Preparing for the Draft / What is Coaching?

My recent thoughts and honest feelings

How is everyone doing?

I am doing well🌱

I have been spending a long time at my parents' house for the first time since the pandemic, and I am having a very enjoyable time😌

That said, since there is the draft, I basically train at the gym in the morning on weekdays, and in the afternoon, I either move for an hour or two at a gym near my house or participate in practice at Minami High School!

For the seven years I played in the W League,
my parents' house was a place where I could rest both my body and mind, so when I first decided to participate in the draft, honestly, I didn't feel like moving my body at all😅

Whether it was going to training or going to the gym,
I had to drag myself there, "somehow, really somehow"😇

But recently, I have gotten quite used to this life!
I have (hopefully) learned well over seven seasons the importance of building my body during this time, so I am working on various things while remembering what I have done so far.

……Having said that, most days I still think, "This is such a hassle" haha

I think I feel that way precisely because I have the option to choose "not to do it."
When I'm on a team, even if it's a hassle, I do it! Everyone is there when I go! I have no choice but to do it!
In a way, I think that was a kind of happiness.

Coaching that I'm glad I did

But, at times like that, what I really feel glad I did is—

coaching!

What kind of image do you have of coaching?
At first, I also wondered, "What will they teach me?"

But "being taught" isteaching.
Coaching is,

something where you run alongside a coach to find the answers within yourself
—I hope you can think of it that way.

Towards your goals or the "person you want to become," you find out "what you should do" through dialogue with your coach, think for yourself, decide, and take action.
Supporting that is what I believe coaching is.

I have received coaching from two people for a total of one year so far.
It is no exaggeration to say that that experience changed my life.

During that year, I had so many realizations about myself.

Things like, "I have this habit of thinking this way,"
"This might be influenced by my childhood experiences,"
"I've been denying myself this much..."

There is no end to self-awareness, and I still have new discoveries even now.

In fact, I am currently deepening my learning at an online school so that I can also provide coaching as a coach.
I strongly feel that the answers are always within me.😌
(I'll write about this in more detail another time.)

To get closer to the person I want to be

"Setting a goal, clarifying what needs to be done, and working on it" seems easy at first glance, but—
Actually doing it is really tough!

Moreover, doing that by yourself every day is harder than you can imagine.😅
I seriously worry about whether to go to training every day or just quit (lol).

At times like that, what I do is "visualize."
As vividly as possible.

"The person I want to be"
"The environment around that version of me"
"The expressions of the people I'm with"
"How I feel when I've become the person I want to be"

When I do that, I get the feeling of "Let's gooooo!"
That is also one of the important "techniques" I learned from coaching.

Things you are forced to do by others don't last long.
But I think things you decide to do yourself are learned much faster.

And by achieving the things I decided to do one by one, it builds trust in myself and leads to confidence.

I felt that by first clarifying what I wanted to become, what I needed to do also became clear.

Even so, there are of course days when I can't do it.
In those times, my past self would just keep denying myself, but... now I want to speak kindly to myself no matter what.☺️

Words I cherish

With that said, the draft is almost here.

There are words someone told me that I often recall before a match.

"You won't suddenly get better overnight.
There's no point in worrying about things that haven't happened.
You don't have to try to do it perfectly. Think about what's right in front of you simply. If you just do what's in front of you one by one in your own Rui-like way, the results will follow."

I think these will be the words I always tell myself before matches or when I'm nervous from now on.

Finally

I'm sure I'll be nervous in the environment of my first draft, but I'll do my best to accept and acknowledge that version of myself, and give it my absolute best effort!

I'm also thinking of writing about how I felt and what it was like during the draft 💫

Thank you for reading this far♪
Let's make sure to tell ourselves at the end of the day today, 'You did a great job, well done' 💫