The Power of Yet!

This morning at 6 am in our weight room the power of yet was on full display.

It was our Week 5 Testing Day. In the span of 43 minutes the team set 41 personal records. While hard work and coaching (coach Guzzo was one proud strength coach) played a major factor in the massive improvement our team has made this spring, so did our mindset.

At the forefront of our mental strength is concept that we are always a work in progress so if we can't accomplish something we just think "not yet."

On our team if someone can't do a pull-up we don't give them a zero as a score. We give them a "NY" for not yet. It has become ingrained in our team culture and it is one of the most important things we do as coaches. The concept comes from Carol Dweck, the world-renowned Stanford University psychologist and author of Mindset.

While recapping their amazing morning in the gym some of our freshmen below mention the meaning of "not yet."

What Dweck found was that grades or scores, especially failing ones, have a sense of permanence. But the word "yet" gives hope and creates a mentality that the score they received was just their score at that moment in time. It is not their score for the rest of their lives. If they work hard they can grow and improve.

I recently took over a U11 girls club soccer team. Some are struggling with their juggling. They use phrases like "I can't" or "I'm not good at this." Anytime I hear these comments I always followed up with the word "yet."

After all whether we are trying to get our first pull-up, or working to become the best version of ourselves, we are all at some stage of "not yet."