Publisher’s note: This story is part of Peak, the new athletics office covering leadership, personal development and success through the objective of sports. Peak aims to connect readers to the ideas they can implement in their own personal and professional life. Point here.
When Dr. Elizabeth Nobis has a lot of tasks that start to overwhelm her, she sometimes stops and makes 10 to 15 pumps.
“Whenever I get up after that, I feel a little more like” ok, I can do it “,” she said.
For Nobis, sport psychologist in the sports department of the University of Pennsylvania, it is a little habit that she developed in high school which helps her to reset her attitude. It is also the kind of mental tool that anyone can try.
We asked Nobis and several other sports psychologists for the small habits they want everyone to do.
Turn off the word “but” for “and”
Dr. Kirsten Cooper is a clinical and sporting psychologist who works with fortune companies 500 and professional athletes. She thinks that replacing the word “but” with “and” when we speak can make a difference.
By refining how we are talking about, we expand our emotional capacity to have several emotions at the same time, while preventing them from triggering bad performance.
Cooper has given some examples to illustrate its point: “I am uncomfortable and I can stay in the present” and “I am angry and I can act as a sportswoman.”
“We are developing tolerance for distress for discomfort,” said Cooper.
This helps us get away from negative thought. The idea is that “and” means that two things can also be true, while “but” pinning two parts of one sentence against each other.
“I can play but I’m nervous.” “I am nervous and I can play.”
It can be difficult to remember, however, when the way we speak becomes almost subconscious. For this reason, Cooper recommends creating a little reminder for yourself, such as painting a sticker of a different color from the rest of your nails or hanging a sticky note with the word “and” at the edge of the screen of your computer.
In this way, when you see this visual symbol, you remember the meaning behind.
Scenario plan
Lorna Harkins, assistant director of leadership and mental performance at Dartmouth College, said that the most common wrestling athletes are approaching her was to manage errors.
“On the field, when they were spoiling, or when something would not go as planned, they had trouble moving to something else,” she said. “They would fight in the moment and also afterwards.”
This is something that many people can identify with, and that is why Harkins wants everyone to do what she calls the “scenario plan”.
“Being able to say that it will not be perfect and that it will not always work,” she said. “So what are the things that will go wrong?” Then when it happens, what are you going to do? “
Having a plan for each scenario helps prevent spiral or frost in the moment and rather causes productive thought. You might not feel good when the unexpected occurs, but you have already thought about what to do in advance and you will become more resilient and mentally flexible.
She asks athletes to journal and write scenarios, then close the book.
“Because we will pick it up in time if it happens,” she said, “but you have planned (for that) so that you can go and focus on the present moment.”
Be on time
When Dr. Marc Cormier engages in small discussions, the typical “What are you doing in life?” The question is generally followed by another: “What are your best advice?”
Cormier, specialist in performance psychology and director of performance psychology for the University of Kentucky Athletics, has a simple response: arrival on time.
He considers this as “initial equipment”.
“When you think of a performance, it’s like a sequence of events,” he said. “It’s like the interior of a clock; you have hundreds of speeds that turn and work together. But in the end, if this initial equipment does not work, then nothing else works.”
There are two reasons why Cormier said people have trouble with punctuality. The first is that they identify with a noticeably late. Often it even becomes a common joke. But to say: “I am still late” is problematic in the way it prevents attempts from solving the problem and therefore gives the word “late” less impactful.
It is also easy to blame a busy schedule. To this, Cormier says it is important to do less.
“If you are in a position where you get late or notoriously submit things late, it means that there are too many competing things you are trying to do,” said Cormier. “Sometimes we have no choice and everything we do is necessary.
“From this point of view, let’s see what we can intentionally expect from doing. So” I’m not going to clean the house today, I will wait for my child to go to my child’s football match on Saturday. “”
Call yourself when you notice that your mood is based on the results
Many of us are wired to rely on results to assert ourselves, and we chas the feeling they can bring. But our identity can also be wrapped in these results.
Dr. Ian Connole, director of the performance initiative of Dartmouth College, works with athletes to remember that their performance is only a small piece of puzzle.
“The more we can move it to” what they do “, the more they are free to enter this space without each result reflecting who they are,” said Connole.
Although we can and have to kiss great moments and feel the moments not so big, we must always think consciously, he said, on what matters to us.
Decompose large stages tasks
While we want to accomplish something big or significant, it is not uncommon to feel overwhelmed. But Nobis said these feelings are avoidable.
“Decompose things in the next feasible action,” she said. “Control what you can control at that time. I can do one of these things. And we know that the motivation generates motivation. So, once you start a little thing, you are more likely to continue.”
Before Nobis starts a task at work herself, she often closes her eyes and remembers the first step she has to do, rather than linger on everything that awaits us. It reduces the barrier in the moment, which reduces intensity.
Nobis finds that when we approach emotions, as the feeling of being overwhelmed, with questions, everything can change.
“Try to name the emotional experience that goes on,” she said. “I feel uncomfortable. For what? My body is tense. Do I feel nervous? And then you can make deliberate choices because you notice and you are aware. ”
This can be the difference manufacturer, she said, making this little step.
(Illustration: Dan GOLDFARB / Athletics; ISTOCK)