pressure is a privilege
How do you view pressure in sport performance? {via Matt Fitzgerald} Like stress, pressure often comes with a negative association – but the truth is it could be good and bad. The way you perceive pressure matters if it’s detrimental to performance or can be a benefit.
research-to-practice
Personal Construct Theory (Kelly, 1955) explains the way we experience the world and interpret and anticipate events. Our experiences are individualistic and different from each other. This information we gather then determines our self beliefs. And how we feel about ourselves (self-esteem, self-concept) and events (self-confidence) can determine achievement (or challenges). So what pressure is to you, will be different to someone else. Similarly, what you feel is a success might not be a success to someone else. In sum, keep your eyes on your own paper… err, experiences and perception of those experiences.
mental break
60 Minutes re-aired its fantastic January interview with Rafael Nadal last weekend, and there are SO many good things about mental training in this segment: Focus, motivation, performance routines, rivalry, emotional control, energy management, and self-belief… You can check out the Nadal interview here – but take time to watch the additional 60 Minutes Overtime videos on the page, too.
book recommendation
I recently completed my thesis study on athlete burnout (*confetti emoji*), and I’m throwing back to this ol’ goodie from the man who started it all (and by “it” I mean the psychologist who brought the word burnout to us): Herbert Freudenberger’s book “Burnout.” Can we just for a second step away from the foundational content and swoon over its vintage cover?!
My edition has the cool 70s era, blockbuster movie-like cover.
mindful moment
When I work with my mindfulness groups, I love sharing the different ways that we can practice being mindful (spoiler alert: it doesn’t have to be a formal meditation practice). And it’s often most people find they’ve already introduced some mindfulness practices into their life without even realizing it’s mindfulness. This excellent mindfulness resource was shared with me this week from TAO and shows some of these examples.