Griff Cady

Every athlete changes clothes before a game. The best ones also change their mindset. I once worked with a Major League baseball player who was struggling to separate an off-field situation from his performance. Together, we designed a system he ended up calling his, “Mental Locker.” As he changed out of his street clothes and into his uniform, he added one more step. He opened a journal, turned to a clean page, and wrote down everything on his mind that he didn’t want to focus on during the game—family issues, financial stress, even simple things like grocery shopping or ticket requests. He brain-dumped it all. When he finished, he’d look at the page and tell himself, “I’ll pick this up after the game.” Nothing was ignored or buried; it was simply set aside. And with that, he stepped onto the field lighter, clearer, and fully locked in. After the game, when he got back into his street clothes, he gave himself permission to pick everything on his list back up, and he re-engaged as a dad and husband. In the end, the mental locker wasn’t about writing things down; it was about giving himself permission to be fully present where it mattered most.