Mental Attitude
To become the best you must have positive beliefs fuelling the mind and positive foods fuelling the body and a
total balance in mind, body and spirit. This cannot be written off as some ‘fad’, or ‘crazy idea’, these aspects
have been proved time over and is the ultimate in inner and outer body care. A negative belief system can be
overturned by positive beliefs if the individual wants to do so. To get us off the starting blocks we must teach
ourselves to think in successful terms before the success becomes real - all achievements begin with thought. A
success consciousness has then got to be built - this is our success recipe - a plan.
The success consciousness entails a few steps:
- Develop an I CAN consciousness - say to yourself ‘I can accomplish anything’.
- Develop an I WILL attitude - create enthusiasm for your objective and get moving, don’t wait for it to happen
- make it happen - no one else will.
- A definite objective is needed so your I CAN and I WILL have an aim.
- A DO-IT-NOW attitude - this is a must and your enthusiasm and strong will will make you do-it-now.
- You have got to know that you are equal to all challenges.
This is not a five-minute wonder prescription - it takes time to get negative beliefs, it will take time to create
positive ones. Things such as defeatist thoughts, worries of performance and whether your brainy enough
become the dominant thoughts in many a mind - it is strong thought of failure, people then think that if they
don’t try then they won’t fail. This is a debilitating state to be in as there is so much in life to try, to experience
and go for. Our potentials are only fractionally used, the rest is rotting - just think of what could be achieved if
all potential was utilised - think of what talents you have, the information you know and what self-motivation
you have - realise what you have and use it.
Emotion is a very strong force. It is an aspect of ourselves that can undermine competitors performances unless
handled correctly. Even when things seem to be going right, emotion can be the one harmful thing - whether it
be emotions connected to family, angry, fearful, worry over illness, or how you generally feel about yourself on
the day can all stack up to against you and decide whether you will win or lose. Emotion is physically draining
and therefore can lead to physical injury.
Positive Belief Strategies - "you can if you think you can". PBS are phrases that can be repeated over and over
again to yourself - these will in turn, over time, overthrow your negative aspects. You will believe what you are
telling yourself. You tell yourself you are a winner and you will be - even if it isn’t on your first try - this is
called your ‘Always a Winner Attitude’. A quote to sum this up is from Karl Menninger who said:’ Men do not
break down because they are defeated - but only because they think they are.’
It is Important to Relax
Relaxation, in any form ie music, massage, localised ie neck, cue words, which is practiced before and after a
performance will help an athlete to stay in control and also to prevent any developing of tension in the muscles.
Another way of preparing for competition is Visualisation, which always takes place after relaxation.
Visualisation is when the competitor can picture the sport setting, experience the atmosphere; it is allowing the
person to experience the event as if they are there. They can run the event over in their head i.e. their start, their
perfect technique - you can end this session with a vision of your perfect performance. This skill can also be
used to pre-empt any problems i.e. weather conditions - this then means you can be ready to handle any
outcome.
To complete the mental preparation there must be a strategy - it is a routine that a competitor can follow on the
day of competition. It gives details of deadlines, travel, times, warm up, practice. It gives enough details so that
if something goes awry at the competition i.e. delays, then the competitor can still read and follow the strategy
plan and more importantly will still feel in control and leaves any doubts at low levels or non existent if it is the
perfect strategy.
