How can we drive improvement in ourselves and the work we do when we’re already working at maximum capacity? Or what we think is maximum capacity…
JFL recently attended an event hosted by Will Fraser (ex-Saracen, European and Premiership winner) on his educational venture, The Saracens Way. The Saracens Way takes the mentality, culture and values of Saracens, both on and off the field and applies them to all aspects of life to drive improvement.
Will went through what Brendan Venter, the new coach, changed when he joined the club so we could gain a unique insight into how Saracens transformed from a chronically underachieving organisation to double European and four-time Premiership champions.
Will went on to say that it wasn’t about running faster or hitting harder that increased the team’s performance, but instead about changing things off the pitch that resulted in an increased performance. Examples he gave were going for a beer after training to truly get to know his team mates to create 6th sense feeling between them all on the pitch. They would all continue their diets and post workout rehab at home to stay in elite condition and avoid future injuries. These little changes made all the difference in performance and have gone on to create a legacy each and every one of those Saracen’s players can be proud of.
The David Allen story
David Allen is currently, let’s face it, an underachieving heavyweight boxer. He really doesn’t take himself seriously as a professional athlete, including clowning around at official weigh ins or challenging people’s parents for a fight over social media. Allen is also known for taking fights on weeks or even days’ notice against opponents seen to be far more superior boxers than himself. On 28th July 2018, Allen shocked the UK by knocking out unbeaten heavyweight and future champion hopeful, Nick Webb.
This shock win woke something up inside Allen and has resulted in him taking on a similar approach to The Saracens Way and changing aspects of his life to improve his boxing performance. He began with the small things like waking up earlier and then transcended into bigger changes like taking more advice and sticking to and controlling his diet. These may be small obvious changes, but this discipline has led to Allen winning his last 2 fights and headlining a fight with former world champion, Lucas Browne at the O2 in London on 20th April 2019.
If Allen can continue to stay disciplined, positive and driven, then he will truly be on track to fight for championships and create a legacy for future generations to be inspired by.
So, take a step back and look at the little things you can change in your life that you know will yield positive results. We can always be better.
Images courtesy of;
https://talksport.com/sport/boxing/405049/fans-react-feel-good-boxing-story-dave-allen/
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