Welcome back to the MIND GYM (PFB).
This month’s topic will focus on the Positive Focus Performance P’s that will help you to attain excellence in your performance. Keep in mind what you already read in the September’s blog regarding preparation and controlling your thoughts and feelings.
Positive Focus 6 Performance P’s was created to enhance the learning process and created to simplify the various aspects of mental toughness.
The first P and probably the most important is PASSION. Passion is training and playing for the love of the sport. Without passion, there is no desire to excel and no commitment to the process. Therefore the athlete’s efforts will be subpar and basically a waste of time. I know that it is hard to be passionate about going to practice and working on developing the same skills over and over again. What you might not realize is, in order for any movement to become a skill it must be developed to the point by which it becomes a reactionary habit or muscle memory. If that is achieved, then under a pressure situation, the athlete will react appropriately to perform the precise movement to increase the chances of a desired outcome. "Play for the Love of the Game".
The second P is PURPOSE. For anyone who wants to achieve greatness, there must be a purpose for your training and to compete. Based on research and personal experiences, I have come to the conclusion that every athlete should three purposes when training to attain the mental edge. First purpose is to always have FUN. Whether you are training
or competing, you should always have fun during the process. The second purpose is to Get Better. No matter what the outcomes are, you should focus on getting better. No
one is the best at everything. The only way to achieve an amazing life is to strive for excellence. Imagine if you got a little bit better every day at your sport. For example, ball handling in basketball, serving in tennis or volleyball and putting in golf. Eventually you would master the skill and would feel very confident when called upon to execute that particular skill. Even if you had a bad training session where it appeared that nothing went right and you made a lot of mistakes. You could still get better on a day like this; IF… you learned from your performance and made the necessary corrections so that it would not likely happen again. Simply put, you learned what not to do. Therefore you got better.
The third and final purpose is to WIN. Although winning is the only purpose that you don’t have 100% control over, you can still help in determining the outcome of the performance by how you play. Most people in athletics, believe that winning is the only reason or purpose for playing any particular sport. I disagree with this mind set. Competing in sports is supposed to be fun. That’s why you PLAY sports. It also should be noted that if you do not win, that does not make you a loser. You just had a negative outcome to your performance. Replay the performance in your mind and figure out what you need to do to get better. Never doubt your training and your preparations while competing. Remember, it is all about the process and how we respond to the outcome that determines who we are.
Next month I will be discussing the next two performances P’s, Posture and Present.
So in the meantime, play with passion and purpose. If you have any question and/or comments on any of the topics in this blog, I encourage your feedback.
Have a Positive Focus Day!
“Dr. D” a.k.a. “Vitamin D”
This month’s topic will focus on the Positive Focus Performance P’s that will help you to attain excellence in your performance. Keep in mind what you already read in the September’s blog regarding preparation and controlling your thoughts and feelings.
Positive Focus 6 Performance P’s was created to enhance the learning process and created to simplify the various aspects of mental toughness.
The first P and probably the most important is PASSION. Passion is training and playing for the love of the sport. Without passion, there is no desire to excel and no commitment to the process. Therefore the athlete’s efforts will be subpar and basically a waste of time. I know that it is hard to be passionate about going to practice and working on developing the same skills over and over again. What you might not realize is, in order for any movement to become a skill it must be developed to the point by which it becomes a reactionary habit or muscle memory. If that is achieved, then under a pressure situation, the athlete will react appropriately to perform the precise movement to increase the chances of a desired outcome. "Play for the Love of the Game".
The second P is PURPOSE. For anyone who wants to achieve greatness, there must be a purpose for your training and to compete. Based on research and personal experiences, I have come to the conclusion that every athlete should three purposes when training to attain the mental edge. First purpose is to always have FUN. Whether you are training
or competing, you should always have fun during the process. The second purpose is to Get Better. No matter what the outcomes are, you should focus on getting better. No
one is the best at everything. The only way to achieve an amazing life is to strive for excellence. Imagine if you got a little bit better every day at your sport. For example, ball handling in basketball, serving in tennis or volleyball and putting in golf. Eventually you would master the skill and would feel very confident when called upon to execute that particular skill. Even if you had a bad training session where it appeared that nothing went right and you made a lot of mistakes. You could still get better on a day like this; IF… you learned from your performance and made the necessary corrections so that it would not likely happen again. Simply put, you learned what not to do. Therefore you got better.
The third and final purpose is to WIN. Although winning is the only purpose that you don’t have 100% control over, you can still help in determining the outcome of the performance by how you play. Most people in athletics, believe that winning is the only reason or purpose for playing any particular sport. I disagree with this mind set. Competing in sports is supposed to be fun. That’s why you PLAY sports. It also should be noted that if you do not win, that does not make you a loser. You just had a negative outcome to your performance. Replay the performance in your mind and figure out what you need to do to get better. Never doubt your training and your preparations while competing. Remember, it is all about the process and how we respond to the outcome that determines who we are.
Next month I will be discussing the next two performances P’s, Posture and Present.
So in the meantime, play with passion and purpose. If you have any question and/or comments on any of the topics in this blog, I encourage your feedback.
Have a Positive Focus Day!
“Dr. D” a.k.a. “Vitamin D”