Underperformance = Opportunities

Do you hate underperforming? Is it something you just cannot tolerate? Is underperformance unacceptable to you? 

Did you answer yes to these questions? Many athletes and coaches do. 

But what if underperformance was not unacceptable and was actually perfectly acceptable, or even essential? 

All too often athletes and coaches look at performance as something that has to be fixed; every time you go out to compete, the performance has to be right! There's one major problem with this... it is relying on a perfect world, where all the stars align every time enabling consistent high-performance. How many times have you heard sports commentators say, "Champions do one thing every other competitor does not... they learn how to win, even when they’re performing badly." Sadly, the perspective of 'It is unacceptable to underperform', is all too common in sport and it is also inaccurate and incomplete.

Nobody wants to underperform, if you did, then sport is not the place for you. In business people often say "No one goes to work to do a bad job". The same applies in sport, 'Nobody wants to perform badly'. But underperformance, error, mistakes and 'bad days at the office', happen to everyone. The truth and reality is, that this is a normal part of life, and essential on the road to success. So, why then do some athletes and coaches hate it so much? Why is it impossible for some to tolerate it? Why do some people seem to thrive as a result of their setbacks and others do not? Whilst the answer to these questions will always be unique to each individual, based on their experiences, circumstances and personalities, there are some common factors we all share, that might explain why this happens. I have chosen to highlight three broad factors that play a role in sports professionals building the unhealthy belief, that it is unacceptable to underperform.

Factor #1: Our Minds

Firstly, our minds primary function is to keep us safe and comfortable. It uses emotions to communicate with us when we are safe and when we are not. Our thoughts and memories also have a big part to play in this process. So, when we underperform or make mistakes, the mind triggers emotions (sometimes with memories), that will ultimately make us feel uncomfortable and raise awareness to the potential threats, consequences and outcomes, which might occur, and are considered neither safe or comfortable. For example, a football player may feel their position in the team is under threat if they play badly, this could have wider implications on their life and personal wellbeing. Or, an athlete may feel that they will lose sponsorship if they underperform and cannot afford to fall out of professional status. Perhaps an older athlete coming towards the end of their career may feel underperformance is a sign that they are getting too old to compete at the elite level and so on. All of these thoughts and associated feelings are generated naturally by the brain, no one has control over them, and for some they become their reality. 

For many athletes as these thoughts, memories and emotions develop, they increase in intensity, beliefs are formed and the way they see things moving forward are tinted by these experiences. For example, a football player may have spent most of their career as the first name on the team sheet, then they change clubs or personal circumstances vary, and it becomes harder to perform. The coach recognises somethings is unusual and starts to leave them out from the starting line-up. The coach is doing this as a support, to take the pressure off. However, for the player this is a brand-new experience, their thoughts and feelings are not good. they start doubting their ability, worrying more about their personal circumstances, perhaps starting to think the coach has something against them and on it goes. In the players mind, underperformance started this, and so now underperformance is completely unacceptable and must not be tolerated. 

The challenge for each of us, is to learn how to interact with our thoughts, emotions and our minds natural functioning, in a way that is beneficial for us. All too often individuals are not aware of these experiences and as a result can become subject to whatever the mind feeds them, creating a reality that seems real because they feel it. One consequence of this can be the development of unhealthy and rigid beliefs, that we think are keeping us safe or leading us to success, like the fixed belief that it is completely unacceptable to underperform. But it is paradoxically this belief that can lead to future underperformance by affecting our confidence, emotional control, motivation, among other key aspects of high-performance.

Factor #2: Our Personalities

Another reason why people might develop a belief that underperformance is unacceptable is related to our personality. Our personality is built up of natural traits from birth as well as developed traits gained through life experiences. For example, you may have always been a very confident person in your own abilities, or this was something you developed as you got older. Another example might be that you were always very much in control of your emotions growing up, rarely had tantrums etc., but various life experiences have altered this trait in you and as you have matured you find it more and more difficult to control such emotions like anger. Our personality shapes how we experience our lives and the quality of that experience, they also influence how we learn, change and grow. Our personality plays a significant role in how we perceive things and the beliefs we hold. In the case of underperformance, how we respond to it could play out in a variety of ways. For example, a swimmer might be introverted and find it difficult to express how they feel after a poor performance, choosing to suppress the emotions and feelings. As time goes on, they may develop a severe lack of tolerance for underperformance because of how it leads them to feel. Or, a rugby player may be someone who is averse to risk, they know their role and play it to high-levels of performance consistently, but when significant incidents happen that knock them out of their comfort zone or requires them to take unusual risks this could affect their performance. This experience is uncomfortable for them and as a result leaves them with the belief that underperformance must not be tolerated. 

Our different personality traits can be a blessing and a curse, they can be the reason for thriving as well as a reason for struggling. Understanding our personality traits and learning how to develop skills which will support us to overcome their limitations, as well as build on their strengths in regards to our performance is crucial. This is an area of performance development that is typically neglected in sports at all levels. Yet, it is arguably the most commentated reason for why athletes 'make it', because 'they've got it mentally'. What does this mean? it means that the athlete has the right mental strength which is directly associated with personality traits, to overcome the adversity, pressure and stress of high-demands and expectation.  As professionals in sport become more aware of their personality in a spirit of acceptance and self-improvement, and seek support in learning how to develop key skills which help them manage their personality, they can be more flexible in their belief systems. They can learn to use experience with underperformance as a significant catalyst for change in their growth and journey to success.

