“Progress is impossible without change, and those who cannot change their minds cannot change anything.” George Bernard Shaw
Often athletes and coaches in sport focus so much on results, that they forget to actually keep improving. Take some time to reflect for a moment, what do you spend most of your time thinking about when it comes to your career in sport? Are you thinking about the results, perhaps the mistakes you made or maybe the teams performance? Or, perhaps you're thinking about the decisions that should or should not have been made that led to certain results? Whatever it might be, consider this question... Are you perceiving everything through the lens of results?
The challenge with seeing everything through the lens of results, is that results are riddled with uncontrollables and instability. Nobody can guarantee a desired result. Psychologically, this is a significant problem, as the mind is wired for survival and if theres one thing that does not play well with survival its uncertainty. When our perception of what we are doing is, or, when we appraise our efforts, through the lens of results, we leave ourselves wide open for a flood of negative thoughts, feelings and unhealthy beliefs. As a result we can develop behaviours that at first seem like they are healthy, perhaps even optimising performance, but in reality are not helpful at all. In fact, they become security blankets, things we perceive as crucial ingredients to success and achieving our elite, when in reality they are the very things holding us back from really achieving what we are capable of.
When I work with professionals in sport, I encourage them to focus on progress not results, or technique rather than outcome. Its in the mastery of progress and technique that we can empower decision-making and inspire high performance consistently. By focussing on progress we pay attention to the most important details, we empower healthy perspectives and perhaps most importantly we create the right type of head space for solutions and winning strategies. Progress focussed athletes are more present, they are able to drive towards their visions with a firm grip on what needs to be done right now. They are better at regulating their emotions, handling disappointments and managing their self-talk for their benefit.
By focussing on progress, athletes have greater freedom to choose their mindsets, to decide for themselves how they will feel about their performances, and results, as opposed to feeling dictated to or even trapped by unhealthy thoughts and feelings. Athletes are better able to seek, as well as respond, to feedback and they are more likely to encourage others in their team. Progress focussed athletes are more resilient and most importantly they are better able to thrive under pressure. As a coach or an athlete, ask yourself how you can create an environment that is more progress focussed?
Results come naturally from progress, however, progress does not come naturally from results.
Tim Pattenden
Performance Psychologist | elite4all Founder
