How’s your focus?

Mindset Made Simple Tip #285

Read it on my new website at www.ssbperformance.com

That’s a loaded question.

Are you a good focuser 😉 or does your mind feel like it’s being pulled in a million directions…a lot?

This is a great question for me this week as I send this out in the nick of time to keep my 5+ year streak of one Tip per week going!  I am sure I had time to send this, but every time I sat

down to do so....well...here we are!

So last night, to keep the streak going, I promised myself that before I speak this morning at the Ohio High School Coaches Clinic... THIS IS GOING OUT!!!

I'm on at 9:30...so I'd better get going.  Nevertheless, I kept my promise...and my focus long enough...this time!

SIX THOUSAND of my closest baseball friends and I spent last weekend at the ABCA National Convention in Columbus, and I had the opportunity to talk about FOCUS. And in a matter of seconds, I proved to those who were paying attention just how hard it is to keep their attention.

To make the point, I use a video that asks viewers to count yellow stars and red Xs as they flash randomly across the screen. While this is happening, a narrator is also giving instructions.

WOAH. That’s a lot to take in.

It’s like trying to drive in a snowstorm with the radio on…for some reason you can’t see and someone really needs to turn that thing down, or better yet, OFF.

At first, the yellow stars show up, and you start to feel confident. “I’ve got this.” “I’m locked in.”

Then…a red X appears. And suddenly, everything falls apart.

That’s the lesson.

Divided attention = no focus.

The red Xs that appear on the screen of my well-used video represent anything that pulls us away from what matters most: mistakes, stats, noise, notifications, emotions, opinions, pressure, what just happened or what might happen next. The yellow stars are the task, the cue, the next pitch, the next rep, the next conversation, the moment right in front of us.

Here’s the science behind why this happens.

As we experience daily, although we think we are much better at it than we actually are, the brain is not designed to multitask. Attention is a limited resource, largely managed by the prefrontal cortex. Research on selective attention shows that when we try to focus on multiple things at once, performance, accuracy and decision-making all decline. The brain doesn’t get better by adding more targets. It gets better by choosing fewer.

High performers don’t eliminate red Xs. They get really good at coming back to the yellow stars.

My message this weekend was that red X’s come in different shapes and colors, often in the form of parents, opponents, the scoreboard…and even, dare I say…coaching!

The goal isn’t to eliminate red X’s. None of us has that power. It’s to limit their impact and influence.

Here are a few ways we can do that!

Tool 1: Name the Red X instead of trying to avoid it! When a distraction pops up, label it.“Thought.” “Noise.” “Emotion.” “Outcome.”Labeling creates distance and reduces the pull of the distraction, making it easier to redirect attention back to what matters.

And here’s why trying to eliminate red Xs usually backfires.

Psychologists call this the Ironic Process Theory. When we tell ourselves, “don’t think about it”, the brain actually has to search for the very thing we’re trying to avoid to monitor whether we’re thinking about it or not.

Here’s a classic example: “Don’t think of a white bear.”

Boom. White bear.

This phenomenon was demonstrated in Daniel Wegener’s 1987 research, where participants instructed not to think about a white bear ended up thinking about it more often, not less.

The brain’s monitoring system keeps checking for the unwanted thought, which ironically pulls it back into awareness. Over time, this can create a rebound effect, where the thought comes back even stronger.

This is exactly what happens with focus.

When we say: “Don’t miss.” “Don’t mess this up.” Or, “Stop thinking about that mistake.”

We unknowingly shine a spotlight on the red X and all the above!

That’s why the goal is not suppression, but redirection is!

Tool 2: Your Eyes Lead the Brain: Your eyes are the steering wheel for attention.

When focus drifts, deliberately lock your eyes on one physical anchor for 3–5 seconds.

Maybe you choose a spot on the scoreboard, the laces of the ball, the top of your keyboard or a word on the page

Then execute.

Visual fixation stabilizes the attentional system and reduces mental noise. Attention research shows that narrowing visual input helps calm the nervous system and improves task execution under pressure.

We can use this when we feel rushed, scattered or need an immediate reset!

Name it. Park it. Shift your eyes. Choose one yellow star.

High performers don’t waste energy telling their brain what not to think about. They give it something better to focus on.

That’s how focus actually works.

Tool 3: Shrink the Focus Target. If focus feels shaky, make the task smaller. And give your brain EXACTLY ONE JOB!! Ask: What’s the next controllable action? What’s my ONE yellow star right now?

One breath. One word. One pitch. One sentence. Maybe that sounds like “Smooth tempo”, “Finish the sentence”, “Breathe out” or “See it, throw it”.

Narrow focus reduces mental overload and restores control and working memory can only hold so much. One clear cue reduces overload and improves consistency, especially in high-pressure moments.

So when the pressure is high, your confidence feels shaky or you’re trying to do too much, DO ONE JOB and one job only!

Focus isn’t about trying harder or paying attention to everything. If you eliminate the red Xs, it’s easy to count the yellow stars. Trying to do both is wasted time and energy.

Great performance is about choosing the yellow stars…on purpose…over and over again.

And yes, just like anything else, that skill can be trained.

I’m in Columbus again this weekend! If you know a softball coach in Ohio, send them to the OHSFSCA Coaches Clinic at the Hilton at Easton! I’ll be there with over 800 of my closest softball coaching friends and we’ll talk about using yellow stars to improve our performance and more!

Here’s to seeing stars…and becoming one in the meantime!

Julie

P.S. Want more ideas on how to improve focus? Reach out now and let’s design something that fits exactly what you need. Shoot me an email or text – juliej@ssbperformance.com or 234-206-0946

Julie Jones

Mental Performance Coach

SSB Performance

www.ssbperformance.com

juliej@ssbperformance.com • 234-206-0946