With Super Bowl Sunday just behind us and in the midst of the Olympics, it’s the perfect time to learn from top athletes.
These tips on how top athletes have trained their brains to achieve peak performance, (published in Inc. Magazine), based on interviews with Olympians can help all of us.
Elite athletes:
1️⃣ Regulate Their Emotions:
Elite athletes know which emotions help them perform at peak. For example, some people do well when excited, others do better when completely calm. Self-awareness and regulating emotion are key to performing under pressure. Mental strength trainers help athletes develop pre-performance routines to help them get into the right frame of mind, e.g., pacing around a room might raise anxiety, while listening to inspirational music might reduce anxiety.
How this can work for you:
Pay attention to your emotions and how you feel when you're performing at your best. Then, take steps to get yourself into that frame of mind before you approach an important situation.
2️⃣ Stay Focused:
It's easy for athletes to get distracted by the audience, the competition, or the excitement of the win and one second of distraction can make the difference between winning and losing. Elite athletes practice staying in the zone, for example, by reciting mantra or practicing mindfulness.
How this can work for you:
If in a situation where getting distracted by the audience could throw you off track, practice/study until you are sure that you know your topic thoroughly. Then, create a positive affirmation to say to yourself. It could be as simple as, “You can do this!” My favorite is one Marcio Sicoli (US beach volleyball coach for Olympians Kerri Walsh Jennings and Misty May-Treanor) shared with his Olympians: “You are prepared. Everything you need you have within you.”
3️⃣ Control Their Physiological Responses:
Studies show that athletes who are better at regulating their body's response to stress (respiration rate, heart rate, activation of muscles) are likely to perform better than those who struggle. Many elite athletes use biofeedback to learn how to use their thoughts to control physiological responses, e.g., placing a hand on their stomach, closing their eyes, and taking a deep breath before competing.
How this can work for you:
Keeping your body calm under stress will help you think more clearly and behave more productively. Use paced breathing when in a stressful situation to reduce cortisol (stress chemical) and release acetylcholine (balance chemical), helping you to keep your body calm.
Regardless of the role we’re in, these techniques can help us perform at peak!
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