It’s something that can be taught.
If a coach or scout ever refers to you as the X factor on a team, you’re in a pretty good spot. But what exactly is an X factor? More importantly, how do you become one?
An X factor is a player who brings something to a team that goes beyond skill, stats, or talent. It’s a player who rises above what is expected. And through that rise, the entire team gets better because of them. The X factor becomes the catalyst.
So that explains what an X factor player is. But what exactly is the actual X factor?
It’s not hard work.
It’s not talent.
It’s not skill.
A lot of players have those traits. Especially at the higher levels. Everyone trains hard. Everyone works. Everyone does the right things.
But when you watch a truly special player, someone who changes the energy of a game or lifts the level of everyone around them, that player possesses something deeper.
The X factor is belief.
The player who becomes the X factor possesses the X factor of belief.
Read that sentence again.
Then think about your own hockey journey.
It all comes down to belief. Belief in yourself. Belief in your teammates. Belief in your coaches. Belief that when the big moment comes, you can make it happen.
Some players naturally have this belief. Others have to build it.
The way you build it is by doing all the right things on and off the ice. Putting in the work. Getting in the gym. Shooting pucks in the driveway. Staying disciplined when nobody is watching.
But there’s another part of it that people don’t talk about enough.
You have to think the right thoughts.
Your mind matters.
If your thoughts are filled with doubt, fear, and insecurity, it will show in your game. But if your thoughts are filled with belief and vision and confidence, eventually your actions begin to follow.
The imaginations in your mind should be of YOU succeeding.
YOU making the team.
YOU scoring the goal.
YOU making the save.
YOU winning the battle.
That’s the X factor.
So starting today, become very aware of the thoughts you think about yourself.
To become the X factor, you must think X factor thoughts.
Knuckles up,
Bobby Robins, savage motivator, NHL Alum, writer for Wraparound