Peak Performance

In this installment I will talk about factors that will help you achieve peak performance and some factors that may be preventing you from reaching peak performance. When talking about athletic peak performance you tend to think of athletes like Lebron James, Usain Bolt, Shawn White, Serena & Venus Williams. These athletes are considered the best at their sport. But anyone who plays or follows sports closely knows that peak performance is not limited to those who are at the top. Every sport has participants who achieve remarkable accomplishments while finishing behind the leaders. Likewise, every team has members who are invaluable to the success of the team but are not recognized as the star. Here are a couple strategies that can help you achieve peak performance in your sport and on your team.

• Have a positive pregame mindset before competition.

As an athlete sometimes we hold ourselves to very high expectations. For example, I have spoken to the Harvard baseball coach who has problems with one of his starting pitchers. He said the pitcher expects to throw a no hitter every time he steps onto the mound. So what happens when the pitcher gives up his first hit? The pitcher would get upset and frustrated that he gave up the no hitter and would feel that he had failed. The coach says it often takes him a couple innings to regain control of his emotions and get back into a rhythm. But by the time he regains control the damage has already been done.
What can we do as athletes to get ourselves into a positive mindset? The first step is becoming aware of our mindset and thoughts before we play. We have to identify these expectations and factors that may cause us to get upset during competition. To achieve peak performance you cannot let a minor setback ruin your whole performance. Throw out the idea of being a perfectionist! If you carry these high expectations into your competition you set yourself up for feeling like you are failing. This leaves yourself very little room for success.

• Let go of errors before emotions snowball out of control.

I was watching Phil Mickelson lead the final round of the 2010 Masters. He had trouble all week hitting the fairways off the tee. In the last round he again put a drive into the woods and had a very difficult recovery shot under the pressure of The Masters Championship gallery. He stepped up to his ball and hit a shot through the trees and onto the green. He then made the putt for birdie, kept the lead and eventually won the Green Jacket. The announcer who was following him went on to say that this is what separates Phil from all the other golfers in the world. When Phil hits a bad shot he regains control of his emotions and it allows him to focus on hitting a great next shot.
Having control of your emotions is when you stay even keeled and poised when you are challenged with adversity. Even top athletes like Phil and Tiger Woods get frustrated and upset when they make errors. But they are able to regain control quickly and get back on track. Recovering quickly from mistakes separates champion athletes from those who crack when adversity strikes.

Every athlete has the capability of achieving peak performance, not just the top athletes. I hope you can use these simple strategies and examples on your way to peak performance and success throughout this season.

Positive Thinking vs. Effective Thinking

Up to this point in your athletic career you have excelled at your respective sports. You would not be playing at this level if you didn’t figure out a way to adapt to whatever the game throws at you, overcome the challenge in front of you and improvise to find a way to succeed. This week I want to speak specifically about how thinking effectively will increase your ability to ADAPT, IMPROVISE & OVERCOME!

Your ability to adapt is strongly related to your ability to think effectively. As Dan explained last week, our thoughts can be the difference between success and failure. We all know that thinking positively can have a major effect on how we perform. There are countless research articles documenting the benefits of a positive mindset. But let’s be real, things aren’t always positive. Things aren’t always great. You WILL be challenged and WILL face defeat. This is why we play our sports, to be challenged and to see what we are made of.

As an athlete, the last thing I want to hear after facing defeat is, “Everything is going to be okay”, while I am thinking to myself, “We just got our asses kicked!”. During the moment when we are challenged is when we need to transition from positive thinking to effective thinking. When we are thinking effectively our default mindset is ABSOLUTE CONFIDENCE. An unshakeable belief that no matter what happens we will keep fighting to achieve what we set out to achieve. This mindset will keep you working and keep you and your team motivated. You have adapted the ability to deal with stress. It has come through the countless hours of training and competitions that you have undergone.

This type of resiliency will translate to all areas of your life. In sport and in life effective thinking involves a proactive approach to embracing reality - embracing what IS. Not simply searching for another “better” reality, one in which you don’t have to adapt to and overcome the challenges before us. WE should know that the more time that we spend disconnected from the challenges the more time we face not working towards our goal. This is particularly important in sport when success is a matter of inches and seconds. As your season progresses look the challenge right in the eye and adapt, improvise and overcome.

Until the next time, stay believing!

Mental Skills Training - Performance Inhibitors

I believe that mental skills training can directly affect an athlete’s within-competition performance. When an athlete’s mental state is acting in a counterproductive manner, what’s known as performance inhibitors (anxiety, confidence, concentration and motivation) can creep up and lower performance. For me, it’s much like running into a strong headwind affecting my skills and coordination. Becoming aware of these performance inhibitors can enable you to control and minimize the negative affects of this headwind on your performance.

Think back to a previous game when your performance was optimal or near perfect. This may be the best you have ever performed. What led up to this performance? Was it a uniquely good week of practice and training? Take a few minutes and think about your performance this day.

Now think back to a previous game when your performance was far from optimal or near perfect. This may be the worst you have ever performed. What led up to this performance? Can you identify and mental performance inhibitors. Take a few minutes and think about your performance on this day.

Becoming aware of what was working for you and what performance inhibitors were present can help you make the necessary adjustments and perform closer to your optimal level. Detrimental thoughts, attitudes and beliefs can all affect an athlete’s ability to execute at the level that they are physically capable of. Developing strong mental skills has the ability to help athletes compete as close to 100% of their potential as possible.

Mental Training - Finding Strength From Within

“Beyond the very extreme of fatigue and distress, we find amounts of ease and power we never dreamed ourselves to own; sources of strengths never taxed at all because we never push through the obstruction.” William James

I'm writing this after a 22 mile run in preparation for the Boston Marathon, April 18, 2011. I chose this quote to share on the run today for a couple reasons. First, because I want to challenge everyone (myself included) to find this source of strength that lies beyond fatigue and second, because I want to talk about how our mind plays a huge role in getting there or not.

One of the most important lessons iBelieve teaches individuals and teams is that our thoughts and beliefs can help us achieve what we want. This is the basis for our company and we work with athletes and young professionals on how to choose empowering beliefs to help them reach their highest potential. On the flip side, our thoughts and beliefs can also limit us from reaching our highest potential. If we don’t think or believe we can fill in the black, we won’t. This is the obstruction William James is referring to and the reason some people don’t find that strength and power that lies beyond.

How can we push ourselves past the obstruction and tap into this source of strength? It starts with awareness. When you get fatigued, become aware of it and embrace it. Don’t do anything to distract yourself from it, “it is what it is”. As an athlete we need to perform under these circumstances and not be distracted. Next, there is NO limit. If you believe there is a limit then you are limiting yourself. If you think the sky is the limit, then you will only reach for the sky and you take away the potential of reaching higher. It’s that simple.

No matter what we are training in or for, lets continue to push ourselves to break through the obstruction and find that endless source of strength. I believe it’s out there for the ones willing to go beyond and find it. To learn more about iBelieve, and when we are visiting a team or organization near you visit us online at www.goibelieve.com