Some teachers teach kids by way of putting up charts in the class and giving stars to kids who reach a goal or accomplishment. Well, maybe not in today's world where a teacher would get yelled at by a parent for making little Billy feel inferior, but it's something they used to do.
One thing I've learned to do in pickup is to identify my overall hangups and learn how to address them. Not things like "what do I say in set while I'm in comfort, yadda yadda..." That stuff is minor compared to the bigger picture.
I've got a number of hangups, just like we all do, that drag me down overall. And lately, I've just identified another hangup that encompasses them all. After identifying an issue, then addressing it, I tend to get lazy and stop addressing it. It's like when a person goes on a diet, loses a ton of weight, then forgets that diet and goes back into their old habits. And I use that example because it is one of mine specifically (although I've never gone back to my max weight from three years ago, which would require a whole new wardrobe at this point.)
So, I made a list of five goals that I constantly struggle with, and made an simple excel chart.
Simple - Green means I accomplished it, Red means I didn't and yellow means partially.
Now, I've only done this for less of a week, but I'm already noticing a difference. Some goals are easier for me than others, but if I start seeing more red, it's going to make me want to find ways of getting more green.
Like Goal #4 for me, that has to do with my cleaning of my place. It's something I've always struggled with, and not only does it hurt me game-wise, it brings me down overall. So, after seeing what I didn't do that last few days, it made me realize that I need to get off my ass and do something about it. Also, if I score some red boxes that day, I know an easy way to make some green boxes.
Like I said, this is elementary, and these might as well be replaced with gold stars on construction paper in my room, but don't think you're above having to do this kind of thing for yourself. Studies have shown that our brains are wired to focus on that around us which we find good, and ignore that which we don't. For some, it gets to the point where we've ignored it for so long, we can't change it unless we take drastic measures (thus, the reason why we came to a board like this in the first place).
