What is a Transition?

There are a number of definitions on transitions as well including –

• “the process or a period of changing from one state or condition to another” ~ Google
• “movement, passage, or change from one position, state, stage, subject or concept etc., to another” ~ Dictionary.com
• “a change from one state or condition to another” ~ Merriam-Webster

According to William Bridges in his book Managing Transitions: Making the Most of Change, transitions are psychological and have a 3 phase process (see below), whereas change is situational. In his books Transitions: Making Sense of Life’s Changes and Managing Transitions: Making the Most of Change, he talks about the process of transition having three phases –

1. an ending (letting go of a situation);
2. a neutral zone (the confusing or distressing area of in-betweenness)
3. a new beginning (launching in to a new situation).

How Do Transitions Apply to Sport?

There are many transitions in sport and some of them are bigger transitions than others. However, it also depends on how we look at them. For example – retiring from sport can be more challenging than driving home each day from training (which is also a transition), however even this example can depend on a variety of variables.

Wylleman, Alfermann and Lavallee (2004) propose four transitional phases an athlete experience throughout their sport. They are –

1. Athletic development level (e.g. starting in the sport, developing in the sport, sport mastery, retirement),
2. Psychological development (e.g. moving from adolescence into adulthood, elite to professional),
3. Psych-social development (e.g. coach-athlete relationships, family relationships and new teammates).
4. Education and professional development (e.g moving from primary to secondary to university to professional development).

Following are some other examples of what could be perceived as bigger transitions that occur in sport, however please remember many activities in life can be a transition –

• attracting a new sponsorship deal (or losing one),
• being separated from family and friends,
• getting married,
• getting injured or coming back from injury,
• having a child,
• moving countries to train and travelling as an athlete in general, or
• living on your own for the first time.

Reflection Questions –

What are the Transitions You have Experienced in your Sport?

1. Think back on all of the transitions you have had in your sport.
2. What type of transitions have you experienced? Have you experienced changes in your team / relationships (family, friends and others), your body, finances and /or responsibilities.

When you are ready to reclaim your courage and take the next step towards freedom and living whole-heartedly (i.e. across sport and life), you are also welcome to join our newsletter here.

Reference –

Bridges, W. (1991). Managing Transitions: Making the Most of Change. London, Great Britain: Nicholas Brealey Publications.

Wylleman, P., Alfermann, D., & Lavallee, D. (2004). Career transitions in sport: European perspectives. Psychology of sport and exercise, 5(1), 7-20.

The post What Are Transitions and How Do They Apply to Sport? appeared first on Sport Life Flow.

Working with many clients (and also on my own adventure of life), I have found self-regulation to be an important skill in leading a whole-hearted and fulfilling life. Subsequently, in this post I am going to discuss what self-regulation is and

What is Self-Regulation?

There are many definitions on self-regulation, including –

• “…the fact of something such as an organisation regulating itself without intervention from external bodies.” ~ Google and English Oxford Dictionary
• “control by oneself or itself, as in an economy, business organization, etc., especially such control as exercised independently of governmental supervision, laws, or the like.” ~ Dictionary.com
• “Self-regulation is the ability to manage your own energy states, emotions, behaviours and attention, in ways that are socially acceptable and help achieve positive goals, such as maintaining good relationships, learning and maintaining wellbeing,” ~ Stuart Shanker,
• “…control that students have over their cognition, behaviour, emotions and motivation through the use of personal strategies to achieve the goals they have established ’ ~ Ernesto Panadero1 and Jesús Alonso-Tapia, and
• “Self-regulation is the conscious and non-conscious processes by which people regulate their thoughts, emotions, attention, behaviour, and impulses. People generate thoughts, feelings and actions and adapt those to the attainment of personal goals.” ~ Mark Pettinelli

Do these definitions relate to your knowledge and understanding of self-regulation? If not, what would you add? Personally, I relate to the third and fourth definitions best as they are clear to me.

