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Hello, I'm Dr. Haley Perlus, Sport Psychology Expert.
Today I'd like to discuss one factor that may be causing you more anxiety than you need
before, during, and even after competition.
Feeling nervous during competition is natural, and for the most part, the goal of mental
toughness training is not to eliminate these nerves, but rather empower you to control
them.
But there are times when athletes put unnecessary pressure on themselves and this is when I
can come in and help you reduce the amount of anxiety you feel.
One of these times is when athletes take too much responsibility for their team's outcome.
If they make a mistake or have a poor performance, they believe they lost the competition for
their entire team.
Just recently I was working with an athlete who felt this way - that her poor performance
was the reason her team didn't achieve their goal. After further investigation, it became
clear that other athletes on her team made some errors and that she was not 100% responsible
for the team's results.
Also in our chat, I asked my athlete to think back to when her team had a great competition
including her individual performance. Was she solely responsible for the win then? Her
answer was no.
In that moment I could literally see the weight lifted from her shoulders and during the next
competition, although she experienced nerves, she didn't have anxiety associated with the
pressure she had placed on herself to be 100% responsible for her team's results.
If you have ever felt like this athlete it's important to understand what you can control
and what you cannot control.
For those of you contributing to a team's overall results, take responsibility for your
actions and that's all.
Once you realize that you are a contributor and not the sole performer for your team,
your anxiety due to the unnecessary pressure to be everything to everyone will subside
leaving you opportunity to perform the best you can.