Personally, I'm not a huge social media person. I have all the accounts and use them occasionally, but it's usually for finding up to date information rather than post about myself.
This is especially true for Twitter, for me. It's a great way to follow other coaches, learn from them, and stay up to date on highlights and other current events going on in the world.
I came across a post a few weeks back that perfectly summed up my beliefs and a lot of what I talk about on this blog, focusing only on things that you can control.
The picture above sums this up perfectly.
It's almost like a two step process you should be asking yourself when thinking about things.
1. Does it matter?
2. Can you have any control over it?
If you can answer "YES" to both of those questions then it's worth your time, effort, and energy.
On the flip side, if you answer "NO" to either one of those questions, then stop wasting your energy.
I see this a lot in hockey these days. Players get so caught up in so many different things and worrying about so many different things that they lose focus of what really matters.
Ice time is the first example that immediately comes to mind for this.
The reality is that if you're playing, and you're competitive, that you probably want more ice time. Even the guys that are on the top line and play a ton have thoughts about how they think they should get an additional shift or two. Trust me, I've been there as a player too...
With that being said, if we use the diagram and ask ourselves the questions above that should help us come to an answer:
Does it matter? Yes
Do we have control over it? No
So that should lead us to the conclusion that you need to stop wasting so much energy thinking about how you're being short shifted and focus on the things that you can control.
Now, I know that there are probably people that disagree with that last paragraph and would say that as a player you do control your ice time.
In a sense you're right, in that most decisions about ice time are earned based on merit. In other words, if you play really well, have a good attitude, are a good teammate, are effective, and are producing for your team you're probably going to play more.
I would agree with that. However, you still don't have complete control over your shifts and your ice time. That's your coaches job.
You may be lighting it up and having a great game, but your coach might like a specific match up later in the game and decide to use someone else for a particular situation. Ultimately, it's your coaches responsibility to do what they feel is best for your team.
Like I said earlier, this is just an example that I see all the time as a coach.
In my experience, the best players are the ones that are able to identify the things that really matter and focus all their energy into that.
Use the simple process outlined in the picture above and watch yourself become a more consistent player.