Quotes on Self-Regulation –

Following are 5 few inspiring quotes on self-regulation –

• “One of the challenges of education is that a certain amount of stress is normal and positive. The question is how to reduce the stressors that are not helping the child.” ~ Dr Stuart Shanker
• “When we self-regulate well, we are better able to control the trajectory of our emotional lives and resulting actions based on our values and sense of purpose.” ~ Amy Leigh Mercree
• “Self-regulation is as much about up-regulating positive emotions, such as interests, love and happiness as down-regulating negative emotions.” ~ Dr Stuart Shanker
• “You can’t learn Self-Reg without feeling filled up with hope.” ~ Susan Hopkins
• “Self-regulation makes self-control possible, not the other way around.” ~ Dr Stuart Shanker

Why Is Self-Regulation Important?

After reading the above definitions on self-regulation, can you see why self-regulation would be important in your sport and life? For example –

• as an athlete – do you think managing own energy and emotional states in a game or match would be useful? What about before and after a game / match, to foster your performance and recovery?
• as a parent – understanding your own emotions within conversations with your children and also how you manage your own stress? (yes you are also a role model and don’t worry stress is universal), and
• as a coach – identifying your own behaviours and how you respond to situations (rather than react)?

Also – the above examples, can overlap between each of the roles of athlete, parent / guardian and coach.

Other benefits of self-regulation in sport include –

Can you see how self-regulation could help your relationships and overall well-being? Remember – there are many other reasons why self-regulation is important – in sport as well as life, what other examples can you find?

Over to You…

I hope this post has given you some insights in to self-regulation and why it is important. Would you agree self-regulation is important? If so, how do you practise it in your sport and life? Please feel free to share your responses below in the comments section.

Remember, as you move towards developing self-regulation we have a choice on how to respond to each situation.

When you are ready to reclaim your courage and take the next step towards freedom and living whole-heartedly (i.e. across sport and life), you are also welcome to join our newsletter here.

The post What is Self-Regulation and Why Is It Important? appeared first on Sport Life Flow.

Characteristics of a (Sporting) Champion

The 20 Characteristics of a (Sporting) Champion are –

1. Become a student of your sport; read and learn as much as possible.
2. When asked to try new things, apply yourself fully.
3. Communicate with your coach, especially if troubled by a decision/direction.
4. Trust your coach.
5. Learn from mistakes and problems to acquire positive rewards in the future.
6. Discipline yourself so that you can train by yourself when necessary (given adequate directions by your coach).
7. Recognise that monitoring your weight (gain or loss) is important.
8. Always keep a diary of your training: venues, session details, times, conditions, reactions etc.
9. Be honest with yourself and your coach.
10. Win, lose or draw, look for reasons rather than excuses.
11. Plan for everything to go wrong. Do not get upset if things don’t go according to plan; have an alternate plan to implement.
12. Don’t waste energy on issues over which you have no control.
13. Enjoy training and competition; keep striving for better performances.
14. Be prepared: always arrive with all necessary equipment in working order.
15. Set personal goals, challenging yourself further when they are achieved.
16. Don’t miss training (even if the alternative is attractive).
17. Plan your competition schedule in detail, in advance.
18. Focus on the things you can control.
19. When tired in a session, concentrate on your technique.
20. Try to learn at least one thing from every competition.

Characteristics of a Champion in Life

The 20 Characteristics of a Champion in Life (the changes I made are in italics) are –

1. Become a student of life; read and learn as much as possible.
2. When asked to try new things, apply yourself fully.
3. Communicate with your family, friends and coach, especially if troubled by a decision/direction.
4. Trust your family, friends and coach.
5. Learn from mistakes and problems to acquire positive rewards in the future.
6. Discipline yourself so that you can train by yourself when necessary (given adequate directions by your coach).
7. Recognise that monitoring your weight (gain or loss) is important.
8. Always keep a diary of your dreams, goals, plans, intentions and other important information (i.e. sleep and feelings).
9. Be honest with yourself and your family, friends and coach.
10. Win, lose or draw, look for reasons rather than excuses.
11. Plan for everything to go wrong. Do not get upset if things don’t go according to plan; have an alternate plan to implement.
12. Don’t waste energy on issues over which you have no control.
13. Enjoy life and work: keep striving for better performances.
14. Be prepared: always arrive with all necessary equipment in working order.
15. Set personal goals, challenging yourself further when they are achieved.
16. Don’t miss showing up (even if the alternative is attractive).
17. Plan your life in detail, in advance.
18. Focus on the things you can control.
19. When tired in life, concentrate on the present moment.
20. Try to learn at least one thing from every experience.

