I have been working in Sports Psychology for a number of years now. The London Olympics 2012 dramatically increased the demand for sports psychology which enabled me to work with some fabulous individuals in this arena over the last 6 years, although I have been interested in this field for over 16 years, the market wasn’t quite ready for it at the level it is now.
Emotion is seen as a component that can make or break a performance. In fact it is often referred to as the key component which will facilitate or restrict any athlete’s flow of potential and ultimately their performance.
In any given event a person’s performance is determined by not only their talents, information and skill set but by the way they feel about all the aspects of their event they are performing in and their life in general. It is thus governed by emotion and belief. Those athlete’s who have an unshakeable belief in themselves go on to acquire the best results.
This is because both the fear of failure and the fear of success itself can short out a person’s circuits. Add to that the emotion of anger and one can find themselves a long way off their goal point. In some circumstances, even fear of actual physical pain can also short-circuit success. This is why in short I would argue that emotion is the key component to an athlete reaching his/her true potential. We have seen that negative emotions can short circuit performance and hinder goals and we also know that emotions tend to creep up on us at the best of times more so when there are 1000’s of eyes on you and the pressure of your next signing bonus is in the back of your mind. Being able to control one’s emotions, readjust negative self-beliefs and control our response to pressure is a winning formula to the success you have always wanted.
We can definitely conclude that fear is a limiting emotional pattern as it prevents one reaching their full potential and ultimate performance capability, but then how does one achieve success. It goes back to the basic formula for achievement (as we saw in my first article) is based on developing one’s own success consciousness, i.e. having a clear idea of what you want to achieve and that which you desire. The key component here is not only believing that you can achieve it but the I can and I will determination you exhibit coupled with an unshakeable belief in yourself. This behaviour is guaranteed to result in achievement.
Emotion is paired with self-image and belief and one’s self-image is seen as the most complex of attitudes for the very fact that it has been inbuilt into one’s mental processes over a long period of time by a variety of sources not all positive and nurturing. It is because of this that perceptions of oneself are generally distorted. As humans, our brains don’t objectively analyse facts but we bring emotions into our interpretations along with others opinions which also rely on their emotions, perceptions and baggage, unfortunately that baggage is not Louis Vuitton!
I would say more often than not a person’s belief system could be seen as being unreliable because thought processes which have been built, strengthened and adjusted over the years of self-image have not been an accurate record. I am often quoted as saying “Perception is Everything” and here is a good example of that in application as the perception given to you by others can be very different from objective analysis of the facts. Unfortunately, the brain tends to believe what it hears on repeat allowing distortion of facts due to the compounding of information by the environment, media and self-belief.
However, with the right mental attitude, you can use this to your advantage with positive affirmations to reinstil a positive unshakeable belief in yourself – enabling you to metaphorically leap moutains in a single bound. If you are feeling adventurous in your affirmations throw in a little joy and harmony and you have most of the key ingredients for successful employment of mind power. This is because joy is considered a lubricant of the mind allowing muscles, nerves and heart to function at optimum. It is thought to flow through entire being, toning a person up and making for quick responsive co-ordination. Joy works with body, mind and soul to produce rhythmic flow enabling perfect timing and attunement resulting in a superior skill set working at optimum.
I would finish here by saying, success is achieved only by those who try, the fact that you are reading this article shows that you are already on the road to upping your game by employing mind training as well as physical training.
Sloan Sheridan-Williams
As a Media Personality & International Speaker I get to transform 1000's of lives and as such my work is not a job. I've been in this industry for 15 years. Every day I get to share my message and inspire those who want the best out of their relationships to go out and get it be it through my magazine SLOAN!, my book Slap Fear In The Face, my membership site Get The Sauce, my seminars, social media @sloanloves and also Sloan VIP Club which has exciting things in store for you. I help people reclaim their power, get more of what they want out of life & less of what they don't want. I consider myself an Empowerment Coach. Others refer to me as a - Radio Personality, International Speaker, Editor-in-Chief, Success Coach, Clinical Hypnotherapist, Wellness Consultant, VIP Coach, Freelance Journalist, Brand Ambassador, Author & retired Solicitor. But really I'm just Sloan, a mamapreneur who loves life and loves connecting with others.