Best

It is our internal discussion that sometimes gets us out of bed before hitting the snooze button, calms us before we give a big clue to our superiors, or helps us ignore snacks between meals. Did you know that this forgotten exchange is being honed by athletes to outrun their opponents?

The way athletes think, feel, and talk to themselves has an enormous impact on their performance. Athletes are trained to master their inner dialogue to improve their confidence and awareness of their stadiums. However, these technologies can be applied by anyone, of any age, in any profession.

Everyone goes through an internal dialogue, which sports psychologists define as self-talk; This includes the deliberate or random things we say to ourselves throughout the day. We might say these things out loud or silently. Either way, they facilitate or hinder an individual's performance in equal measure.

Are you aware of your self-talk?
Athletes first develop an awareness of their self-talk so that they are better able to understand whether the ideas they have are helpful or hindrance to their performance.

Athletes are taught to focus on processes, not outcomes; Focus on the present, not the past or the future; And focus on strengths rather than shortcomings. Simply put, the focus of self-talk is on being aware of what you, as an individual, can control.

Cue positive self-talk
When self-talk errors occur, athletes refocus with cue words or phrases. The signals act as a reminder of perfect focus by interrupting random noise and aligning the train of thought with current goals.

One can create signals by identifying the relevant factors that they need to focus on in order to carry out a successful performance. For example, a golfer might say "eyes on the ball" to direct his attention to related cues.

Additionally, by reviewing past successful performances and describing what they felt, thought, or focused on during the said performance, the athlete can pull words or phrases from this description to use as consistent cues.

As much as keywords are helpful in ranking ideas, they also help disrupt unnecessary ideas. If someone is easily distracted by weather conditions, which are beyond his control, they can use a hint that reminds them to refocus.

An athlete can use techniques for thinking pauses, such as saying "pause" or visualizing a pause, and then executing their word in order to refocus.

Positive word choice
Mathematicians also view word choice as a parameter in useful self-talk. People tend to overlook that even if statements do not seem innately negative, they can be harmful, specifically, by using “no” statements.

Athletes often find their ideas directed toward what they don't want to do, as opposed to what they want to do. "Don't miss this goal," "don't fall off the balance beam," or "don't write off" are very common, yet harmful, ways to talk to oneself.

The thoughts and images we deny are directly related to movement and motor performance. While an athlete may not view these as negative, by ultimately focusing on an outcome that he does not want to happen, they increase the likelihood of it occurring.

The best athletes use self-talk that guides them toward what they want to do. For example, instead of saying "don't hit," they carry out a self-talk that directs them in the way they want to swing the bat, where they want their focus to be, or even simply say, "Hit the ball."

Another constant mistake is setting unrealistic expectations on oneself and using must-or-should-statements. For example, an athlete might say, "I should be shooting this shot" or "I should be able to hit this shot" I should say as I should and have to add more pressure.

Small changes to the wording can make a big difference. Phrases that use language that builds confidence will facilitate an athlete's performance. For example, "I can shoot this shot" or "I'm going to hit this knockout." Athletes who make these minor changes reap the benefits of confidence and consistency.

Other common self-talk mistakes include intimidation (automatically expecting the worst), assignment (blaming oneself whenever anything negative happens), and polarization (thinking all-or-nothing).

“I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” – Maya Angelou (Author/Poet) Src: https://www.overallmotivation.com/quotes/successful-women-quotes/

This can cause an athlete to give up after making one mistake, have a hard time letting go of mistakes when they happen, or take full responsibility for things even when there are factors beyond his control. Athletes are taught to reformulate these ideas to be more realistic, thus allowing them to maintain focus and confidence in the moment.