Over to You…

What do you think – are there any characteristics you would add? Remember – No one thing will raise your level of performance. It is the little things, performed with excellence and done consistently, which will make the ultimate difference!

Also, if you are ready to reclaim your courage and take the next step towards freedom and opening your heart, why not join our newsletter?

The post Characteristics of a Champion appeared first on Sport Life Flow.

What is the Inner Game?

The “inner game” is a concept that was termed by Tim Gallwey. In his book – the Inner Game of Tennis, Gallwey writes –

“Every game is composed of two parts, an outer game and an inner game. The outer game is played against an external opponent to overcome external obstacles, and to reach an external goal. Mastering this game is the subject of many books offering instructions on how to swing a racquet, club or bat, and how to position arms, legs or torso to achieve the best results.” (p.2).

He then goes on to refer to the inner game as –

“the game that takes place in the mind of the player, and it is played against such obstacles as lapses in concentration, nervousness, self-doubt and self-condemnation. In short, it is played to overcome all habits of mind which inhibit excellence in performance.” (p.2).

In my head it looks like –

An Introduction to the Inner Game by Tim Gallwey

In the following clip, Tim Gallwey discusses more about the inner game.

Over to You…

I hope this post has given you some insight in to the inner game. Can you see how this could apply to your life, not just in sport? If so, where? Feel free to share below in the comments as well as any questions you might have.

Also – remember untangling from the interference to enhance performance is often an adventure in itself, so please make sure you take care of yourself

Also, if you are ready to reclaim your courage and take the next step towards freedom and opening your heart, why not join our newsletter?

Reference –

Gallwey, T. (1974). The Inner Game of Tennis: The Classic Guide to the Mental Side of Peak Performance. New York, USA: the Random House Publishing Group. 

The post What is the Inner Game? appeared first on Sport Life Flow.

Resilience has been a concept that continues to grow and evolve over the years. Within the dictionary, some definitions of resilience include – 

• “ability to recover readily from illness, depression, adversity, or thelike; buoyancy.” ~ Dictionary.com
• “the capacity to recover quickly from difficulties; toughness.” ~ Google and Oxford Dictionaries
• “Resilience is the process of adapting well in the face of adversity, trauma, tragedy, threats, or even significant sources of stress – such as family and relationship problems, serious health problems, or workplace and financial stressors. It means “bouncing back” from difficult experiences.” ~ PsychCentral

Within the research, resilience continues to prove popular and some   –

• “(Resilience is) the universal capacity which allows a person, group or community to prevent, minimize or overcome damaging effects of adversity” ~ Grotberg, 1995, p.6), 
• “…personal resilience strengths are the individual characteristics associated with healthy development and life success” ~ Benard, 2004, p.13,
• “Resilience refers to the process of overcoming the negative effects of risk exposure, coping successfully with traumatic experiences, and avoiding the negative trajectories associated with risks” ~ Fergus & Zimmerman, 2005, p.399, and 
• “the capacity of individuals to navigate their physical and social ecologies to provide resources, as well as their access to families and communities who can culturally navigate for them” ~ Ungar, Brown, Liebenberg, Cheung, & Levine, 2008, p.168.

Resilience is a skill that is essential for all young people to develop. According to Benard (2004) –

“…personal resilience strengths are the individual characteristics associated with healthy development and life success”(p.13).

These personal strengths do not cause resilience, but are the positive developmental outcomes that demonstrate that these innate individual characteristics are engaged (Benard, 2004). The four categories of personal resilience strengths are:

1. social competence (communication skills; being responsive to others; having empathy and caring for others; forgiveness and compassion);
2. problem-solving (planning; flexibility; help-seeking; critical and creative thinking);
3. autonomy (a secure sense of identity; self-worth; initiative; ability to cope; sense of humour); and
4. sense of purpose (hope for future; personal goals and values; sense of faith; connectedness with others) – (Benard, 2004).

