Struggling is one of the most important skills to success. Yes, I did mention that struggling is a skill. This skill, also known as, delaying gratification has been proven to produce more success than any other skill athletically, academically, and in life. There are even studies in developmental psychology that show the significant benefits that struggling has on becoming more successful in life.
Athletes are often warned that having too much confidence will hurt their performance. Recently one of my athletes said, "I'm worried that if I’m too confident it could come back to hurt me in a future game".
Here is a simple technique for removing the tension and clearing the mind in stressful situations. Before attempting this exercise please make sure to use ONLY your imagination and DO NOT use a real candle and flame.
Top athletes all share one successful mental skill that separates them from the rest of the field, a highly skilled ability to control and shift their focus from internal to external and from external to internal during the right moments. At SPMI, athletes are taught how to properly shift their focus as well as how to maximize each type of focus for all moments of performance. Internal focus is based on the athlete’s cognitions or thoughts. Internal focus is best used by the athlete when learning a new skill or dealing with a new discovery.
