The Mental Edge 30 September 2023

Are you kidding yourself?

As an athlete it could be argued that in a competitive situation and in training your job is to give maximum effort so that you give yourself the best chance of performing to the best of your ability.  For coaches, some people would say, similarly, your role is to do everything that you can to help your athlete or athletes to perform to maximum capacity. 

This sounds simple, right? What can stop athletes and coaches to be able to carry this out?

• Faulty expectations of themselves and others
• Flawed goal setting
• Inconsistent commitments levels
• Listening to the wrong people
• Unconscious mental blocks
• Fear
• Over confidence
• And much more…..

One thing I’ve missed from the list is the ability to set some time aside for honest self-reflection.  This should be a process every athlete and coach have in place where they self-assess and get some support so that they can reflect on specific situations and their associated expectations, beliefs, thoughts, feelings and actions with sincerity and objectiveness.  This time will mean looking in the mirror to gain a deeper and better understanding of yourself, where your motivations lie, what you value about being an athlete or coach, your strengths, the areas that you can improve on and any area that you could focus on for personal growth.

The art of honest self-reflection includes the following 5 aspects:

1. Self-awareness

Honest self-reflection promotes the foundation of behaviour change, self-awareness.  Without self-awareness it is very difficult to refine your approach and improve on the decisions that you make and the habits that you carry out. 

2. Questioning your approach

Many people are frightened of change, as humans we tend to enjoy remaining in our comfort zone.  By questioning your approach to performing or coaching you could expose some areas that are holding you back, that are harming your performances and that are outdated and need throwing to oneside.

3. Being objective

Sport can be a rollercoaster ride of emotions where you experience many highs and lows on a regular basis.  As an athlete when you perform week in week out, it is easy to get caught out by strong emotions and then you can become reactive, fixing faults, always fixating on weaknesses or other people’s opinions.  Similarly as a coach your ego and self-worth can yo-yo if you let it, depending on the performance of your athlete(s) or team.  By being objective in your reflections you can remove emotion and view your world through a different lens, an objective and non-biased or emotional lens.

4. Be vulnerable

By acknowledging our fears and insecurities we open ourselves up to uncomfortable thoughts and feelings.  Many people struggle with this, especially the athlete or coach who can take themselves too seriously in their quest for perfection.   However, recognising our vulnerabilities is often where the magic happens, and a place that we can then go on to develop resilient qualities associated with the very best performers and coaches.

5. Reflect regularly

Honest self-reflection should become your go-to process if you wish to get better and give yourself the best opportunity to play and coach to your potential.  By doing so once, you may get a boost and a surge of motivation.  However, in the longer term it’s unlikely to make a great deal of difference to the way you go about your training, competitive performances or coaching.  I’d encourage you to see developing a habit of self-awareness and introspection through honest self-reflection as a skill that needs to be practiced regularly, at least once per month.

By taking on this advice, it’s a guaranteed way to continue to develop yourself, you’ll improve your emotional intelligence and with this you’ll improve your decision a great deal.  As a result, there is a strong likelihood you’ll become a better footballer, cricketer, hockey player, golfer…. Or coach.

Our latest episodes of the Demystifying Mental Toughness Podcast will also contribute in this regard and help you question your approach.

THE LATEST EPISODE OF DEMYSTIFYING MENTAL TOUGHNESS

Most people at some point experience demotivation, where they lack interest and enthusiasm about something that they have once really enjoyed.  This episode #189 is for you if you have reached that point, or if you are experiencing a loss of form or a performance plateau. 

Today, I share an approach which is connected to goal-setting and performance profiling and often yields positive outcomes, where athletes frequently feel a lot better about their situation and experience being re-energised as a result.

Enjoy!