To develop these innate personal strengths and produce good developmental outcomes, young people need to be in a nurturing environment. Some of the environments the young people are involved in include schools, families, and communities (including sporting clubs). A nurturing environment is one where the young person experiences caring relationships; high but achievable expectations; and authentic opportunities to participate and contribute (Benard, 2004).

7 Ways a Coach Can Enhance Resilience in Young Athletes

One of the people, apart from family, friends and peers who can impact upon and play a very important role in the athlete’s environment is their coach. So what can a coach do to support the social and emotional wellbeing needs of their athletes and develop a player’s innate personal strengths? Some strategies may include:

1. Develop and implement processes and practices to encourage connectedness – 

For example – if a player is traveling away to a tournament, identify some people they may be able to practice with or if they are traveling overseas give them some trusted contacts in the area they are going);

2. Express and model empathy – 

For example – if an athlete is talking to you about an experience, listen to the athlete and try to understand and share your athlete’s feelings.

3. Plan goals with the athlete – 

For example – sit down with the athlete and talk through their goals and identify if they are realistic in the timeframe available.

4. Work on personal relationships as well as relationships between young people and parents or external support agencies – 

For example – identify a team of people (fitness trainer, coach, sports psychologist, parent, school teacher) who can help the athlete achieve their goals and model effective communication skills;

5. Provide young people with multiple opportunities and contexts in which to experience feelings of competence and/or develop competencies.

For example – give constructive feedback and realistic praise to the athlete;

6. Establish processes, practices and relationships that enhance self-worth and promote positive coping strategies for real life situations.

For example – suggesting the athlete keep a diary/journal to reflect on their thoughts and feelings and help them identify strategies to cope with these feelings;

7. Enhance opportunities for the athlete to make real-life decisions and have a say in their training and tournament schedules.

For example – allow the athlete to lead a training session.

Over to You…

I hope this has given you (the coach) some insight in to how to enhance resilience for your athletes. It is my hope, that the sporting community can work together to develop the innate personal strengths of young athletes and contribute to the development of well-adjusted human beings and not just good athletes.

If you liked this article and want to keep taking the next step towards freedom and thriving in your sport and life, please feel free to join the Sport Life Flow community by clicking here.

Reference –

Benard, B. (2004). Resiliency – What Have We Learned. San Francisco, CA: WestEd.

Grotberg. (1995). A Guide to Promoting Resilience in Children: Strengthening the Human Spirit. Early Childhood Development: Practice and Relections Retrieved from https://resilnet.uiuc.edu/library/grotb95b.html

P.S. I originally wrote this article for Tennis Australia when I was completing the High Performance Coaching Course. It was published in the Tennis Magazine in July 2006. A HUGE thank you to Ian McGregor who found the original article for me – I am so grateful as I know in my heart this is my purpose, it has just taken me a while to heal and get clarity about my own adventure around tennis. I originally named the article – Enhancing Resilience in Young People, however you can see below, that was changed and no I am not a fan of “toughening up.”

Also – a shout out to Tracy Zilm whom was my manager at the time I wrote this article and edited it for me. Thanks heaps Tracy!

The post What is Resilience and Why Is It Important in Sport? appeared first on Sport Life Flow.

What Are Mental Blocks?

A mental block is a thought construct that is held within your subconscious mind that is not in alignment with your authentic Self. A mental block is generally from the past that could be effecting the present and how you are experiencing life. Mental blocks range from memories, beliefs, decisions / choices, past experiences.

Mental blocks come from many places, including – family members, teachers, coaches, media, society and culture. They are generally formed by repeated thoughts and are mostly created in childhood from interactions with the people around us (N.B. this is not about blaming anyone, particularly our parents). For example –

• beliefs – which are essentially thoughts that are continually thought over and over without questioning whether it is true or not NOW. Some beliefs can help us move forward, however some are mindset blocks.
• decision / choices – decisions and / or choices that may or may not have been made unconsciously in the past. For example – a young person who didn’t know how to cope with stress may have felt that eating chocolate was a useful coping strategy at the time. However, over time this may no longer serve them and the associated thoughts may end up being a mindset block.

