Sports Psychology Tricks That You Can Implement Yourself
The advances that we enjoy today in terms of technology have definitely increased a number of aspects of our quality of life, but, in perhaps more subtle ways, they have also chipped away in other areas. Direct interpersonal contact, social avoidance, and physical movement are just a few of the areas that spring to mind in the latter category.
Growing Your Circle of Influence
When we focus on the things that we can influence in the present moment, and stop worrying about those that we can’t, we increase our circle of influence and shrink the one related to concern. In sports this is known as a process goal: implementing an action or series of actions that helps lead to the outcome we desire. Take the sports betting NZ has to offer for example: we can control how much research we do before the wager is placed, but cannot directly influence the outcome thereafter.
Doing Daily Goals to Get Started
Every morning when you and I awake we can choose the energy with which we will head into our days. This can be utilised in order to focus, direct, and drive our intentions towards achieving things that day -or not. What certainly helps is having some kind of framework by which our energy can be channelled, like, for example, creating a set of goals related to daily performance.
Start Examining Your Self Talk
When you start trying to influence the sports psychology tricks that work for top athletes, focussing on your self talk is a great way to begin. It is best to use full, clear sentences that your mind will grasp and understand quickly, and, gradually, you can evolve through to using single words. For example:
Today my energy will be direct, honourable, and free-flowing can become direct, or honourable.
Today I will stay open, curious, and be interested in learning can become open, or curious.
Today I will focus my attention on connecting with others can become connection.
Putting Imagery and Visualisation to Work for Your
Many top athletes favour imagery and visualisation. A daily process goal which anyone can put into practice is to take a little time every morning to sit down and imagine how we want our energy to be focused for the upcoming day. Imagine getting energised by the tasks that lie before you, and the pleasure you will feel at getting things done. Seeing and sensing this energy becomes more possible when we generate it in our imaginations first.
Sit, for example, and think about accomplishing something really well, picture yourself smiling while you do it, or being very confident in its execution. You could even sing while you did it -especially if the task is one that does not need much concentration. Visualise your body language, and take note of your posture. Make sure your head is up, your eyes are bright, your energy is flowing unobstructed, your focus is on the task ahead of you, and that you, most importantly, are enjoying it.
The world’s top athletes can’t be wrong -try some of these tricks and see if they make a difference to your every day.