Most successful people tend to work on their skills as much if not more than anyone else. If you want to be the strongest mentally then you need to work at it more than anyone else. Like any skill, mental skills work best when practiced consistently. Each individual has different needs therefore, it is most effective when you create your own game plans. Below you will find some suggestions to include in a daily and weekly basis.
Note: Most of the suggestions are simple but when something is simple, it is as easy to not do as it is to do.
Daily Plan
- Say your “why” (what is your bigger purpose of why you play your sport) and your “where” (where are you going with your sport- what is your immediate goal and long term goal) out lout and preferably in front of a mirror.
- Say your “I am…” statement for the day.
- Read and apply the daily lesson, tip, quote from The Confident Calendar.
- Send 5 minutes visualizing yourself overcome any adversity you may face that day.
- Follow social media outlets that post postive, motivational, inspiring messages or read a positive message from a book daily.
- During training, practice or competition apply at least 1 area of confidence (self-talk, body language, visualization, and preparation).
- Nightly routines:
- Repeat your “why”
- List or recall at least 5 WWWs (What Went Wells)- specific things you did well.
- List or recall 1 WWDD (What Would you Do Differently).
- List 5 things you are thankful for. Gratitude changes your focus from negative to postive.
Weekly Plan
- Have at least 1 weekly session (review notes from a webinar, mindset lesson, or a passage from a book).
- Watch 1 video a week (motivational and/or technique).
- Mentally run through your pre-competition routine (mental warmup)- this helps to reduce anxiety.
The key to a successful mental game plan conistency. Doing something every once in a while typcially brings evey once in a while results. Also be flexible. Change your game plan as needed.
Tami Matheny is a Mental Game Coach and Author. She has written, “This is Good: A Journey on Overcoming Adversity: https://r2lc.com/this-is-good-a-journey-on-overcoming-confidence ,”The Confident Athlete: 4 Easy Steps to Build and Maintain Confidence” : https://r2lc.com/the-confident-athlete-4-easy-steps-to-build-and-maintain-confidence/ and “The Confidence Journal”. All books can be purchased online at Amazon. For group discounts or signed copies contact http://tami@r2l.mysites.io.
Tami owns and runs, Refuse2LoseCoaching which provides mental coaching for athletes and teams at all levels. For more information on mental training contact tami@r2l.mysites.io, follow us on twitter @tamimatheny and @r2lcoaching and visit our website: https://r2lc.com.
For daily confidence tips, sign up for the monthly confidence calendar: https://r2lc.com/monthly-confidence-calendar-newsletter/.
If you are on Facebook join the group Parents and the Mental Game for daily advice, tips, and motivation: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1491446574332599/.