“Nothing binds you except your thoughts; nothing limits you except your fear; and nothing controls you except your beliefs.” ~ Marianne Williamson

Some Examples of Mental Blocks or Limitations

Following are some examples of mental blocks that relate to the different areas and / or aspects of sport and life –

Is Anything Holding You Back or Limiting Your Flow of Sport and / or Life?

Starting to Untangle from Mental Blocks

Once we start to recognise the mental blocks within us, the great news is we can start to untangle from them. Yes, that takes work, however as one of the people whom I have learnt a lot from says –

“Your own Self-Realization is the greatest service you can render the world.” ~ Ramana Maharshi 

Over to You…

I hope this article has given you some insight in to mental blocks and some ways they may be impacting your flow of sport and life. If you have any questions or comments, feel free to share them below. Also – please make sure you find a qualified professional who can help you untangle from any mental blocks.

When you are ready to reclaim your courage and take the next step towards freedom and living whole-heartedly (i.e. across sport and life), you are also welcome to join our newsletter here. 

The post Recognising Mental Blocks and the Impact They Can Have in Sport and Life appeared first on Sport Life Flow.

Let’s get started…

Why Mindfulness in Sport?

There are many reasons why practicing mindfulness can be beneficial to athletes in sport. Some of the benefits of mindfulness include –

• decreasing the symptoms of anxiety,
• allows you to access flow states (i.e. optimal human potential),
• increased life satisfaction,
• increasing a sense of empathy,
• increases in mindful attention, focus and awareness,
• decreasing symptoms of chronic pain, and
• increasing well-being.

“You might be tempted to avoid the messiness of daily living for the tranquility of stillness and peacefulness. This of course would be an attachment to stillness, and like any strong attachment, it leads to delusion. It arrests development and short-circuits the cultivation of wisdom.” ~ Jon Kabat-Zinn

 

What is Mindfulness?

Mindfulness in everyday life is the ultimate challenge and practice. It is a way of being, of seeing, of tapping into the full range of our humanity – often seen in playful children fully experiencing life in the here and now. Mindfulness is described by Jon Kabat-Zinn (1994)

“as paying attention in a particular way: on purpose, in the present moment and non-judgementally” (p.4).

Bob Stahl and Elisha Goldstein (2010) report “in Sanskrit, it’s known as smrti, from the root word smr, meaning “to remember” and in Pali, the language of the earliest Buddhist scriptures, it’s known as sati (mindfulness)” (p.15).

The Greater Good Science Centre at UC Berkely say –

“Mindfulness means maintaining a moment-by-moment awareness of our thoughts, feelings, bodily sensations, and surrounding environment, through a gentle, nurturing lens.”

Through the practice of mindfulness, individuals can become more aware of their thoughts, feelings and body sensations in the present moment. This observing, non-reactive perspective enables you to consciously respond with clarity and focus, rather than react out of a habitual pattern. It opens up the possibility of working more wisely with difficulties in life and choose what is nourishing to ourselves and others.

In the following clip (4.01mins), Thich Nhat Hanh shares an overview about what is mindfulness? Thich Nhat Hanh discusses how mindfulness is the capacity to be aware of what is going on in this moment and by being in touch with what is happening now, we can feel happiness and gratitude wherever we are. The object of mindfulness can be anything – the sky, the trees or anything else around us and when we learn to (or remember) to bring our attention to this moment, we can see we can be happy right here and right now.

Where Can I Use Mindfulness in Sport?

Simply – everywhere! Yep, over the years (and after being an athlete) I have invested many hours researching, learning and discovering how to be a well-being. For me, one of those keys has been developing mindfulness and I use it daily in my life and wish I had learn it when I was playing tennis. Some specific ways would be –

• effectively dealing with difficulties and distractions in sport,
• communicating mindfulness with coaches, friends and family,
• using mindfulness to grow emotional literacy and intelligence,
• dealing effectively with stress, and
• enhancing self-regulation.

