Negative thoughts are common during sport and other forms of performance and can drive up negative emotions that interfere with peak performance. Performers can increase awareness of their negative thoughts, accept them without believing them, change their thoughts themselves, and prevent thoughts from interfering with their performance.
Some performers take their thoughts literally as facts, without considering whether they are realistic. Examples include “my coach and teammates don’t like me,” “I’ll never be able to play my best,” or “I always mess up under pressure.” Since thoughts are merely internal mental experiences, not facts, they are subject to change, and performers who understand this and learn to respond effectively to negative thoughts before, during, and after performance to get back on track.
Two ways of responding differently to negative thoughts include accepting or changing negative thoughts. Examples of accepting thoughts included thinking “I had the thought my coach and teammates don’t like me, I won’t play me best, or I’ll mess up under pressure, and I’ll have thoughts like these sometimes – it’s no big deal.” Acknowledging, accepting, and moving on from these thoughts can be quite effective. Changing negative thoughts can be done by thinking “I can’t read minds, but my coach and teammates probably think I’m just fine, I want to play my best and will do everything I can, and I’ll learn to manage pressure better if I stay focused and positive.”
Like learning new physical skills to perform better, these mental skills need consistent, repeated practice to show up when needed the most. With enough practice, performers can respond differently to negative thoughts to manage emotions before, during, and after performance to maintain and improve their performance.
