Monkey on Your Shoulder, or Wind at Your Back: Your Choice Article by Steve Baker
To a large degree our lives are shaped by our perception of our selves. ‘What we envision is what we get.’ Do we say: ‘I can.’ ‘I will.’ or ‘That's too hard.’ ‘I can't.’? Think for a few seconds ... are you always positive? Is there room for improvement? Are you always too critical of yourself? If this is the case can you correct it? I know of no single factor that more greatly affects our ability to run well than the image we have of ourselves. As Lynch and Scott put it: ‘This lack of belief in your ability to perform is your opponent’s greatest advantage.’ Self doubt and fear are part of any competitive situation and affects all athletes. That is natural. However, unless you learn how to cope, these fears and doubts will decide the outcome of a training program or event for you, and the likelihood that you will achieve your goals isn't good. Before we can fight these psychological demons we must acknowledge them. Until we admit this, we have a problem that can not be rectified. In most cases our fears and doubts can be traced to a single root: most of us do not have enough confidence, and / or many of the limits, illusions and barriers we imagine are often for our unconscious convenience! Understand, we are not freaks. Well, you’re not, I am not so sure about myself! We are human, we are normal. The average person's confidence like the tide, 'ebbs and flows'. These ups and downs are largely determined by our last performance, practice, or what we are going through in life at present. We have to better our odds of coming to a practice, or to the starting line, breathing fire, as opposed to feeling like dirt.
How can this best be achieved? The most dramatic changes that take place, occur when we abandon a concept of self which had previously limited our performance. ‘You begin to realize that many of your limiting beliefs about what can or cannot be done are simple preconceived restrictions and attitudes taught to you by your parents, teachers, and friends, and others during your formative years, with no objective basis in reality.’ Seek, find, and then let go of the concepts, possibly deep rooted and reinforced by these comments from others and those limiting images that we may have built up, which prevent us from seeing and hence achieving our greatest potential. Imagine trying to train, or run a race, while carrying a ‘Walkman’ playing: ‘You're never going to make it.’ ‘Your not a distance runner.’ ‘What do you think you look like?’ ‘Why bother. It's not worth the pain.’ ‘These other guys are much better than you.’! What would that do to your performance, your chance of sticking to a training program, or achieving a PB? You wouldn't stand a chance in a million, and yet many of us all too frequently go to training and races listening to these and other tapes! It’s a fact: You and I, everyone, become what we think about most. We’re always moved, and all too frequently motivated by and in the direction of our currently dominant thoughts. It’s scary, but exciting, because it can be changed. Major breakthroughs will come to those of you who train the mind on a regular basis. ‘Although it may require only 10 minutes daily to train the mind, you must do so with the same enthusiasm and commitment you devote to your physical development.’
Very few athletes really believe the tremendous significance of the importance of their psychological mind-set to their performance. It is not just an influence, it is everything.
Fragile as crystal to begin with, our self confidence is further eroded by factors so subtle and so ingrained that most of us are not aware that they even exist. Though the issue is complex, to say the least, it's crux is simple. ‘We equate success and failure [in sport ] with winning and losing. By doing so, we set ourselves up for failure. In our society our self-worth is all too often judged on winning and losing. It's not how well we performed, but ‘Was I faster / better than ...... ?’ The problem is that on focusing on beating or being better than ... we are trying to compete with something that we have no control over: the performance of others. At best this is a constant source of frustration. At worst, it is a crippling blow to our self-esteem. Remember that you alone are not responsible for the outcome of an athletic event. We have to evaluate ourselves only on the basis of our own performance. ‘If you do everything that you can do in terms of your own performance, the best that you are capable of right now, the outcome will take care of itself.’ Just focus on being the best you can be. ‘It is important to understand that the mind cannot help you to overcome your REAL limitations; it does, however, allow you to go beyond what you THINK are your limits.’ And believe me, the difference is quite amazing.
How to think like a winner. The most readily identifiable quality that we seek is an overall attitude of personal optimism and enthusiasm. Winners understand the mind / body / spirit relationship. They know that life is a self-fulfilling prophecy; that a person usually gets what he or she actively expects. So, use positive self-talk and vocalize your optimism and positive expectancy , on a daily basis. We must always be mindful that our daily conversation is the automatic readout of our thoughts and subconscious emotions. That alone encourages or stiffles performance. In life there is no replay, no time-out, no going back, no substitutes and the clock is always running. As the proverb goes: ‘That which you fear or expect most will likely come to pass. The body manifests what the mind harbours.’ It’s our choice: live in the present, concentrate on the solution not the problem. All of your actions are controlled by your current dominant thoughts. The things we fear most will come to pass. If you fear an actual outcome you set that up as your goal! Dwell on your dreams and desires, rewards of success, not on your limitations, penalties of failure. It’s your choice: ‘With my luck, I was bound to fail.’ or ‘I was good today. I’ll be better tomorrow’. Losers live in the past. Winners learn from the past, and work in the present, and that way the future looks after itself. Losing is an habit but so is winning. Maintain your focus whenever you face any kind of setback. You have already come a long way. ‘Not only are a few failures and setbacks inaccurate indications of your abilities and potential, they very well may be the key to your greatest breakthroughs and successes. Put it on the line, be courageous, take the risk to fail, and experience successes. Avoiding such a risk may seem emotionally sound at first, but in the long run it will be there to haunt you. Today’s failure won’t matter in 10 years, but failing to go for it might.’ ‘ ... what’s lost by not trying and what’s lost by not succeeding are two very different things.’ Associate with winners not toxic people. Winners see rainbows ... loser see storms. Winners earn respect ... losers seek attention. Winners train and gain ... losers complain.