Who Can Use Mindfulness in Sport?

Again, simply – everyone! Yes, every athlete in every sport can benefit by using mindfulness.

When Can We Be Mindful in Sport?

Mmm – think you may be getting the drift of this! Again – in many places and some of them I have already identified above. Some other examples include –

• Failing to meet personal goals and expectations or making mistakes within their sport,
• Working through injuries and focusing on what they can do to recover,
• Managing a performance or training plateau,
• Helping you reach your full potential,
• Persisting and concentrating on what you can do (not what you can’t),
• Taking responsibility for difficult sporting experiences, and
• Keeping a balanced perspective and allowing yourself to move on.

Over to You…

I hope this post has given you some insight in to the 5W’s of Mindfulness in Sport. Over time, I have realised for myself, if I wanted to change my life, I needed to change, which is why I continue to make compassionate choices and live above the line. If you have any questions, please leave any questions or comments below.

Also – if you wanted to read more about my experience in mindfulness and self-compassion, click here. If you are ready to reclaim your courage and take the next step towards freedom and living in to your potential and flow, please feel free to join the Sport Life Flow community by clicking here.

References –

Kabat-Zinn, J. (1990). Full Catastrophe Living: Using the Wisdom of Your Body and Mind to Face Stress, Pain, and Illness. New York, USA: Bantam Dell.

Kabat-Zinn, J. (1994). Wherever You Go, There You Are – Mindfulness Meditation in Everyday Life. New York, USA: Hyperion.

Nhat Hahn, T. (2003). Creating True Peace: Ending Violence in Yourself, Your Family, Your Community, and the World. New York, USA: Simon and Schuster.

Stahl, B., & Goldstein, E. (2010). A Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction Workbook. Oakland, USA: New Harbinger Publications, Inc.

The post The Why, What, Where, Who and When of Mindfulness in Sport appeared first on Sport Life Flow.

What is Resilience?

Resilience is a skill that is essential for all young people to develop. According to Benard (2004) –

“…personal resilience strengths are the individual characteristics associated with healthy development and life success”(p.13).

These personal strengths do not cause resilience, but are the positive developmental outcomes that demonstrate that these innate individual characteristics are engaged (Benard, 2004). The four categories of personal resilience strengths are:

1. social competence (communication skills; being responsive to others; having empathy and caring for others; forgiveness and compassion);
2. problem-solving (planning; flexibility; help-seeking; critical and creative thinking);
3. autonomy (a secure sense of identity; self-worth; initiative; ability to cope; sense of humour); and
4. sense of purpose (hope for future; personal goals and values; sense of faith; connectedness with others) – (Benard, 2004).

To develop these innate personal strengths and produce good developmental outcomes, young people need to be in a nurturing environment. Some of the environments the young people are involved in include schools, families, and communities (including sporting clubs). A nurturing environment is one where the young person experiences caring relationships, high but achievable expectations, and authentic opportunities to participate and contribute (Benard, 2004).

7 Ways a Coach Can Enhance Resilience in Young Athletes

One of the people, apart from family, friends and peers who can impact upon and play a very important role in the athlete’s environment is their coach. So what can a coach do to support the social and emotional wellbeing needs of their athletes and develop a player’s innate personal strengths? Some strategies may include:

1. Develop and implement processes and practices to encourage connectedness – 

For example – if a player is traveling away to a tournament, identify some people they may be able to practice with or if they are traveling overseas give them some trusted contacts in the area they are going);

2. Express and model empathy – 

For example – if an athlete is talking to you about an experience, listen to the athlete and try to understand and share your athlete’s feelings.

3. Plan goals with the athlete – 

For example – sit down with the athlete and talk through their goals and identify if they are realistic in the timeframe available.

4. Work on personal relationships as well as relationships between young people and parents or external support agencies – 

For example – identify a team of people (fitness trainer, coach, sports psychologist, parent, school teacher) who can help the athlete achieve their goals and model effective communication skills;

5. Provide young people with multiple opportunities and contexts in which to experience feelings of competence and/or develop competencies.

