#10 – They think this is “my year”
This belief only works if it is something you genuinely feel. If instead it is something you originally felt but now some fear or doubt has crept in, the belief acts as a burden. It becomes “This is supposed to be my year, but I can’t see how anymore and don’t know how to admit this to myself and support crew. If I don’t do well, I will have failed.”
Further, it could well be your year and you could do well at a specific event. However such a belief does not prepare your head for potential success in the following years. What happens in the rest of your career if this is your year? A hero wins one event, a champion wins many, often over a number of years.
Stick with aiming to be a champion.
#9 – They misjudge what has made them great
It is not your breakfast, your recent form, the music you listen to before an event, your lucky undies or the trash talk with other competitors that brings out your best performance. These may all be present on great days but avoid giving these things too much weight.
Instead, realise elite performance comes from having extremely high skill through exceptional training and repetition. It also requires being fully present in the moment as you compete. Thinking disappears. You just do it! Your mind forgets about all other people, other’s opinions and all distractions.
All those other things contribute and may build confidence as they remind you what you want to do, but your undies can’t win anything for you.
#8 – They don’t think about the competition because they don’t want to get their hopes up or thinking about it hasn’t worked in the past
This is a mistake because you need your brain to be prepared. It needs to have clarity on what it needs to do and when. If you have thought about an event in the past and you have then under performed, you most likely thought about the ‘winning’ but you need to instead focus on EXACTLY what you intend to do, to win. Every turn; every hit; every sprint; dive, serve and so on, needs to be thought through until you are clear. Think about winning by all means, but be clear on the activities required along with the win.
#7 – They think they need to be ‘pumped up’ for an event
I was talking to Grant Hackett about moods before a race and he pointed out that although when we watch the movie Rocky, that it may fire us up, Rocky is never fired up. He is always doubtful, scared and aware of the task ahead of him. It’s only in the fight that he digs really deep and you see moments of ‘fired up’. The rest of the time he fully respects the task at hand.
When you take an event seriously it often causes plenty of adrenalin and this may get you ‘pumped’ but it’s because of your focus on the task at hand. It does not need to be artificially forced. If you force yourself to get pumped before the event, you are burning emotional energy that you actually need in the event.
Instead, be very clear on the outcome you want to achieve – your best possible personal performance – then a sense of anticipation will build naturally. You can be in any mood during this time it’s just that you have an underlying awareness that it is nearly time.
#6 – They think they need to focus on the victory all the time
Just like you can’t train all the time, focusing on your event the whole time will burn you out. When you are clear on your outcome and have really committed putting in your best performance, your brain will naturally give the event the intense thinking required. This will mean that you will have times when you don’t think or focus at all.
Relax at these times. Just like your body knows how to walk, your brain knows when to think. One key time to relax is during what I call the sporting ‘quiet before the storm’. This is the time just before an event when all the work is done and now you just have to wait to do it. The people around you (not competing) may have different moods of anticipation and try to fire you up, but it is totally ok for you to zone out and not focus. It’s a mental taper.
If you do feel guilty, just focus on what you intend to do (technique, effort, etc.) for a short moment and then continue zoning out, chilling with friends or the like. There will be a time just before the event when your brain will naturally kick in again. Run with it then.