You don’t have to feel ready. You just have to get moving.
I’ll never forget waking up one morning during my second year of pro hockey feeling absolutely exhausted.
I had slept terribly.
I’d had bad dreams.
I regretted the unhealthy meal I’d eaten the night before.
My body was sore, my mind was foggy, and the absolute last thing in the world I wanted to do was go to the rink.
To make matters worse, we had lost all three games that weekend.
I already knew what was waiting for us.
A hard practice.
A bag skate.
Pain.
Every part of me wanted to stay in bed, pull the covers over my head, and pretend the day wasn’t happening.
But I got up.
I took a cold shower—even though I didn’t want to take a shower at all.
I got dressed, climbed into my car, and drove to the rink.
When I walked through the doors, I put a smile on my face.
I greeted the staff.
I greeted my teammates.
I got changed with a positive attitude.
That was the moment the entire day could have gone in one of two directions.
I could have sat in my stall complaining about how tired I was.
I could have bitched and moaned about being sore.
I could have stared at the floor, dreaded practice, and allowed my negative attitude to infect everyone around me.
Honestly, that’s exactly what my body and mind were telling me to do.
Sit down.
Veg out.
Don’t move.
Feel sorry for yourself.
Instead, I walked into the weight room.
I did my dynamic warm-up.
I stretched.
I rode the bike.
I got my body moving.
I did all the things I knew I was supposed to do—especially because I didn’t feel like doing them.
Then I got onto the ice early.
I took some shots.
I handled some pucks.
I started working.
And something incredible happened.
I ended up having a great practice.
By the time practice was over and I walked back into the locker room, I had completely forgotten how negatively the day had started.
The exhaustion was gone.
The dread was gone.
The bad attitude was gone.
Action had changed everything.
Remember this:
It doesn’t matter how you start your morning.
It matters how you finish your day.
Consistency isn’t having one great practice when you feel rested, motivated, and excited.
Consistency is showing up when you’re tired.
It’s preparing properly when you’d rather sit down.
It’s doing the uncomfortable things when nobody would blame you for taking it easy.
It’s finding a way to have a productive practice whether you woke up feeling great—or feeling terrible.
Because every time you do that, you are training more than your hands, your shot, or your skating.
You are training yourself to perform on command.
And when the biggest game of your season arrives, you won’t always feel perfect.
You may be tired.
You may be sore.
You may be nervous.
But if you’ve trained yourself to do the right things regardless of how you feel, you’ll be ready.
So no matter how you feel today…
Get moving.
Do the right things.
Get the work done.
And keep this hockey train rolling.
Knuckles up!
Bobby Robins, savage motivator, NHL Alum, Writer for Wraparound
P.S. It’s much easier to stay consistent when the right training tools are already waiting for you. Wraparound gives you everything you need to protect your stick, handle pucks, take shots, and get meaningful work done away from the rink.