4 sports psychology tips to help you with everyday life
Even if you’ve never set foot inside a gym or on a sports field, sports psychology principles can help improve your life.
Most professional sports teams have a dedicated psychologist to help their athletes train better. Apart from physical strength and agility, success as an athlete also requires mental strength. Imagine the pressure of performing in front of crowds, with money, prestige and your fans’ hopes on the line. The intensity of this high-performance culture is bound to require some mental mettle.
While sports psychologists typically work with elite athletes, many of their insights apply to everyday life. We asked psychologist Clinton Gahwiler, who runs the Psychology Practice of the Sports Science Institute of South Africa (SSISA), for his top four tips to apply to improve our professional and personal lives.
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FOCUS ON THE PROCESS RATHER THAN THE OUTCOME
‘Use your goals to give you direction and motivation,’ says Clinton. However, he cautions not to focus only on the outcome. Rather evaluate your progress based on how you apply yourself and the steps you are taking daily. ‘This is the only aspect of achieving your goal that is under your control,’ he explains. ‘Outcomes are influenced by several variables, only a few of which are in your control. Focusing on process means you know you have done all you can, and alleviates the uncertainty, anxiety and pressure of feeling responsible for the outcome.’
‘Use your goals to give you direction and motivation,’ says Clinton. However, he cautions not to focus only on the outcome. Rather evaluate your progress based on how you apply yourself and the steps you are taking daily. ‘This is the only aspect of achieving your goal that is under your control,’ he explains. ‘Outcomes are influenced by several variables, only a few of which are in your control. Focusing on process means you know you have done all you can, and alleviates the uncertainty, anxiety and pressure of feeling responsible for the outcome.’
STRENGTHEN YOUR MENTAL SKILLS
Strengthen your mental skills such as focus, mindfulness and relaxation. ‘These are skills that athletes must acquire to navigate team dynamics, remain calm and be able to make quick, effective decisions under pressure,’ states Clinton.
Everyone can benefit from developing these skills over time and with regular practice. ‘Just think how useful they would be when one has to focus in a noisy office or navigate tricky relationships with colleagues or family members,’ he says. Clinton recommends meditation and deep-breathing exercises that calm your nervous system.
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‘One clever trick athletes use to improve focus is to blink several times rapidly, then squeeze the eyes shut and open them very wide, about four or five times.’
PRACTISE ACCURATE THINKING
We probably believe we practise accurate thinking, but many of us adopt either a positive, affirmation based-approach to life, in which we focus on a positive outcome only or a catastrophic thinking mode, where our mind jumps to the worse possible outcome. Both are discouraged.
We probably believe we practise accurate thinking, but many of us adopt either a positive, affirmation based-approach to life, in which we focus on a positive outcome only or a catastrophic thinking mode, where our mind jumps to the worse possible outcome. Both are discouraged.
‘Accurate thinking is about seeing things as they really are, in order to respond appropriately to life,’ says Clinton. ‘If I say “I will win”, that would be inaccurate as I am not a fortune teller, and it is not guaranteed, no matter how good I am. Similarly, making negative predictions are also inaccurate.’ Simply acknowledging that you cannot know the outcome of a particular situation or goal is a step in the right direction.
DON’T PUT ALL YOUR EGGS IN ONE BASKET
An enriching life is one in which we have multiple areas of interest from which we derive meaning. ‘Don’t define yourself purely in terms of one aspect of your life,’ says Clinton. If there is something you long to have or achieve or an area of life that consumes all of your attention (say, winning gold if you happen to be an athlete, or if you’re not meeting your soul mate or nabbing that promotion), this can lead to a very imbalanced mental state that lacks resilience.
An enriching life is one in which we have multiple areas of interest from which we derive meaning. ‘Don’t define yourself purely in terms of one aspect of your life,’ says Clinton. If there is something you long to have or achieve or an area of life that consumes all of your attention (say, winning gold if you happen to be an athlete, or if you’re not meeting your soul mate or nabbing that promotion), this can lead to a very imbalanced mental state that lacks resilience.
‘Enrich your life with experiences and meaning in more than one area. This takes the pressure off as you have other sources of self-worth, identity, or even income, and lessons the likelihood of burnout.’
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