Factor #3: Our Perceptions

Finally, athletes may perceive underperformance as unacceptable or something not to be tolerated because this is what they have grown up to believe. Things their parents, coaches, teachers or peers taught or believed all supported the development of this perception that underperformance is unacceptable. Perhaps they have plenty of life experience all providing proof that this is how people achieve. Their previous experiences dictate that underperformance is unacceptable and they intentionally find proof to back this belief up. For many, this will be a subconscious thing, as it is so engrained who they are. This could look like a coach who played netball all their life and reached elite levels, when they retired, they went into coaching with the determination to create a strong-minded and high-performing team. They are going to take everything that worked for them, when they were playing, into coaching. One of their key philosophies is that every time you step out onto the court, you must play your best, ‘I expect nothing less than your best', they say. In this situation the individual’s belief of underperformance being unacceptable has been shaped by years of evidence, that they have gathered through personal and third-person experiences. This is how they see and experience the world. Ultimately this is their perception of how high-performance and success is achieved. Their perception, the way they see it, is founded on years of personal experiences, direct and indirect, as a result, their belief system in this area is now fixed. As individuals become more aware of alternative belief systems and gather evidence that they work, they can increase their flexibility towards their existing fixed beliefs. They can begin to explore and be curious about their beliefs and look to see if there is a healthy or even healthier alternative. As individuals do this about the unhealthy belief that underperformance is unacceptable, they open up the door to a whole new world of learning and opportunity to grow and improve.

So What?

Whether it's our minds, our personality or our perceptions underpinning the strongly held belief that underperformance is unacceptable, ultimately, we are missing out on one of our biggest opportunities to grow. Underperformance evaluated correctly and objectively can empower decision-making and future preparations in truly inspiring ways. Time and time again, when I speak to athletes at the highest level of sports, about their outstanding periods or moments of their careers they say it came down to preparation. Their preparation was so thorough, so robust, that they just knew they were going to succeed. They knew they were going to perform, despite what happened. There was no doubt. They were ready for decisions, performances and results to not always go their way, they knew it was part of the process, and they were ready to be responsive each time. Their preparation was built on key building blocks, one of which, was understanding their underperformance. 

Understanding Underperformance

When it comes to understanding underperformance and using it as a catalyst for change, a springboard for greater success, I use this framework; 

• Learn - Assess, analysis and evaluate everything, objectively and honestly with the aim to improve
• Change - Plan, prepare and strategize the changes needed. How will you adapt? What resources are needed? Who will support you? How will you know you have been successful? 
• Grow - Plan for continuous growth, focus always on progression not setbacks. Celebrate small and large gains and wins. Construct a mindset that fights for every aspect of your cause.

When underperformance goes under the microscope strategically with the right support, athletes and coaches create a window of opportunity for themselves and others in a way that very little can. This intentional process of self-improvement focusses on the most important aspect of any sport professional’s journey; themselves. Tom Landry, a professional American football player and coach said, 

"I’ve learned that something constructive comes from every defeat.”

This is so true, there is always something to gain from underperformance. In so many ways, every time you go out to compete you have nothing to lose, and everything to gain, if you deal with underperformance in the right way. It should be that the worse thing anyone could ever do to you is beat you, because they just assisted in making you better. As they have just provided you have a huge opportunity to learn, change and grow. Over and over again, we see comeback stories in sport, and we love them, we love them because of the pain and sacrifice individuals have had to make to dig deep inside themselves and find the solutions from their failures or defeats. Billie Jean King a former world no.1 tennis player said, 

"Champions keep playing until they get it right.”

I link this back to our sports commentators earlier and believe that this highlights a key insight, 'champions learn how to manage underperformance, and thrive because of underperformance'. Matthew Nicholas Biondi is an American former competition swimmer, eleven-time Olympic medallist, and former world record-holder in five events, he said,

 “Persistence can change failure into extraordinary achievement.”

I remember speaking with Chris Cook former British swimmer and Olympic medallist, he explained that the pivot for his most outstanding moment in his career came from robust analysis and evaluation of his previous performances. He talked me through how his team formulated a phased plan for his racing which would lead to success and how it all came from previous underperformance.

Your underperformance is a window of opportunity to making the invisible visible, to shining a light on the pivots which make all the difference in the end. As Michael Jordan expressed, failures are the reason ‘why you succeed’. I believe that far more athletes and coaches can achieve their vision of success than currently do. Having spent over 15 years working in performance leadership and coaching, I have gained amazing insight into what human beings are actually capable of, and in my experience, they are far more powerful then they realise. As Marianne Williamson said, "Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be?"

I help coaches and athletes at all levels inspire high-performance and accelerate progress to achieving their elite. To find out more contact me directly to arrange a free consultation, I look forward to meeting you and starting our incredible journey together. 

Timothy Pattenden 

Performance Psychologist

F I N D. Y O U R. C HA M P I O N.