For example – give constructive feedback and realistic praise to the athlete;

6. Establish processes, practices and relationships that enhance self-worth and promote positive coping strategies for real life situations.

For example – suggesting the athlete keep a diary/journal to reflect on their thoughts and feelings and help them identify strategies to cope with these feelings;

7. Enhance opportunities for the athlete to make real-life decisions and have a say in their training and tournament schedules.

For example – allow the athlete to lead a training session.

Over to You…

I hope this has given you (the coach) some insight in to how to enhance resilience for your athletes. It is my hope, that the sporting community can work together to develop the innate personal strengths of young athletes and contribute to the development of well-adjusted human beings and not just good athletes.

If you liked this article and want to keep taking the next step towards freedom and thriving in your sport and life, please feel free to join the Sport Life Flow community by clicking here.

Reference –

Benard, B. (2004). Resiliency – What Have We Learned. San Francisco, CA: WestEd.

P.S. I originally wrote this article for Tennis Australia when I was completing the High Performance Coaching Course. It was published in the Tennis Magazine in July 2006. A HUGE thank you to Ian McGregor who found the original article for me – I am so grateful as I know in my heart this is my purpose, it has just taken me a while to heal and get clarity about my own adventure around tennis. I originally named the article – Enhancing Resilience in Young People, however you can see below, that was changed and no I am not a fan of “toughening up.”

Also – a shout out to Tracy Zilm whom was my manager at the time I wrote this article and edited it for me. Thanks heaps Tracy!

The post 7 Ways a Coach Can Enhance Resilience in Young Athletes appeared first on Sport Life Flow.

Is your vision becoming clearer or do you feel stuck?

If you feel stuck, you might like to try discovering your power word!

What is a Power Word?

A power word is a word relates to the theme of your year or current focus in your life. The word resonates with your being and reminds you that you have the power to change! When you have found it, the power word helps you to feel expanded, inspired and empowered.

What are Examples of Power Words?

Some examples of power words are –

• love
• joy
• abundance
• family
• gratitude
• relax
• breathe
• energetic

For 2014, my word was responsibility. It may not resonate with you, but that is OK, that is why you need to find your power word! In 2015, my power word was courage, 2016 it was connection, 2017 back to responsibility, 2018 was healing, 2019 empowerment and 2020 and 2021 was acceptance

How Do You Find Your Power Word?

Your power word arrives to you easily, you don’t have to think too much about it. You will know when you have your word as it will sit well with you, feel good, inspire you and resonate with your energy. Also, when you say the word to yourself, it can remind you about your dreams, goals and intentions for the year or focus for the present time in your life  so it can keep you on track!

I Have My Word, What Now?

Now you have your power word, you can use it! How? There are a number of ways and you could start with the following questions –

1. If you lived and breathed your power word for the next 3, 6  or 12 months, what would be different for you?
2. What activities, relationships, routines, habits, emotions or thoughts don’t currently resonate with my power word? Do you want to integrate any of these in to my life? If so, what ones?
3. Identify the activities, relationships, routines, habits, emotions or thoughts you are currently doing that resonate with your power word. Do you want to tweak any of these in your life life? If so, what ones?
4. How can you transform the areas of your life that currently do not currently resonate with your power word? Where will you start?
5. How can you BE more by using your power word in your personal and professional life? For example – I can be more courageous (i.e. your power word) in my professional life by knowing my boundaries.

Over to You…

Congratulations if you have made it this far, you have identified your power word and ways you can use it in your personal and professional life! You may even like to put it as a screensaver on your phone to keep reminding yourself of it.

If you have any comments, please feel free to leave them below. And remember…

“Words are powerful. The words you use and think of, may have impact on your life. May you enrich your life with positive thoughts.” ~ Lailah Gifty Akita

If you are ready to reclaim your courage and take the next step towards freedom and believing in your dreams beyond sport, click here to join our newsletter?

The post Do You Have Your Power Word for the Year? appeared first on Sport Life Flow.

