Sometimes the most basic concepts are the ones we need to hear…again…and again…and again. I had that feeling while listening to Sept’s “Hour of Power” with Renee Yomtob of Athletic Mental Performance. In her “Winning the Mental Game” talk she detailed six different modalities (hypnosis, Mental Emotional Release, yoga, breathwork, meditation & visualization) that can be used to retrain our minds to support, rather than hinder, our performances. (If you’re interested in listening to this talk, click here.) As I listened, I found myself feeling elated – elated because Renee was giving me solutions for decreasing my performance anxiety. She was giving me tools to control the racing heartbeat, the tunnel vision, the shaky hands & the tightening of my throat. Then the reality hit. If you want something to work, you have to commit to regular practice. You can’t do something once or twice & then expect that it’ll show up on demand. In other words, if you want something, ya gotta practice it. Elation was replaced by the recognition (once again) that you just gotta do your work. There’s no getting around that concept.
What’s On Your List?
We all have big wants, big things we’d love to change. Here’s my quick 02-sec list:
- Stay present & enjoy the moment.
- Celebrate change as the only constant in life.
- Recognize that anxiety symptoms are the same as excitement symptoms.
- Replace negative thoughts with positive and/or take-control thoughts.
- Maintain an accountability focus rather than a victim mentality.
You Gotta Practice
In the end, it doesn’t matter what’s on your list. You might want to improve skill sets like learning to sing or perfecting your tennis backhand. The key is that no matter what you want, the only way to get there is to practice it…and that practice must be regular & consistent. Notice that I didn’t mention volume. Nope, assimilation is better obtained by frequency, not volume. The more times you ask your body and/or brain to do something, the faster it automates.
And Practice…And Practice
I think that’s the mistake we all make. We get inspired or excited to do something & then we do it…but only for a short time. As soon as the enthusiasm wears off, we justify stopping by saying to ourselves that “it didn’t work”. Well, really, it’s starting to work, but the changes are so small that we can’t yet perceive them. If we just stick with it, if we just continue to practice & practice & practice, the changes will exponentially grow to the point where we ultimately can recognize the change.
So, my dear athletes. It’s time to get to jump on the regular practice bandwagon. It’s not sexy, it’s not high action, it doesn’t offer short-term reward, it’s not the kind of thing that will impress your co-workers. But, I promise, it does work. Commit to 10min per day for the next week. Then commit to 10min per day for the next month. Then the next 6 months. Then the next year. And so forth. Again, I guarantee that after about 4 months you won’t be able to see your life without it. You won’t even remember how it was before you started your practice. Ultimately, it’s a small commitment for a huge reward!
Happy practicing!
Coach Michelle
To read more about practice, check out these articles: