Sports require techniques that can help athletes stay cool under pressure. In golf for instance, it is important to practice mental conditioning as much as practicing hitting chip shots. Athletes often work with sports psychologists to help ease their nerves at bay and focus their minds.
While I may not be running marathon under three hours, score goals in soccer, or attempt to master the correct swing plane in golf, I find the simple strategies employed by most athletes beneficial in my game of life.
The Mental Dress Rehearsal
Psychologists say that visualizing a good performance boosts the same confidence that comes from having performed well in the past. Top athletes never seem to be overwhelmed by the big moment usually because they have been there before, either in real life or in their mind.
In giving a report to my graduate studies classes, I get to use this mental exercise where I close my eyes and imagine hitting all my talking points with sense of humor and my audience rewarding me with nods of approval and a round of applause in the end. This makes me relax when the real deal comes. It is as if I have done it before, and to some extent, I had.
Letting Go When It’s Needed
Athletes may be performing well during thier training sessions, being aware of every move they make. However, under the pressure of competition, over-analyzing their moves may lead to indecision and tightening up. The result becomes costly. Diversionary tactics can calm an overactive mind.
In basketball for instance, a player making a free throw will distract himself by concentrating on the logo written on the ball. This technique I find useful when I am swallowed by a wave of performance anxiety.
Pharaoh did find out about Moses’ killing the Egyptian. His guards chased Moses into the desert but did not find him. In the desert, Moses met a wise man named Jethro. Moses married one of Jethro’s daughters. During the next forty years he raised his family in the desert.