What is Mental Toughness?

If you have watched sports before, I imagine you have heard sports commentators talk about the mental toughness of players and athletes. Essentially mental toughness is a personality construct and refers to how human beings deal with stress, pressure and challenges. However, a few definitions on mental toughness include –

• “Mental toughness is having the natural or developed edge that enables you to: (i) generally, cope better than your opponents with the many demands (competition, training, lifestyle) that sport places on a performer; (ii) specifically, be more consistent and better than your opponents in remaining determined, focused, confident, and in control under pressure.” (Jones, Hanton & Connaughton, 2002),
• “Mental toughness is a collection of values, attitudes, behaviours, and emotions that enable you to persevere and overcome any obstacle, adversity, or pressure experienced, but also to maintain concentration and motivation when things are going well to consistently achieve your goals.” (Gucciardi, Gordon and Dimmock, 2008),
• “Mental toughness is the presence of some or the entire collection of experientially developed and inherent values, attitudes, emotions, cognitions, and behaviours that influence the way in which an individual approaches, responds to, and appraises both negatively and positively construed pressures, challenges, and adversities to consistently achieve his or her goals.” (Coulter, Mallett, and Gucciardi, 2010).

There are more definitions of mental toughness in the paper – Mental Toughness: Progress and Prospects and you can access that here.

Why is Mental Toughness Important?

Many coaches and sports psychologists believe that mental toughness is one of the most important psychological characteristics that determine an athlete’s success in sport. However, mental toughness has also been linked to wellbeing, positive behaviour and learning.

The 4 C’s of Mental Toughness

According to Clough, Earle and Sewell (2002), mental toughness is comprised of 4 subcomponents – commitment, challenge, control and confidence. These 4 components are also known as the 4 C’s of mental toughness. Clough et al (2002) describe the components as –

• Commitment – carrying out tasks successfully despite problems of obstacles,
• Challenge – seeking out opportunities for self-development,
• Control – emotional control (ability to keep anxiety in check and not reveal emotions to others) and life control (being influential and not controlled by others), and
• Confidence – confidence in abilities (with little dependence on external validation) and interpersonal confidence (being assertive and not intimidated in social contexts).

Over to You…

I hope this post has given you some insight in to mental toughness. Can you see how it can relate to your sport and also your life? If you have any questions, please leave them below or contact us. Also – you may like to have a look at the article I wrote for the Australian Tennis Magazine a few years back now here.

If you liked this article and want to keep taking the next step towards freedom and thriving in sport and life, please feel free to join the Sport Life Flow community by clicking here.

References –

Clair-Thompson, H., Bugler, M., Robinson, J., Clough, P., McGeown, S., & Perry, J. (2015). Mental toughness in education: exploring relationships with attainment, attendance, behaviour and peer relationships. Educational Psychology, 35:7, 886-907.

Clough, P. J., Earle, K., & Sewell, D. (2002). Mental toughness: The concept and its mea- surement. In I. Cockerill (Ed.), Solutions in sport psychology (pp. 32–43). London: Thomson.

Coulter, T., Mallett, C., & Gucciardi, D. (2010). Understanding mental toughness in Australian soccer: Perceptions of players, parents, and coaches. Journal of Sport Science, 28: 699-716.

Gucciardi D. F. (2017). Mental toughness: progress and prospects. Current opinion in psychology, 16, 17–23. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.copsyc.2017.03.010

Gucciardi, D., Gordon, S., & Dimmock J. (2008). Towards an understanding of mental toughness in Australian football. Journal of Applied Sport Psychology, 20: 261-281.

Jones, G., Hanton, S., & Connaughton, D. (2002). What is this thing called mental toughness? An investigation of elite sport performers. Journal of Applied Sport Psychology, 14: 205–218.

Stamatis, A., Grandjean, P., Morgan, G., Padgett, R. N., Cowden, R., & Koutakis, P. (2020). Developing and training mental toughness in sport: a systematic review and meta-analysis of observational studies and pre-test and post-test experiments. BMJ open sport & exercise medicine, 6(1), e000747.

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