Playing a sport in childhood has umpteen benefits. Besides stretching and strengthening your muscles, sport also nurtures perseverance and focus and builds resilience and teamwork. In fact, continuing to play a sport through adulthood may be a good idea as life skills you gain while competing can hold you in good stead in other contexts as well.
Impact of sports psychology
But even elite athletes have bad days and setbacks. Many of them turn to sports psychologists to help them get through bleak spells. Kendra Cherry writes in a blog post on verywellmind that sports psychology deals with the “psychological variables” that impact athletic performance. It tackles facets like “anxiety, focus, motivation, visualization, stress and resilience” which can make or mar a sports person’s career. However, these psychological factors aren’t limited to the world of sport.
In an article in The New York Times, Christina Caron avers that sportspersons benefit from psychological inputs because performance on the track or court depends on both physical and mental prowess. Further, these strategies aren’t applicable only to pros. Ordinary folk, like you and me, can also glean lessons that can hold us in good stead at a job interview or a crucial client meeting.
Always have a Plan B
Caron interviews Carla Meijen, a sports psychologist who recommends always having a Plan B. Rather than becoming fixated on a singular goal, like gunning for a specific promotion, keep your options open. If you become Director, like you hoped, well and good. But have a “silver goal” to pursue if your Plan A falls through. Being open to “alternative possibilities” makes you more flexible and resilient.
“Think positive” is probably one of the most bandied around self-help platitudes. Caron reminds us to zero on ‘helpful’ rather than just “positive thoughts.” If you are answering questions at the end of a presentation and you think of how cogently you spoke, that’s likely to distract you from focusing on the questions. Rather than telling yourself to “think positive,” try to focus on thoughts that will aid you in your current endeavor. Thus, during the Q & A after your presentation, instead of paying heed to extraneous thoughts, just listen with intention to the questions and answer them thoughtfully.
Sports psychologists, according to Caron, also recommend visualizing yourself performing a task that is important to you. If you have a presentation, imagine yourself delivering the last slide with confidence. Then work backwards, visualizing yourself doing a great job on the presentation. You may also see yourself doing it with panache from “start to finish.” If you are nervous about presenting a particular slide, spend more time imagining yourself speaking confidently
Connect with a core self
The next strategy is to delink our identities from our performance, says Caron. Of course, this can be hard to put into practice. But start by reframing unhelpful thoughts. For example, if we make a mistake while forecasting sales trends, don’t berate yourself with statements like “I’m no good at my job” or “I suck.” Instead ask yourself what went amiss. Did you fail to include some relevant data or were there other factors that contributed to the incorrect forecast? Only if you are in a calm state of mind, will you be able to perform a balanced analysis. At a deep level, you need to know that your self-worth does not hinge on any single outcome.
Sports psychology can also foster teamwork, both on and off the field. Dr. Paul McCarthy, a sports psychologist, writes in his blog that sports psychologists champion “open communication” between members. They schedule periodic “check-ins” where team members may discuss issues bothering them. As a result, conflicts are tackled before they balloon out of proportion. Coaches also have teams generate “collective goals” to make a shared sense of purpose more explicit.
These strategies are just as relevant and applicable to teams in the workplace. By incorporating principles and techniques from sports psychology, we too can strive to achieve peak performance at our jobs.
About the Author
Aruna Sankaranarayanan is the author of Zero Limits and the co-author of Bee-Witched along with Brinda S. Narayan.