The Striver band is a Self Management tool. It can be used in many different ways and for many different reasons. A few impactful ways we suggest using the Striver Band is for self regulation, reset triggers and pre-event anchors.
What is Self Regulation?
Self-regulation is the ability to understand and manage your own behaviour and reactions. It helps people learn, behave well, get along with others and become independent. Self-regulation begins to develop rapidly in the toddler and preschool years however it continues to develop into adulthood.
Self-regulation is control, of oneself, by oneself
We also look to self-regulation within performance. We know we can only control what we do and we can only influence everything else. When we get distracted from controlling ourselves in the moment, we need to reset and self-regulate.
Self-regulation is important in performance as it allows us to pause (when possible), centre or ground ourselves, evaluate the situation and then action the appropriate steps from a potentially non-emotionally compromised perspective, back to the process.
Why use a Striver Band for Self Regulation?
The Striver Band is a useful resource for reminding you of your current state and triggers you to begin your regulation process.
You need a trigger that can be visible during your performance without being distracting.
Because of your potential emotionally compromised state, you may not notice when your thoughts, actions and behaviours are negatively impacting your performance and getting in the way of your desired outcome. By having this visual trigger, you can be better placed to notice your current state and act upon it.
You can also use the bands to trigger positive self talk or imagery going into your performance. Sometimes we can get caught up in the moment (Media responsibilities, fans, delays) and forget our pre-event routine so having the visual stimuli to remind us to focus can really help performance.
Unfortunately you can't always have Colin Montgomerie telling you to focus. So a Striver Band can help.
The Reset Trigger
The reset trigger is the moment when we increase our self-awareness in the current situation and re-engage on the process.
The England national rugby union team developed their own team reset trigger which was the word T-CUP.
T-CUP stood for Thinking Correctly/Calmly Under Pressure.
At any point in a fixture, players would be shouting out the trigger word T-CUP.
This would get players refocused on the process which they believed would help them to win the game.
Last 10 minutes in the world cup semi final and its a close game with a few turn overs and increased unforced errors. “T-CUP!!!” everyone refocuses on the process which would give them a good chance to perform well and win the game. Each player would interpret T-CUP in their own context however it was consistent in getting the players to remove themselves from the emotion, pressure and anxiety of the game and centre themselves back into their process. (The Pressure Principle - Dr Dave Alred MBE)
Other moments the reset trigger has been useful include:
A unintended bad shot in golf
A bad tackle in a game which results in a red card.
A hostile fan
A goal scored
A goal conceded.
The reset trigger can be a word, colour, object or phrase that you can lean on to refocus your mind and energy.
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