or the time I did Get Sturdy wthi the Year 6s
For anyone who doesn’t have an 11-13 year old, Get Sturdy is a TikTok dance. My daughter, who is all about TikTok and dance, taught it to me recently. And unbelievably, I got it. Because it’s actually not dancing at all, but a series of single leg squats and hops.
So back to my story. I was doing some extra coaching at the school. But I’d been dreading it. It was about twenty Year 6 boys. And they can be loud. And they sometimes don’t listen. And I was starting a cold and feeling rubbish. I’d already decided I was gonna be Mean Chris and send them straight back to class if they misbehaved.
Anyhow, we were warming up and (as many of you know!) I often ask participants to suggest exercises or drills for the warm up. And that was it. Someone said Get Sturdy. And somehow it ended up with 20 kids doing this… And before I knew it, I was in it too and it had turned into a kindof last man standing!
Now , single leg squat hops are kindof my forte. In fact if you’ve been doing any bear extensions, or close stance squats, you’ll probably be pretty good at them too. Because it’s all quads!
And also (this will surprise you!) I’m kindof competitive. So I had to get involved. And I was good! And the year 6s were impressed: “How do you know Get Sturdy??” We all had some fun. I earned some kudos. And Mean Chris was gone.
Why am I telling you this?
A) I haven’t got anything else to write about
B) I just wanna brag, OK?
C) There’s a lesson in there.
Answer. All of the above. But let’s focus on C.
The lesson is this.
Your expectation will shape your experience.
If you’re expecting a class to misbehave, they almost certainly will. If you’re expecting an exercise class to suck, it will. If you’re expecting a piece of work to be hard and tedious, it will be.
In the moment the kid suggested Get Sturdy, my immediate reaction was “that’s not an athletics drill”. But I somehow let go of that rigid thought and allowed a bit of playfulness and fun. And as a result we all had a laugh, and the session went well.
Before that moment, I was expecting it to go badly and it probably was going to. Let’s face it, that’s why the kid suggested Get Sturdy instead of an actual drill!
Thing is, our expectations will shape our reality more often than we realise.
Our brains are “prediction machines”, steering us through life by generating expectations, and only revising them when unavoidable. These expectations play a vital role in shaping what we experience.
Loads of research shows that our perception of the world is influenced by our expectations. Good examples include the ‘placebo effect’ which you’ve all heard of. And also the ‘nocebo effect’ where participants experience drug side-effects such as nausea, dizziness or rashes, even though they’re only taking sugar pills.
The good news though is that our expectations can be managed. We can control our mood and mindset a lot more than we think we can. It’s quite simple actually.
Consistent, repeated messaging becomes truth in our minds. And if you can back that messaging with facts and evidence then you’re onto a winner.
For example, if you’ve decided to start eating more healthily, you have a choice. You can choice to focus on the new recipes you will try, the benefits you will feel, the money you will save but not eating takeaways.
Or you can expect it to feel hard, focus on the things you can no longer have and expect to feel hungry and unsatisfied… Guess which option is going to be more successful?
Mindset is fundamental to everything.
So harnessing the power of our own expectations is key to success in our careers, business, health and sporting achievements.
And it may be as important as genes, luck or talent in determining our success!
And even better news is that we can control it!
