We all want to find ways to increase our mental game to compete our best on game day. And while we can’t always control outcomes, we can control how we prepare and what tools we use to get in the right mind space before and during competition.  Finding that sweet spot requires a performance mindset. 

What is a Performance Mindset?

A performance mindset is a way of seeing performance as a collection of small, controllable steps and skills, and prioritizing those which are necessary to succeed. Think of a performance mindset like putting gas in your car the night before a long drive.  The task of filling up the tank is essential to having a successful road trip.  Forget to fill it up?  Chances are, your drive won’t be too fun. 

We’ve all had it, that niggling voice that discourages us before or during competition.  Self-talk is our inner narrator, and when it directs our attention to destructive thoughts or feelings, it can deep-six our performance levels.  Thankfully, mindfulness training teaches us an easy way to strip power from this kind of talk, and separate ourselves from its consequences. Mindfulness teaches us to shift away our attention away from analysis or judgement, and toward observation and acceptance.  An analytical mind evaluates and reacts.  It examines the past, it anticipates the future.  It worries and it avoids.  The observing mindset merely notices and accepts.  It doesn’t get hooked by negativity or try to change an undesirable thought or event, it neutralizes it by letting it pass by, like a leaf in a stream. “I’m not good enough,” is a prototypical example of negative self-talk and, like nearly all negative self-talk, it’s analytical.  It’s an assessment of...

To become resilient, routine and mental health are paramount.  Let’s dive into a practice that achieves both, and create a Healthy Daily Mental Health Routine.  

Morning Routine: Set Your Intention

Starting the day with an intention can be a very positive, a very important first step.  So often, we just wake up and we let the day, and the stress of the day, hit us without thinking of how we want to be, how we want to respond. Some of the best athletes and the best leaders that I’ve worked with set their intention for the day when they wake up in the morning.  They think through what the day might look like.  They think through how they want to navigate it, how they want to be. They can’t control what comes at them, but they can control how they want to respond, and the type of person that they want to be—living more closely to their values, being the leader that they want to be.  By setting that intention, they’re gi...