model (BYPM), and the graphic below illustrates the model.

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       The Be You Performance Model centers around the concept of a neverending process of becoming your best self.  It's neverending because we never truly reach our potential.  There is always room for growth.  There's always some way to get better.  Too often we, as people and performers, waste time comparing ourselves to others.  We should instead be comparing ourselves to past versions of who we are.  A second part of Be You that connects and is of equal importance to self-growth is being confident in who we are as people and performers.  Being You means being yourself and knowing that who you are right now is capable of performing and enjoying.  It's authenticity.  Again, just an opinion, but I think this is a major separator for high performers and people who are able to really find joy in what they do.

        The Be You Model has three components that all work together to allow a performer to continue to striver for a best self.  Everything in the fields of sport psychology and performance can fit into one of or multiple components within the model.  The components are Know You, Show You, and Grow You.  Know You is about self-awareness. Know You is about diving deep down into yourself and seeing what you find.  It's recognizing one's strengths and weaknesses as a person and performer.  Then, it's about understanding how that relates to performance.  Show You is everything that goes into actual performance itself.  Show You is about being purposeful with what you can on game day, test day, performance day, etc. in hopes of achieving the results you're looking for.  Grow You is all about putting in effort to improve.  Again, we are never finished products.  Grow You is about purposefully discovering ways to improve AND putting in the necessary efforts to do so.  Ideally, the triangular cycle of Know You, Show You, and Grow You never ends.  There's always room for becoming an even better You.

        Everything we do within the Mental Performance Program at our school fits into the Be You Performance Model in one way or another.  Whether it's working with an algebra class on growth mindset, a volleyball team on communication, or a group of student-athletes on traits of a great captain, it all relates.  Is the model perfect?  Of course not.  To that end, I'd love any feedback you have to offer.  Feel free to reach out with any questions or comments at all.  Like the performers I 'm lucky enough to work with, I am constantly trying to improve as well-  I want to be my "Best You" and I'd love your help in doing so!