The Power of What We Believe About Ourselves

Hi Coach,

Below you’ll find another newsletter. This one is again a bit more inward focused. I plan to dive into some more coaching specific content in the coming weeks.

In case you missed the update on the Cutting Edge Coaching content (and a brief update on my life during the past two years), you can read it here.

I hope these newsletters serve you on your coaching journey!

Best,

Luke Gromer, RYG Athletics

I have a confession.

For most of my life, part of my identity has been that “I’m just not a musical guy.”

At a young age, my parents offered me the opportunity, on multiple occasions, to take music lessons, but I always declined.

Probably unsurprisingly to all of you, the reason I always declined was because I just wanted to play sports.

But as I grew older and began to enjoy music more and saw many of my friends using their musical talents, I began to regret not taking my parents up on that offer (especially in light of the whole them paying for it part haha).

As I entered adulthood, I realized that one of my biggest regrets from childhood was not learning to play an instrument.

But honestly, even that realization didn’t change anything.

It wasn’t until I had my own children and began considering the qualities I wanted them to develop, and thus the qualities I knew I would have to model, that I decided to do something about it.

I want my own children (and the athletes I coach) to embrace a growth mindset, to love challenge, to become life-long learners, and to be willing to commit to the process of getting better something.

So, I decided I was actually going to model those things.

I asked my oldest son if he was interested in learning to play the piano and if he would like it if we took the lessons together.

He was all in on both ideas.

So this past Monday, we both sat down on the piano bench pictured below to learn to play the piano.

For me, it’s about changing my identity and modeling the mindset and behaviors I want to instill in my kids.

For my son, he’s just pumped up to be learning something new (and for the candy the teacher gives out at the end of the lesson).

We both had a blast.

I was more nervous going into it than he was, but I think that’s just because I had to get over those limiting beliefs that I’ve held for years

A quick side note, it was really fun to be coached/taught by someone in something. I think we as coaches would be well served to get coached more often.

The commitment of time and money has already shifted my identity. I’m now someone who plays the piano.

We’ll be going to lessons every Monday evening until mid-January, and we’ll both be doing our best to practice every day.

I’m not very good at playing the piano yet, but I let you know how far I get come January (my teacher told me she expects my son to fly by me haha).

Regardless of how skilled I do or do not become, I want to make a habit of learning new things and embracing doing hard things.

A few thoughts on how this could apply in your coaching or leadership context…

Thanks for reading, I hope this serves you on your journey.

To your growth,

Luke Gromer, RYG Athletics

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