I fell into a trap today, totally forgetting about COVID-19. It was nice…until I realized we still need to protect my father and community and keep in mind that we are not yet out of the woods.
But for a short time, I was seeing what I wanted to see…normalcy, others moving forward with life as we used to know it…people smiling (which clearly means they were not wearing a mask)…I found what I wanted to see which can be good and bad. I was feeling confident...but a bit unjustly!
In our mindset workshop for coaches this week, we focused on CONFIDENCE. When one of your colleagues mentioned this as a topic of discussion in our time together, I thought, ABSOLUTELY…great topic. Then I thought about it more.
What tools can we use to build the confidence of others or help promote growth in our athletes’ confidence? The more I thought about it, the more I realized how intertwined confidence is in all the things we focus on in mindset training, including seeing what we want to see!
So here is where I started – AWARENESS!
Awareness? Really? Big whoop! Aren’t most people with low confidence keenly aware of this fact?
Most are, as we have so often seen in our athletes. They are constantly finding the “proof” they need to make a downward spiral. Low confidence…“see, I told you so”…poor performance…and the loop continues.
But, if we can get them to recognize their thoughts/self-talk, behavior, focus, body language, etc. when things are spinning on the downward swing and ask them to write them down - they become AWARE.
Next, getting them to recognize and acknowledge the same things when things are going well, we can get them to recognize their desirable and undesirable actions and LOOK FOR THE POSITIVES, no matter how small they may be.
Get them to look for the good stuff. They have to admit there are good times. Then, the are forced to think about how they feel during those times. This allows them to revisit the good and attach images and feelings to them which reconnect them to both sides of their brain, building positive pathways. THIS IS GOOD and the only way to effect change.
It seems so simple and insignificant. However, reminding ourselves of our successes is a start. Obviously, there is way more to building confidence. But, getting ourselves to acknowledge
and look for bright spots, positives, good stuff, we can start to shift mindsets one small step at a time.
Is this the end-all, be-all tool? Of course not. Is it a small step in a complex issue our athletes face that effects their performance and overall well-being.
Stay tuned for a deeper dive into how awareness leads to better performance...and a better life!