What is Mental Toughness – Focused on Winning
posted on: March 16, 2013
author: Brian Lomax, Ed.D.
There are a lot of thoughts that go through an athlete’s mind while competing. Some are beneficial and others are not. A credo that I like to use is that all of your energy, both mental and physical, should be in the direction of helping you win. A great way to keep yourself on track is to keep asking yourself “is this helping me win?” Things that don’t help you win and are generally a waste of energy:
- Getting angry
- Excessive celebrations
- Taunting / Confrontation
Instead of focusing your energy on things that are not beneficial and are just distractions, begin to distinguish between what you can control and what you can not control, and put your energy into those things that you can control and that help you perform better. If you perform better, you have a better chance of winning. Right? Here are some suggestions:
- Your thoughts – keep them optimistic and positive
- Body Language – reflect a strong, confident and positive image
- Breathing – deep breathing to get your heart rate down
- Routines/Rituals – stick to what works so that you take your time and perform at a comfortable pace
It will take some discipline and practice to focus only on what you can control as many of us have used distractions as excuses for poor performances for a long time, but once you learn this skill, it will be tremendously empowering. Commit to being 100% focused on what helps you perform better and win because if it’s not helping you win, why are you doing it?
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About the Author
Dr. Brian Lomax founded PerformanceXtra™ in 2009 with a mission of helping athletes achieve their goals and their top performances more consistently through a progression of mental skills that enables them to focus on what is truly important.
Learn more about the author: https://performancextra.com/brian-lomax/
3 responses to “What is Mental Toughness – Focused on Winning”
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Hi Brian,
This is great advice. Not just for competitive sports, but for life. Any rough thing one can experience in life can be gotten through better by following these ‘simple’ exercises.
Hope all is well. Thanks for this!
Syd
I shared your article with my DBH ladies team when I received it. I am carpooling with my teammates for the play off this morning. They commented that how good and true it is!
I needed that today! Thanks for the post.