The following post is an excerpt from Emotional Aptitude In Sports NOW available through most online retailers! Click Here to Order
Focus On Improving Yourself Versus Proving Yourself
- Stop Wasting Energy Worrying About What Others Think. Others’ perception of you isn’t based on you. It’s more likely based on their fears of you overtaking them.
- Realize That Rivals Are Probably Not Thinking About You Anyway. Here’s a shocker… Rivals are most likely worrying about what you’re thinking of them and not the other way around. Imaginary scenarios of what your opponent is thinking is basically a figment of your imagination and shows a lack of emotional maturity and childlike insecurities.
- Remember That Strangers Don’t Really Know You. Even if your rivals form a “superficial hatred” of you, it is most likely a result of fear and jealousy rather than facts. They’re actually complicating their life by wasting energy on non-productive dramas.
- Enjoy Being You. Strive to be the individual others secretly emulate and/or gossip about. The National Enquirer and other gossip magazines generate millions of dollars monthly in this practice. Be grateful that you’re viewed as a threat and that is why they’re on the attack.
- Flip Your Focus From How Your Rivals Feel, To How You Should Be Feeling. Emotional aptitude requires prioritizing one’s thoughts to the moment at hand. Thinking less often trumps over-thinking about inappropriate contaminants. Letting go of judgment is an important choice that will enable athletes to perform free.
- Trust Your Positive Moral Code. Do the right thing. Make the right choices. By having a solid moral code it allows you to trust your decisions. A positive strong moral code upsets rivals because it raises you above them and takes the emotional power away from them.
- There’s Always Another Naysayer. Even if you cater to a naysayer and put your needs behind theirs…guess what? There is always going to be another one to take their place. Honestly, the better the athlete gets, the more the critics want their say…
Worrying Is a Choice
My neighbor’s golden retriever, Lacy, got out the other night. Sadly she was struck by a car. My other neighbor, Mrs. Johnson, was taking out the trash and witnessed the incident. Without hesitation, she ran into her garage, grabbed towels and immediately took charge. She called 911, then like a well-trained athlete, she went to work calming Lacy down, cleaning her cuts and broken leg until help arrived.
During her heroic mission, Mrs. Johnson didn’t worry about what others were thinking. She didn’t wonder if the bystanders thought she was doing it right. She didn’t worry about what they thought about the worn out old towels she was using. She didn’t give her old tattered housecoat or her messy hair a second thought…
The intensity of the situation motivated her to choose not to care what others might think. The story of Mr. Johnson and Lacy demonstrate that thinking about what others are thinking about … is only a choice.
