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That leads to an internal struggle, because to be right means we can feel smart and safe. It’s easy. It allows the mind to be clear of any potential negative self-talk. It allows us to continue to play with pride and to play without second-guessing our style, our methods, or our pre-game approach. But this is also why over-relying on the feeling of being right can be so dangerous for a goaltender. Over-relying on the feeling of being right is an unreliable guide for what takes place in the world around us. It causes us to stop considering the idea that we could be wrong about certain things, and that does even more damage as we strive to develop our skills and reach the higher levels. Further damage stems from behavioral patterns such as trying to ignore obvious mistakes, not being honest with what you see when getting good feedback, not listening to good technical advice during summer camps, and ignoring internal feedback from our bodies when we’re training. Again, this is a huge emotional, mental, and even a major social problem for us goaltenders. Some of us may be more than willing to be honest with ourselves. Others may struggle. Regardless of where we rest on that scale, in order to get our minds to open up and be even more honest, we must think for a moment what it feels like to be right. It means our goaltending beliefs perfectly reflect reality in whatever situation we experience or imagine. When that happens, we have a problem to solve. How do we explain this to someone who happens to disagree with us, like our goalie coach or someone who has more experience and knowledge than we do? Do we assume or believe the person is ignorant and will eventually “see the light” and agree with our right way of thinking? Do we believe the person has the information to understand, but is just too dumb to realize we’re right? Do we believe the person is actually quite intelligent, but we deliberately hide this for our own negative purpose? Right in this very moment, be honest with yourself. Break the chains that bind your righteous mind and reflect on these experiences you may have had. This is important, because the only way we can learn to change our habitual thinking patterns is to acknowledge or come to terms with the fact that we may have been wrong. This attachment to righteousness keeps us from being honest, not only with our own game, but how we manage and process our daily lives. In some instances, it may even cause us to treat our teammates, coaches, and friends poorly. We may become prone to turning others away, we may segment and isolate ourselves, and we may even create a dangerous rift in the chemistry of our team. This may also destroy our ability to be open-minded and coachable students. And while we are not bad people for thinking we are almost always right, it is important to realize that we can no longer expect our minds and our eyes to be perfect “windows” that always see things the right way. Just because we describe events as we see them does not mean that’s how we should expect everyone else to observe and process those same events. In conclusion, what makes being wrong so right is this: The most amazing part of our goaltending mind isn’t that we can see the game and our abilities as they are, but that we can learn to see these things as they aren’t. We must accept the times when we are wrong, because it is through the realization of being wrong that the learning process can truly take place. To hammer home this lesson, reflect upon that last paragraph. Make it even more poignant by reflecting on a famous quote by Rene Descartes – one you’ve likely heard before. “I think, therefore I am.” By merely thinking, you exist. It’s a great quote that lays the foundation for many spiritual and psychological ideals. But a few hundred years before Descartes discussed the idea of his own existence, a man by the name of St. Augustine said: “Fallor ergo sum.” That means, “I err, therefore I am.” Some of us learn this lesson of being honest with our own game quicker than others. But the elite goaltender is always open to the idea that they may be making wrong decisions, wrong choices, or bad reads. Even when they have mastered the technical side of the position, they are never afraid to admit their mistakes. So the sooner we can achieve this type of mental approach, the sooner we will begin to improve our game and our ability to gain self-awareness as a student of the position. We must come to understand that our capacity to make incorrect reads and other various mistakes is not an embarrassing defect or a sign that we’re a bad goaltender. Instead, realize that it’s fundamental to who we are, because we really don’t always know what’s right, and we don’t always play the perfect game. Instead of having an obsession with trying to be right all the time, we should focus on figuring out what we did wrong, and how we can do the wrong things the right way. This is the root of creativity and productivity, and it is how we can continue to be constantly-evolving formulas for future athletic greatness. Furthermore, we can’t be afraid to make mistakes. Instead, we must realize that it’s only human to be scared of the feeling of being wrong. Once we come to terms with that, humility will set in and our sense of pride will fall by the wayside. This will make us better students, better learners, and better goalies. At the end of the day, every game we lose, every goal we allow, and every mistake we make tells the same story over and over again. “I thought this was going to happen, but this other thing happened instead.” This is life as an evolving goaltender; it is a fundamental aspect of the position and it will never cease to exist. So for good or for bad, we must embrace the experiences where we thought we did something right, but the chaotic game of hockey suddenly alters reality and proves that what we did was totally wrong. For I have learned that all elite goaltenders are capable of taking a big step away from that secure feeling of righteousness. In doing so, they have the situational awareness to look at the complexity of the position with the ability to say these simple words: “You know what? I honestly don’t know why I did that. Maybe I was wrong.”