There are three areas of concern when we are looking at our athletic performance.
1. We have all been given certain innate athletic abilities, however we also have a richer potential than we are sometimes aware. By tending to our physical being with conscious intent, i.e., our eating habits; working with a physical trainer to amximize healthy growth for our musculature needed for our particular sport; and by tending to our sleep patterns, etc, we have the potential to dial up our innate physical capabilities by perhaps another 10-20%.
2. As we improve with our physical capabilities, our coaches are also more likely to become more challenging as they help refine our technical skills.
3. Working diligently on those two sides of the triangle are typically what athletes rely on when performing their craft, however the most important piece of the triangle has been left unattended. I firmly believe the mental capacities, which is the foundational base, that supports our ability to use what our coaches give us so that we can synergistically use our innate physical skills.
When we begin to use our mental capacities as a tool for enhancing our performance we have begun the complete alchemic process that will produce the synergistic response we are all trying to achieve when we compete. What can set us apart from the rest of the field is the synergistic use of our total being. Think about it for a moment. We all have the same access to nutritional information, and the fine line differences in coaching expertise will make but a small difference as well. Coaches are essential for enhancing our technical skills, and for refining our training regimes, but it is who we are inside, and our ability to separate ourselves from the rest of the field that will ultimately make the difference where we finish. We train our bodies so our muscles will respond when we call them into action, and we practice our athletic endeavors so we can refine our technical skills, but in reality, how many of us train our mind to perform the necessary tasks that are needed to set us apart from our competitors?
• You have a physically trainer.
• You have a coach.
• Now you have the opportunity to have a mechanic of the mind, a “mental” coach that can help you get the most out of your mind muscle.
Although 10 different people might have “race day anxiety”, (where the performance during the competition is typically substandard to the training performance,) each person has this for their own unique reasons for this. This means the key to unlocking your “performance anxiety” will of course have to be individualized for each athlete. Together we will find the blocked areas to your performing as you know you can, and with the individualized attention to your needs, to your essence, we will find a new pathway to the success your are seeking and you have a right to.
Besides designing a unique paradigm for each athlete so together we can work towards maximizing mental capacities for peak performance, I also look at the gestalt of each athlete. Athletics is but a metaphor for life, life is also a metaphor for athletics. Our mental training ground, our practice field, covers all the movements we make throughout each day. When we compartmentalizing our performance into different areas, it is highly probable that there are areas of your life where you are practicing habits that inhibit optimal performance.
Areas we will address that will allow you maximum use of your Positive Mental Resources (PMR) are:
• Ability to be proactive vs. reactive.
• Using your integrity to bring you the power of clarity. This allows for more softness in the movements, thus expending less of your precious energy units, and concurrently bringing yourself into a keener more proactive focus to the task at hand.
• The ability to focus and refocus.
• The ability to relax and enjoy what you are doing.
• The ability to visualize and “use the force”, and the forces around you. (These are two distinctly different entities.)
• Learning how to train mentally.
• Learning how to set three types of goals, and establishing concrete action plans for each goal.
• Building your confidence from a position of proactive strength from the inside out.
• Discovering the art of slow motion training.
Our work is done both in my office, and in yours, (in your field of endeavor).
We will use a bio-feedback mechanism that will teach you not only how to become aware of what your bodily reactions are from the inside out, but how to manage your heart-rate to be better in control of your movements. This will help you learn how to generate, and conserve energy when necessary. Can you begin to image the power of being able to relax and only expend the energy needed for maximum efficiency?
Remember that athletics, work/school, and our life relationships are all metaphors for each other. How we perform in one area is how we perform in all areas. When we have glitches that keep us from healthy relationships, those glitches will appear elsewhere as well. When we continually run into barriers in our athletic performance we will run into similar barriers in work, and our intimate relationships. It is essential that when we want to enhance our athletic performance we must always operate with integrity, with conscious intent in every action, and with a desire to have a deeper connection to ourselves as whole individuals.
CLICK TO ENLARGE
Look at the above diagram and of course it is easy to figure out which quadrant will enhance your performance. Sometimes we find ourselves in other quadrants for reason unbeknownst to us, and our job is to know our roadmaps back to where we want to be. The art of being able to do this takes conscious intent and practice. Together we will design the methods that will help you be at your Peak Performance for “This Moment”.
When we are NOT at our Peak performance, it is probable that we are not really present in “This Moment.” Perhaps something from our past, or a past sub-standard performance has grabbed our attention. Perhaps we are afraid or anxious of something in the future that has grabbed our attention from where it needs to be; Or, perhaps we are so focused on the outcome of our performance we are not giving attention to the details needs to maximize this performance right “NOW.” In reality, it makes no difference why this is happening because when our peak performance is off, athletically, work wise, or in our relationships, it is our attention to the ‘Now” that is the only cure to move us towards success, and a greater harmony with ourselves and our environment. This does not happen automatically just because you want it to, and you believe in this paradigm. By learning the “Art of Being”, then beginning to train your mental capacities, you will be putting yourself in optimal position to achieve all your goals.
Our journey is a fun one, filled with all the joys success can bring. I look forward to being on this journey with you.