Understand I am not talking about a tension free life. That is not possible. In a completely tension free state, you are either fast asleep, on the wrong side of half-a-dozen draught Guiness, or dead. Tension of the positive variety, as opposed to stress, is fine and can be a powerful motivator. It’s how you deal with the tension that determines whether you're a winner or a loser: your motivation. You and I are motivated every day. Motivation is an inside job. Each of us in life is self-motivated, a little or a lot, positively or negatively. Even a decision to do nothing is a decision based on motivation. A motive is defined as something inside, not outside, that excites us to action. It’s a need, an emotion, idea or state that prompts an action. Motivation can be learned or developed it does not have to be inborn. Many wrongly think that motivation is extraneous and can be pumped in from the outside by pep-talks, contests and medals. These can help, but only with your acceptance. Reward has to be understood and internalized before there is motivation. Winners dwell on the rewards of success not the penalty of failure. Why would anyone try to motivate him / herself, or anyone else, with the reverse of what they want? Yet that all too frequently is the case: ‘You must not fail the team.’ ‘What will they think?’. ‘I must not go out too fast.’ ‘I must not stick my butt out.’ ‘I must not make a fool of myself.’ Sound familiar? Well let us change it today. ‘Run smoothly, under control.’ ‘Breath in energy from the sky, through the top of my head, and from the earth through the soles of your feet.’
Use fear motivation only as a last resort in times of physical danger. Modified fear motivation in these cases can be ok. Fear can save your life, but, as a way of life has a destructive side effect.
If you haven’t already, start now: ‘I want to - I can.’ ‘I want to - I can. I will’. Replace the word try, built-in excuse in advance for possible failure, with will in your daily vocabulary. Focus your attention and energy on what you are involved in right now. Forget about the consequences of failure. Focus on the process as opposed to the outcome. Replace fear of failure with desire for success. ‘Don’t fight with yourself when failure, the teacher, pays an unexpected visit.’ Open up and use it as a learning experience. That way failure does not exist.
I want to. I can. I am. Have the courage to risk failure, learn from set-backs, and bomb on. ‘You must be willing to lose before you can win.’ Use training, and racing if you wish, to gain greater self-awareness. Enjoy running for the pleasure it gives. ‘Simply perform like the well-trained athlete you are. Don’t obsess about the results; set your body free to do what it does best, what you have trained it to do. Free of judgement or criticism, let the mind dance with what the body already knows how to do from all the miles of running. Enjoy the dance, the flow, the process.’
There is help, but remember: ‘Like a parachute, the mind works best when open.’ Breathing meditations, visualization, and positive affirmations / self-talk along with your physical training will work wonders. Practice these often neglected skills on a regular basis will assure you that they will work for you when you need them most - during tough workouts, pre-race warm-ups, while racing, or while recovering from an injury.
Doubt and fear are not just the result of misguided focus, they often have physical roots. I think the athletes that are more inclined to be bothered by fear and self-doubt are the ones that know down deep that they haven't done all they could do to prepare themselves. Sound preparation, with realistic short term goals, does wonders in dispelling fears and self-doubt.
Training is work, but do not confuse work with misery. Know that frowning creates tension throughout the entire body and such stress makes one tired. It is not possible to frown and run with good form. Did you know that smiling produces endorphins and uses less muscles than frowning? If your motivation is low, perhaps there is a paucity of fun in your training program. Running must be enjoyable. ‘... if the dance of the run isn't fun then discover another dance, because without fun the good of the run is undone, and a suffering runner quits, sooner or later.’
Inhale ... strength, grace and joy. Exhale ... mental and bodily aches and pain. The world’s positive energy is there for us to discover, and tap into. There is plenty to go around. On the contrary, the more it’s used ... the greater the source!
What a concept. Test it.
Bibliography: Embracing Your Potential ... Terry Orlick, PhD.
The Psychology of Winning ... Denis E. Waitley. PhD.
Running Within ... Jerry Lynch, PhD. Warren A. Scott, MD.
The Sweet Spot In Time ... John Jerome.
The Total Runner ... Jerry Lynch, PhD.