How Do You Mentally Prepare?
It might seem uncomfortable at first to consciously "prepare" your mind. After all, you're used to thinking a certain way and getting yourself to change that thinking requires effort and THINKING!
Here are a few techniques that you can use immediately to condition your mind:
Self-Talk: Talking to yourself can be either uplifting or detrimental. Since your experience in life is determined by what you say to yourself, make sure that you choose your words wisely. Your self-talk will affect your moods, behaviors and ultimately your results. Words such as "smart, amazing, confident, ready" are power words that make you feel good and become self-prophetic. Using power words is positive self-talk.
EXAMPLE: After a disappointing game, if you say to yourself, "I screwed up. I didn't play well. I'm not as good as so and so," chances are you will feel even worse. This kind of talk does not put at your best.
However, if after that disappointing game you tell yourself, "I know that I can play better then what I did today and I will apply myself to do that at the next game. Today was a good learning experience for me and now I'm moving on," then you will probably feel revived and ready to try again harder and better. It's the same situation but with a different self-talk which creates a different outlook and causes a different behavior which will yield different results.
Use Positive Questions: Asking a question is an easy way to direct your self-talk and speak to your mind. No matter what you ask yourself, your brain will always search for an answer.
EXAMPLE: If after a disappointing game, you ask yourself, "How could I have been so stupid as to miss that goal?" your brain will search all its "files" in an attempt to answer you and come up with something like, "Because you don't what you're doing, you're not good at anything, you're so dumb." Now you don't feel so good about yourself while contemplating that answer. This negative self-talk will not help you to be prepared.
However, if after that same disappointing game, you ask yourself, "What did I learn from all this?" then your brain will probably come up with something like, "I need to work on hitting the net in practice" or "I need to relax when I have the puck in front of the opponent's net." It changes your position from feeling bad to feeling like you can do something about the situation. Suddenly, you're feeling empowered instead of discouraged.
Visualizing: Visualizing an outcome before it happens or seeing yourself perform is another way to create success and set yourself up for victory. All of us have a very powerful imagination that we can unleash to help us achieve our dreams. We have all heard the fantastic stories of people overcoming the odds to achieve great feats. How did they do it? Most of them, if not all, saw themselves winning or achieving in their minds first. That is where it starts.
EXERCISE: This exercise will show you how you can see what you will achieve before it happens.
- Stand tall with your arms by your side.
- Reach down and touch your toes.
- Make a mental note how far you can go.
- Stand back up again.
- This time do the same exercise... but in your mind. Stand tall, close your eyes and see yourself in your mind touching your toes.
- With your eyes closed, envision yourself coming to the point where you stopped but this time going even farther. In fact, so far that your head touches your knees and your hands are flat on the floor.
- Now, open your eyes.
- And with your hands and arms actually do the exercise again. Touch your toes.
Did you go farther this time? Most people go about 20% farther. Such is the strength of your mind.
Relaxation: calmness. Calm relaxed states or feelings will help you make logical well-calculated decisions. If you could work a feeling of peace with full energy or power levels ready, then you would be a top performer at your level.
EXERCISE: This exercise will help you achieve a state of tranquility. For 10 minutes:
- Sit comfortably and quietly
- Empty your mind of all thoughts and questions
- Breathe in deeply from your abdomen - expand your rib cage
- Breathe out for a longer time then your breathing in - collapse your rib cage
- When a distracting thought pops up, "shoo" it away with your out breath
- Concentrate on your breathing
- Feel your body moving with the rhythm of your breathing patters
- Doing this act of tranquil meditation before a game will place your mind in a neutral state. It will allow you to start playing with an empty mind so that you can think quickly and respond appropriately to each situation as it presents itself.