Blog Archives

To jump or not to jump…

16/1/2018

Many may be familiar with Mike Lewis when he was playing professional squash tournaments in Australia a few years ago. Mike has just released his new book, When to Jump: If the Job You Have Isn't the Life You Want.

The book is a compilation of individual stories about people who have made the “jump” to their dreams. Mike’s story might be about squash, but the essence of the book is about so much more than playing. We won’t spoil it for you, but we definitely can’t wait to finish reading it!

Learn more about Mike, his story, his company, When to Jump, and his book, here.

Support Mike by purchasing his book in print at your local bookstore or online at the following sites:

Below is an image of two pages from the book, which depict all of Mike’s travels while on the PSA tour. You never know where squash will take you!

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New Year, SMART Me

5/1/2018

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2018 is here! The New Year has just begun and that means one thing: New Year’s resolutions. Having a resolution is great since it is a goal and shows that you have been reflecting upon yourself.

Setting a GOAL is one thing, but ATTAINING a goal is another. Often, the biggest downfall in goal setting is failing to PLAN a pathway to SUCCESS!

We’ve all heard the classic cliché: a GOAL without a PLAN is just a DREAM.

Before going any further, let’s clarify that we are not talking about giving up chocolate as a goal… (That would be crazy as chocolate is too bloody delicious!)

A better goal would be to INCREASE your matrix points by 100 points over the next 4 years. We can break this down to just this year’s goal: increase your matrix by 25 points by the end of 2018…(or more correctly and specifically, December 31st, 2018).

We believe in using the SMART principles to help guide your goal setting and attaining.

Let’s break this down using an example. A common goal we hear is that people want to “be a better squash player” or “improve their skills”. By using the SMART principles as a guide, we can turn this “goal” into an ACHEIVABLE metric for the FUTURE.

S – Specific – The goal must not be fluffy, generic, or vague. Instead, try to make it as CONSICE and as straight-to-the-point as possible. For example, a fluffy goal would be “be a better squash player”, while we would recommend “increase my matrix rating”.

M – Measurable – There should be a concrete way to know whether or not you have achieved your goal. For example, to further improve the previous goal to “increase my matrix rating”, we would want to change it to “increase my matrix rating by 25 points”.

A – Attainable – On the other hand, you want to make sure you aren’t turning that goal back to a dream by thinking of something that can never be achieved. Making sure your goal is attainable will ensure that you continue to IMPROVE, find CONFIDENCE, and stay MOTIVATED. For example, the goal is not “to be the best player that ever lived”, but instead something that is you know is possible to achieve, like increasing your matrix rating by 25 points.

R – Realistic – It is possible for a goal to be attainable, but not realistic. Think about the time you have available to dedicate to your goal, the opportunities you give yourself to work towards your goal. For example, you may work a full time job and only play squash 2-3 times per week. Thinking about all of that, it is still definitely a realistic goal to “increase my matrix by 25 points”, but probably not to “be the best player that ever lived”.

T – Timely – To tie this all together, it is imperative that there is a set time frame on your goal that is again realistic and attainable. For example, the goal could be to “increase my matrix by 25 points by the end of the year (Dec 31, 2018)”, which gives a guideline of timing but isn’t as unrealistic as “increase my matrix by 25 points next week (Jan 10th, 2018)”.

Again, we started with a generic goal to “be a better squash player” and ended up with a SMART goal that is to “increase my matrix rating by 25 points by the end of the year (Dec 31, 2018)”. This allows you to direct your training (deliberate practice) for the next 12 months in a PRODUCTIVE and SPECIFIC way. Instead of just going on court to hit to “be a better a squash player”, your SMART goal creates a PURPOSE to everything you PURSUE in lieu of your goal!

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To jump or not to jump…

New Year, SMART Me

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