Jun 4 2012
How much of your thinking is negative?
After more than 10 years of practicing sport psychology and working with athletes and performers of all abilities I still get surprised by the sheer volume of negative thinking that occurs in the minds of many of those that I see. For many people, it seems that negative thinking is the default setting. Even worse is the fact that much of this thinking is automatic – its become a bad habit and they don’t even know they are doing it. Unfortunately, negative thinking has a significant impact on emotions and subsequent behaviour. Negative thoughts, emotions, and behaviours can negatively impact not only performance but also self-confidence and self-esteem. That means that performance can suffer dramatically because of what athletes and performers are telling themselves in their minds.
The big question then is…..what are you telling yourself when you compete or perform? Start thinking about the type and frequency of your self-talk and see if you can identify what impact this has on your performance.
