Get Unstuck And Advance Your Sports Performance

When Roger Bannister broke the 4 minute mile record on May 6, 1954, he opened the door for others to do the same. Before Roger Bannister, to run a mile in under 4 minutes was “impossible.” Everybody believed it was impossible, and so it was. Once Roger Bannister broke the barrier, numerous others immediately followed. This clearly demonstrates the mind over body connection. Everybody in the world believed that it was impossible to run a mile faster than 4 minutes. The world was “stuck” in its thinking. Once someone proved it was possible, numerous people were able to do it.

So the question to ask yourself is where have you been stuck in your thinking? What limiting belief has kept you from achieving what you really desire? If you want to improve your performance, what beliefs do you have that limits what you can do? I teach people in goal setting that it only matters what you believe, and in fact you only have to make your goal 50% believable to you. Meaning if you believe you can bat .200, set your goal for .400, which is 50% believable to you. You may not hit .400 but I bet you hit better than .200.

Another way of being stuck that can affect your performance is emotional upset. If you are upset about something, it’s hard to concentrate for peak performance. When Tiger Woods’ father was ill and dying from cancer, his play was not his usual game. Once he worked through his grieving period, his game returned. Often we have emotional upsets that life has given us, and unless we deal with them, they will affect our performance.

Einstein said, “You can’t solve a problem with the same mind that created it.” This means if you are in the same frame of mind, you’ll have a tough time to solve the problem. That’s why Tiger Woods has a coach. He knows the game of golf, but being human, he has challenges both physical and mental at times. Having someone who is objective to work through the problem with you, is why you have a coach.

The first key is to acknowledge you have a challenge. Often times your problem is subconscious. If you have struggled to improve any your life, and you haven’t achieved what you wanted, chances are there is a subconscious program running. If you haven’t looked to really see what has held you back, you might be in denial about even having a problem. So take a look at your performance, and see if you’ve been stuck.

Once you realize you have a problem, the next thing is to decide what to do about that. Set the goal and then break it down into monthly weekly and daily tasks. Make sure you complete the daily tasks, and make corrections as necessary weekly to keep on target. You’ll find the path to peak performance is through small steps taken daily. Good luck!