Focused Self-Talk and Athletic Performance

Jun 092011

I’ve discussed in several posts the importance and affect self-talk can have not only on your state but your athletic performance as well.

Self-talk, that is, what you say to yourself absolutely has a significant influence on performance, both good and bad. It makes sense that if you tell yourself you’re not going to be able to lift the weight or make a shot or catch a ball, chances are you’re not. As Henry Ford once said “Whether you think can or you can’t, you’re right.”

We all inside of us, at the unconsciousness level, as ‘thinker’ and a ‘prover.’ And what the ‘thinker’ thinks, the ‘prover’ proves. Basically, what focus your attention on will be created in real-world.

For the purpose of this post, your real-world is your athletic performance. I’m going to take a slightly different perspective on self-talk and give an alternative way for you to considered the process of self-talk and hopefully aid in managing how you talk to yourself and what you say.

Let’s start off with metaphor…and analogy that will help understand first hand the efforts involved in managing self-talk:

Most likely you’re reading this article online. You’re probably at a computer or even a mobile device and you’re giving all your attention the words in front of you…reading them “out loud” in your head. All your attention is on what I’m about to say next. You are focused on the article, the words and “hearing” the words in your head.

OK, now keeping your eyes on the computer and “hearing” the words in your head, start to become aware of what is around you. Is there a desk, is someone next to you, what’s on the desk, are there windows…remember you are keeping your attention and focus on the words in front of you AND being aware of what else is going on.

What else is happening? Are there people moving about? What kind of noises do you hear? Birds chirping, a radio, the hum of computer, what ambient noises can you pick up?

You are focused on the computer screen and you are also aware of the other stuff going on around you.

That was fairly simple and easy, right?

Now let’s crank it up a bit.

Ask yourself to completely block out all visual and auditory distractions that you are now aware of, so that the only things you’re aware of is the words in front of you and the voice “reading” them in your head.

Come on, don’t pay attention to that person or the desk or that hum…come on….completely block all the other distractions out.

Almost had it…come on keep trying.

It’s pretty challenging, isn’t it? It takes lots of focus, attention and mental energy to block everything that’s going on around your and the sounds from your mind. This energy, the energy it takes to block out these distractions can be put to better use, more productive and supportive use.

These two exercises basically asked you to do essentially the same thing, that is, focus on the words in front of you.

The difference was in the way you went about it, focusing on the task at hand, i.e. reading the words in front of you vs. blocking all the distractions. This difference makes a tremendous impact the mental energy you used to achieve the task as well as the success in accomplishing the task.

This difference is subtle and important:

Consciously focusing on one thing versus…
Trying to block or get rid of everything but one thing.

There’s a saying “Energy flows where attention goes.” So, when you try to block or get rid of something you give more attention and energy so it tends to persist.

So What? What’s This Got to do With Self-Talk?

In a word…everything!

The words you’re reading represent effective, supportive and empowering thinking; it’s all the good stuff you want going on in your head that helps enhance your sport performance.

The other “stuff” like the desk, the people, the windows, the noise, everything else, that’s the ineffective, non-supportive and disempowering negative self-talk that distracts you from your performance.

In the exercise above, you experienced first hand that there is significant difficult in trying to keep your attention and mind from everything else that is around you. This is the same thing with self-talk and athletic performance.

It is a tough challenge isn’t it, trying to keep your attention off what you don’t want…to drive out any negative self-talk from your mind and rid yourself of doubts, concerns, and negativity.

Instead, you’ll find it easier to direct your focus and attention on what you do want… effective, supportive and positive thinking. This is just like when you directed your attention, focus and energy to the words in front of you (and didn’t worry about the other stuff.)

The task here is to load up your ears and eyes with effective, positive, beneficial words and images.

Identify Effective Self-Talk

So, what is effective self-talk and thinking and what are the things you need to do? It should consist of all the things you can and should say to yourself to enhance your athletic performance in practice and competition. Some of things I coach athletes on using are things likes:

Technique reminders
Confidence builders
Performance related cues
Motivating words
Resourceful anchors

Identify the self-talk that is going to help your performance; the internal dialogue that is going to best set you up for success. Commit to using this self-talk on a consistent basis.

Invest your mental energy on this positive, productive self-talk and not placing your energy and focus into purging the negative self-talk and you’ll experience great improvement in your sport performance.

Let me know what some other techniques you use in the comments below.

Energy Management and Athletic Performance (warriormindcoach.com)
Setting Yourself Up For Athletic Success (warriormindcoach.com)
Self-Talk and Athletic Performance (warriormindcoach.com)
Nervousness And Athletic Performance (warriormindcoach.com)
Focusing On Performance Goal For Athletic Performance (warriormindcoach.com)
Mental Strength, Confidence and Athletic Performance (warriormindcoach.com)
Mental Strength Diet for Peak Athletic Performance (warriormindcoach.com)
Mental Training and Sports Performance (warriormindcoach.com)
Mental Strength Skills and Athletic Performance (warriormindcoach.com)

Stop Struggling and Start Living!

Success in life is not about luck! It’s about managed thoughts, focused attention and deliberate action. Personal success and personal failure all start in the mind. Tap into the power of your unconsciousness mind and eliminate negative beliefs that have been holding back from reaching your personal goals.

Take back control of your thoughts and your life! Grab a copy of Develop the Mental Strength of a Warrior” today so that you can start living the life you’ve always dreamed of.

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