Mental Toughness Tools

This message is simple and to the point.

Every competition has a winner. It doesn’t matter the weather, officiators, rules, regulations or any other condition. Someone is going to stand on top of the podium; it might as well be you.

It would be nice to have it all come together to create the perfect scene. A football team would love to have the home team advantage and play the top athletes who are all free of injuries and in perfect game shape. A golfer would welcome a course with fast greens and zero wind for the entire tournament. An Alpine ski racer might prefer a specific course set, snow conditions and starting position to help them compete.

It doesn’t matter what conditions you want. What matters is how you’re going to react to the conditions you get.

Muhammad Ali’s boxing trainer, Angelo Dundee, said “there are positive and negative thoughts and hey, it doesn’t cost you a cent more to think positively.”

Choosing to think positively will gain you a competitive edge. When your opponents are complaining about the adverse competitive conditions, you can identify the factors that can help you perform.

Positive thoughts lead to positive actions. Positive actions lead to a positive performance. A positive performance leads to a gold medal around your neck.

Call to action

The next time you practice and compete, take the time you spend suiting up and getting ready to also think positively. Think about the factors that will help you perform to the best of your ability. If nothing else, think about this: someone’s going to win today; it might as well be you!

ps. remember to leave a comment and share your thoughts and suggestions

I have been consulting with an athlete (her pseudo name is Tanya) for the last 10 months to help her earn an athletic scholarship. She has put forth tremendous effort to improve the skills required of her to perform optimally in her sport. She has also worked very smart to increase her physical condition and release some unnecessary weight.

Last week, during our consulting session, Tanya was disappointed in herself because she had gained some weight back. Through our discussion, it became clear to Tanya that one of the reasons she was not able to maintain her new weight was that she was experiencing living in a new body and was unsure how to cope with it. Although Tanya wanted to release the weight for her health and to improve her performance on the field, she confessed that it felt weird and uncomfortable to feel the way she did.

Many people who achieve their goals experience a fear of success.  Athletes spend numerous hours training and working smart to achieve their goals. Some of them never really take the time to prepare for when their smart work begins to a pay off. What will they do to maintain their new level of performance? What will they do to become comfortable with their new mind and body? When these preparations doe not take place, the athletes are in unfamiliar territory and can perceive that as fearful. Consequently, to eliminate the fear, they resort back to their old behaviors

Tanya and I spent the rest of our consultation session focusing on three things: (1) the action steps required to achieve her goals, (2) the action steps required to maintain the results she has achieved and (3) the action steps to help Tanya become comfortable in her new mind and body.

One way to help Tanya look forward to realizing her goals, instead of being fearful of them, was to focus on the positive aspects. She needed to be reminded of how great she would feel and how confident she would become when she achieved her goals. She needed to focus on the enjoyment associated with her new behaviors. It was going to be fun to put on clothes and realize they were too big for her. She was going to be a role model and leader when she chose the piece of fruit instead of the piece of chocolate at lunch with her friends. Tanya also needed to prepare for the compliments she was going to receive from friends and family. Instead of perceiving them to be stressful she needed to perceive the comments as positive reinforcement.

Call to Action

Prepare for when you achieve your goals? What will you do to maintain your new level of performance? What will you do to become comfortable with the ‘new you’?

P.S. Leave a comment to tell me what you think or if you have any questions.
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Believe and Achieve,
*Haley Perlus, Ph.D.*

Are you being treated the way you want to be treated?

Do your parents provide the support you need to do your best?

Do your coaches teach you skills and tactics in a way you understand?

Do your teammates encourage you in a way that motivates and inspires you to five it all you’ve got?

There are many uncontrollable factors in sport. You can’t control the weather. You can’t control when delays occur and how long they last. You can’t control your teammates and opponents’ performances.

Effort is not just about the intensity you put forth in each performance. It’s also about doing your best to receive the support and guidance you need. Ask for what you want so that your performance can improve.

Talk to your coaches and let them know what kind of feedback you prefer in training and in competition. Tell your parents what you would like them to say to you before an after competition. Let your teammates know what kind of support really helps you get in the ‘zone’.

If you don’t ask for what you want, you will get what other people think is beat for you. Your coaches will treat you the way they were treated as athletes or how they think you want to be treated. Your parents will talk to you the only way they know how to talk to you. Your teammates will encourage you the way they want to be encouraged.

The worst thing that can happen when you do ask for what you want is that you don’t get it. You’ll be left exactly where you are now – no better, no worse. On the other hand, the best thing that can happen is that you do get exactly what you want. Then you’ll be much closer to achieving all of your goats

Call to Action

Choose one person you feel comfortable asking for what you want. When you speak to him or her, be direct and specific when you ask for what you want.

Believe and Achieve,
Dr. Haley

P.S. Leave a comment to tell me what you think or if you have any questions.
P.P.S. Click here to download a copy of this article to share with a friend

What happens when an athlete, in any sport, stops before the finish line?

The shortest amount of time lost could cost you the ultimate reward. Have you ever stopped short of the finish line? Have you ever made an error at the end of your competition that could have been prevented if you had maintained your focus?

Unforced errors, at the end of a competition, rarely happen by accident. They are usually caused by a lack of concentration. Athletes lose their focus toward the end of competition for one of the following three reasons:

1. They shift their focus from the process of the competition to the results of the competition.
2. They prematurely celebrate the fact that they have completed the competition.
3. They begin to analyze their performance before they are finished.

For whatever reason, athletes who lose their focus before the competition is complete experience subpar performances.  Furthermore, athletes who lose their focus have usually trained their minds to do so.

The purpose of practice sessions is to train your mind and body to perform the way you want to perform in competition. Thus, it makes sense that, if you allow yourself to lose focus in practice, you set yourself up to lose focus during competition.

The same principle applies to athletes’ physical conditioning. Athletes who train their minds and body to stop focusing during the last repetition or the last minute or two of an aerobic session, train themselves to lose focus before the competition ends.

Call to Action

Challenge yourself and take advantage of your practice and conditioning sessions. Make sure you concentrate from the start to the end of each practice session. Complete the last repetition and last minute of your conditioning with as much effort as you started.  As you train your mind to follow through every time out of competition, you’ll train your mind to follow through every time in competition.

Believe and Achieve,
*Haley Perlus, Ph.D.*

P.S. Leave a comment to tell me what you think or if you have any questions.
P.S. Click here to download this article to share with friends.