Focus Tips from Top Athletes – Mental Preparation

Athletes often share with me that they find themselves getting mentally ahead of their games, which cause not only additional stress, but also become a source of mental distraction. Whether athletes are losing or winning, it is very normal to be carried away with positive or negative thoughts. During the past two weeks, two major sport events took place: Wimbledon and The Open Championship that was played at Royal Birkdale Golf Club. On both occasions, …

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An unsolicited advice to Garbiñe Muguruza

By si.robi (Muguruza US16 (6)) [CC BY-SA 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

The 2016 French Open champion, Garbiñe Muguruza, lost to Kristina Mladenovic in the round of 16 in this year’s French Open. The news is not so much about losing a tennis match. Rather, how she reacted after the loss and, more importantly, how to mentally be ready for the next opportunity. Garbiñe 3-set match against local Kristina witnessed a very biased crowd, whose behavior was borderline unsportsmanlike. Constant booing and making loud noises made the …

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What is mental toughness?

Most athletes would agree that being mentally tough is more than just being focused. It rests on the ability to overcome challenges and see opportunities when the chips are down instead of becoming negative and pessimistic. It rests on being committed to achieving a goal despite the odds and multiple sacrifices that need to be addressed. It resides on having control over our emotions and having the ability to regain focus soon after a mental …

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Changing Your Actions or Changing Your Thinking

change thinking new mindset

Leadership expert, Brian Moran is quoted saying: “When you focus on changing your actions, you experience incremental performance; when, however, your thinking shifts, everything changes.” It is a challenge to change negative habits. Although we promise ourselves to change and even create new year resolutions, most of those well intended hopes rarely reach a happy ending. Procrastination is the mother nature of unhealthy habits. We feel a sense of anxiety or frustration when facing the …

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Are you ready for when it matters?

We all want to continue improving and achieve higher goals. Whether it is at a corporate level or in athletics, individuals relish the opportunity to assume higher responsibilities or winning the golden trophy. As much as we look forward to those opportunities, are we ready for when the opportunity really comes? More often than not, opportunities to advance come at unexpected moments. The job calls for a professional to take an unexpected vacancy due to …

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