Happy Friday,
Several of my athletes this week found great comfort when I told them they should be anxious. They felt broken with the stress of finals, packing to move back home from college, and championship games and tournaments - all happening this week!?!
Are you really supposed to be calm right now?
Don't add the pressure to be all put together to the list of stressors. It is a tough week and you should feel the effects of it. But rather than fight your way through it, also understand that your stress and extra work this week are in service of getting good grades and winning.
And that's worth experiencing the hard stuff for.
I hope my posts below help normalize your stress and anxiety a bit too.
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You Aren't Nervous
Nervousness and anxiety often distract athletes from playing their best. Excitement, on the other hand, often enhances performance.
What’s interesting is that physiologically they are the same thing!
Both experiences may include rapid heart rate, sweating, shaking, narrowing of attention, increased blood pressure, fidgeting and muscle tension.
When we are anxious, we interpret these sensations as negative or a feeling that something bad will happen.
When we are excited, we interpret them as positive and energizing.
How are you interpreting your physical symptoms before competition and when under pressure?
The fact is you should have some heightened arousal. The game matters. The moment is big. You need to be physically ready to meet the demands.
Rather than interpreting your sensations as a negative threat, understand that in these moments your body is preparing you to act. This is a good thing.
These same sensations may more accurately be interpreted as excitement for the challenge ahead. Knowing this, you can move your focus from your bodily symptoms to the task at hand. It is this safety in the symptoms and focus on what’s important now (WIN) that produces the best results.
** For help with competition anxiety, come see me for individual consultations.
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What Are You Afraid Of?
You are not “afraid of the unknown.”
You are afraid of 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗱 𝗶𝘀 𝘁𝗲𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘆𝗼𝘂 about the unknown.
There are literally millions of things you don’t know. And you are not afraid of them because you don’t know anything about them!
Photo by Kamil Feczko on Unsplash
So when you think you are afraid of the unknown, it is probably one of two things:
1) You are afraid of some unwanted negative outcome that could happen. Without knowing the future, your mind fills in the blanks. And it fills it in with warnings about what could go wrong. Not what 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 go wrong, just what 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥.
It could also go well (especially if you prepared), but we don’t worry about that because being optimistic doesn’t protect us from danger.
𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝗱𝗼: Remember you mind is not a fortune teller. Ask yourself specifically what about “the unknown” scares you. If you come up with a negative scenario how likely is it to really happen? If it is likely, what can you do to prepare for it?
2) You don’t like the feeling of not knowing. It feels like a loss of control - and this is especially bothersome to “control freaks” who find comfort in knowing what is going to happen.
But this feeling of discomfort is not the same as impending doom. It is an internal feeling that is completely independent of what is happening externally.
𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝗱𝗼: Remember that internal experiences can be very different than external reality. Ground yourself in the external and check the facts. Do you see evidence of what you fear? If so, address it. If not, find comfort in your safety and relax your mind and body.
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Click for 12-hours of training!
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Dr. Eddie O’Connor
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