Six Seconds at a Time – Another Key to Mental Toughness

posted on: December 7, 2012
author: Brian Lomax, Ed.D.

In sports, we hear phrases such as “one point at at time” or “one play at a time” so often that they become cliches and lose their meaning.  That’s unfortunate because the underlying message is valuable – focus for a short period of time, reset, and then focus for a short period of time again.

James Franklin, Head Football Coach at Vanderbilt University, preaches a different version of these cliches that is resonating with his football team this season – “six seconds at a time.”  I like this because it’s even more specific than one play or one snap at a time.  It gives your mind a clear boundary for how much time you’re expecting to focus and it’s something you can easily practice.

In this video from Vanderbilt’s last regular season football game versus Wake Forest, you can see Coach Franklin using this mantra with his team.  The belief in the eyes of his players is evident.  They’ve bought in to what he’s saying.  Near the conclusion of the video, Franklin reads some of the accomplishments of this team and notes that these statistics are a result of their hard work all season.  “Six seconds at a time” works and by trusting their coach, the players have proved it to themselves and to the world.

In every sport, there is some small part of the game or small period of time in which we can bring intense focus.  Find that small part of your game and focus intensely in that period.  Then reset/recover and focus intensely again.  Repeat this process over and over and over.  You’ll be amazed at what this does for you.