Peak Performers INVEST in themselves

You Invest in the best training – some spend weeks and even years locating the trainer with the expertise and background and motivation style to suit.

Invest in the best food – we know more than ever about peak performance nutrition and the body.

NOW invest in the best thoughts -- The mind is a powerful resource. People often miss the potential of the mind. Obstacles are often imagined more than real. Only you can control and use one of your most powerful tools – your imagination.

Self-awareness as you are evolving – question what you think and what you believe until you don’t question it any more. Accept it as your belief ONLY until new information comes in.

Celebrate your accomplishments – not to the point that your coach can’t work with you because your head is bigger than your body! Yes – you want to get better and better – mediocrity is NOT an option. Take a moment not and then to acknowledge the small wins – rest in accomplishment before you move on. Take time to acknowledge and celebrate the wins along the way.

Worry – Junk food for the mind -- What happens when someone worries? Basically, we think of 100 reasons why something might go wrong – and some do it easily and really, really well! All of those thoughts then struggle to become things, sometimes overriding their more constructive thoughts. It's like a train wreck. Ain't pretty. But that's the power of worry. If you think you’re beaten – you are!

Take responsibility for your stories – not sabotaging others with rhetoric of blame, finger-pointing, criticizing others or yourself and negativity that is debilitating. When you walk on that field or into a match or on that court have a calm and focused mind.

Many of our habitual stories are about excuses. Time, money, too young, too old, too hot, too cold….. Bring your newfound awareness to seek the productive in your stories (internal and external). Get curious about the excuses – often they are false!

Visualization -- We use visualization tactics with our peak performance athletic clients as well as organizational clients. Use the "contrast" – what isn’t working – to feed your clarity and visualization exercises to help you get past. Visualizing what you need to do during games will program your mind so that when the pressure is on, you can still play with a calm, reassuring feeling within the craziness of a typical football game. When asked what he'll do the night before Super Bowl XL, Steelers wide receiver, Hines Ward, said he'll sit back and visualize the entire game.

He said he goes over specific plays in his mind. He envisions running his routes perfectly, looking the ball in and crossing the goal line for the score. He sees the play in his mind as if it is happening right now so that it feels entirely real. Then, during the game, it all flows much more naturally because to the subconscious mind, each successful play and catch is already a reality. Things can still go wrong on game day -- You're still a human being prone to mistakes. But it will overwhelmingly help you to improve during times of stress or nervousness.

Coaches can benefit from visualization, also. There are many things a coach must deal with on football game day. A ref's call can get you so mad you almost forget where you are. A player can make a mistake on the very thing you've been preaching on all week and you can lose your composure if you're not aware.

Coaches and players need to be on top of their emotions. For example, if your quarterback comes off the field during a timeout and you're losing it and going crazy, he can take that on and become nervous and worked up when on the field. However, if you can talk to him just like you would during a normal practice, he feels calm and relaxed. You're subtle message then is one of confidence - just go out and perform as he does during practice.

So, visualize yourself in this way before each practice and each game. Visualize situations that could cause you to lose your composure. As you visualize this, see yourself responding in a composed manner. In your mind, you know you're upset, but you keep a calm head and respond productively and positively. You give your players the message that you all will get through the tough situation and turn it into a positive. You model the attitudes and behaviour of a champion.

"Try out your ideas by visualizing them in action." - David Seabury

"See things as you would have them be instead of as they are." - Robert Collier

"Visualization and belief in a pattern of reality, activates the creative power of realization." - A. L. Linall, Jr.

"Surely there is grandeur in knowing that in the realm of thought, at least, you are without a chain; that you have the right to explore all heights and depth; that there are no walls nor fences, nor prohibited places, nor sacred corners in all the vast expanse of thought... "

• Robert Green Ingersoll

About the Author: Judith Richardson, MA, BA, B.Ed, MEC

Recipient of International Coach of the Year, Canadian Progress Club Women of Excellence Award as Entrepreneur and Innovator, and the Saint Mary’s Distinguished Community Service Award, Judith works and plays across North America, Europe, Jamaica, Siberia, Australia, Sweden, Israel and Russia. As CEO & Principle of PONO Consultants International Inc, Judith Richardson is a recognized Organizational Strategist and Executive Coach, inspirational speaker, and influential teacher. She combines exuberant optimism and play with seriously-honed skills, limitless thinking, a piercing intelligence and an uncanny ability to weave in concrete concepts – grounding vision when we aren’t even aware of it. www.ponoconsultants.com

Permission is granted to copy or distribute this article in its entirety as long as this copyright notice and full information about contacting the author is attached. For permission to reproduce specific articles, send an email to: judith@ponoconsultants.com ©2010 Judith Richardson. All rights reserved.

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