Do you (or your athlete) try to be too perfect with your performance?
Do you try to have the perfect game or match and become upset when it
does not go according to plan?
Perfectionism in sports has its advantages such as having a strong
work ethic, commitment to goals, and a willingness to learn and
improve. However, these same positive qualities often disguise this
mental roadblock to success.
Based on 15+ years of my work as a mental game expert, I know
athletes fail to reach their potential due to the many disadvantages
of trying to be too perfect. These include a lack of trust, fear of
failure, anxiety, high frustration, and worrying too much about
results.
I have found it very hard to convince athletes who want to be perfect
that it really does hold them back in sports. They resist having to
change behavior that has helped them achieved some past goals.
Fear of failure is one of the major problems related to perfectionism.
Fear of failure often is born out of the perfectionist's need to be
successful. In other words, you might fear failing because you so
desperately what to win or gain the approval of others.
Fear of failure causes you to try too hard, become tense and anxious,
and lose trust in your performance. The anxiety can become so intense
that it causes some athletes balk...
For example, I just received an email from a sports parent about her
daughter:
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"My daughter had a race this morning (1500m). She was fine all
the way up to the start then she walked away from the start line
and said she was too nervous to race. I never forced her to run
I only asked her to finish what she started, (quitters never win
and winners never quit). She did not run the race."
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You or your athletes cannot reach peak performance with even the
slightest fear of failure. Fear is just too debilitating. Fear of
failure comes in many forms...
Based on my experience, the top fears include: Fear of embarrassment,
fear of letting others down, fear of the hard work not paying off,
and fear of not playing up to one's potential.
If you or your team members want to learn how to beat fear of
failure, cope better with perfectionism, and perform with trust in
competition, then my latest CD/Workbook program is critical.
I just produced and released "The Fearless Athlete: A 14-Day Plan for
Unbeatable Trust" - the 4th program in The Confident Athlete series.
We expect the fearless athlete to be a huge success as well. Grab your
personal copy on sale today before we sell out of the first printing!
Read more about "The Fearless Athlete" here:
http://www.peaksports.com/the_fearless_athlete.php
Your Mental Game Coach,
Patrick J. Cohn, Ph.D.,
Master Mental Game Coach
p.s. Are you a Peaksports member? Receive 30 percent off retail of
"The Fearless Athlete." **Please login first to Peaksports Network
to obtain the special member only link at this address:
http://www.peaksportsnetwork.com/members/505.cfm
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© 2007 Peak Performance Sports
Instilling Confidence for a Competitive Edge
Mental Game Coaching for Athletes
888-742-7225/407-909-1700 (local)
www.peaksports.com
Peak Performance Sports
7380 Sand Lake Road, #5012
Orlando, Florida
32819
US |
