So What's In It For Me? - "Sports Psychology for Dummies" #3

Achieving and maintaining peak performance through mental toughness is not an easy or short-term goal. This fact was discussed in the last post, which outlined the need for a firm commitment from anyone wishing to obtain such abilities. Many times though, individuals find that high level goals--such as mental toughness--can be intimidating, difficult to achieve, and frustratingly unclear, almost mystic. "Sure," you may think,  "mental toughness sounds great, but what's in it for me and how do I start down this road? And how will I know when I am making progress? How is this measured anyway?" All of these questions are typical and are addressed in sports psychology. What's in it for you is the ability to:

• Manage performance anxiety
• Use visualization and imagery to improve your performance
• Increase and maintain your confidence
• Improve and maintain your level of motivation
• Relax under pressure
• Set and achieve goals
• Manage your energy levels
• Use routines to be consistent in your performance
• Bounce back from injuries and setbacks
• Manage and address conflicts with coaches and teammates
• Focus in critical moments and extend the duration of your concentration 

Sounds great, right? The benefits of using sport psychology to increase mental toughness are many and now that they have been clarified, the next step involves getting started. An important piece of getting started involves setting goals. This may sound quite simple, after all, we all set goals frequently. But the goals to set to increase performance and mental toughness need to be particularly effective, specific, and measurable. Not the "trial and error" approach we see every day, effective goals have certain things in common. Some tips to set effective goals include the following:

• Begin with the end in mind. Figure out what you want to accomplish, and work your way backward.
• Set deadlines and timeframes to keep yourself motivated.
• After setting your goals, make sure you focus on your processes (how you intend to accomplish those goals).
• Make sure your goals are measurable. For example, instead of saying you want to "get faster," say that you want to "improve my 40-yard dash time by 0.3 seconds."
• Set both long-term and short-term goals. Your short-term goals should lead you to your long-term goals.
• Make your goals public. The more people who are aware of your goals, the more people who will be there to support you and hold you accountable along the way.

These types of goals will help keep you motivated, help you know when you are making progress, and help you measure that progress. Effective goal setting is not only a great way to start down the path towards increased athletic performance and mental toughness through sports psychology, but also a great way to demystify the process of achieving it!

For more information on this topic, see chapter one of the book Sports Psychology for Dummies or call me at The Athletic Mind Institute, http://www.athleticmindinstitute.com/.