Lanny Bassham is a world-class rifle shooter.
He won silver in the 1972 Olympics and gold in the 1976 Olympics. He is now a coach, and he teaches his elite performers to ask three questions when they fail to achieve their goals, perform poorly, or reach an aspiration.
The 3 questions are:
1. “What did I do well?”
2. “What did I learn?”
3. “How will I get better?”
We win, or we learn!
My son engages in competitive activities, and to be expected, he doesn’t always win. Sometimes, he argues with reality. To help him reframe the events, I always say, “You win, or you learn.”
- What did you do well? Maybe the only thing you did well was show up. Congratulations! You showed up.
- What did you learn? You can always learn something.
- How will you get better? How will you train differently? Create an IF-THEN (If x, then I will y) plan to counter that obstacle.
