Blog
The Dynamic Duo: Authentic Leadership and Realistic Optimism
March 29, 2024
When people think of leadership, what most often comes to mind is a position of authority, assertion, and dominance over others. Although it can show up in these ways, leadership is not a title. Rather, it is an attribute and is strongest when it focuses on inspiring and motivating one another to reach their fullest potential. It is also something essential in sports and business. So what is it?
Authentic leadership revolves around being genuine, transparent, and knowing who you are–your strengths, weaknesses, and most importantly your values. By leading authentically, you build trust with those around you and establish meaningful relationships with teammates and coaches. This bond helps build a cohesive team and creates that sense of unity essential for success in practices and competitions. Leading authentically does not need external approval from others. Each one of us has the power to let go of expectations and lead by the example of being 100% authentic to your truest self. The great
Being an athlete is not an easy feat. We are continually facing challenges and setbacks that make progression and leadership difficult. When we encounter these obstacles, we can choose to lead authentically by shifting our mindset towards acknowledging the hard within the setbacks and connecting with realistic optimism. Realistic optimism involves staying positive while acknowledging and preparing for failures along the way. This by no means is forced positivity, but rather being able to hold both the hard moments as well as finding the good within those and trusting YOU WILL BE OK. Athletes who show realistic optimism in sports exhibit greater mental resilience and toughness. This genuine response of believing in one’s own ability to overcome challenges through effort and support is a wonderful example of how to lead authentically. All of this is something you can learn. You can train and grow these skill sets by working with a sport psychologist here at Achieve Performance Psychology.
If we as athletes can maintain motivation, positivity, and focus in the face of adversity, teammates will naturally be guided to follow in your footsteps. Your authenticity will inspire those around you and foster an environment where everyone feels supported and strong enough to strive for success and reach their greatest potential, on and off the field.
No Growth in the Comfort Zone
January 12, 2024
The comfort zone is a place that feels safe and secure. Every single one of us has that zone. As athletes, it can be easy to feel at home in this space because it is often where we face the least amount of stress. We get attached to this feeling of stress relief because, let’s face it, who wants to be constantly scared or anxious? It becomes natural to avoid things that create discomfort, but what most people fail to realize is that discomfort is the gateway to success. We can never reach our greatest potential until we push our boundaries and abilities past what is comfortable.
Sounds amazing, right? But how do you begin? A great first step is a shift in mindset. Because athletes face such unique physical, emotional, and mental challenges, it can be easy to have a fixed mindset. Individuals with fixed mindsets view their capabilities and skills as unchangeable, something that cannot be improved. We often put labels on skills; either we have them, or we do not. There is no room for growth or improvement. If you don’t believe you have the capabilities to achieve the skill, you are never going to work to improve those skill sets which will ultimately influence confidence and self-efficacy. Working to shift into what we call a growth mindset will be incredibly beneficial to start stepping outside your comfort zone. A growth mindset is defined as believing your abilities can be developed and learned over time. If you view your current skill set as temporary with room for growth, you create room for potential. You allow yourself space to improve and work towards change. Research on brain plasticity has supported the idea of a growth mindset. With practice we can actually grow and strengthen neural networks and connections. We can change our brain to work for us!! It can seem incredibly scary to challenge yourself in these domains at first, but a growth mindset forces you to be comfortable with being uncomfortable.
When we step outside our comfort zones, we must come to terms that we WILL face failure. Failure is only a part of the journey. We are not going to see the changes and growth we expect on our first try. It takes practice, problem-solving, and embracing adaptability. You learn to push yourself through failure and find the inner strength and self-confidence to get back up and do it again. Practice failure. Get good at it.
Discomfort is where we learn strength, determination, perseverance, vulnerability, courage and so much more. In addition to changing our mindsets, there are other ways we can challenge ourselves to lean into the discomfort.
Identify areas you want to grow stronger in, whether that be a physical or mental challenge. WRITE THEM DOWN!
Surround yourself with a support system.
Work with coaches or teammates to brainstorm ways you can begin to actively work towards your goals.
Set small day-to-day challenges and goals for each practice.
Ask yourself, “How can I push myself today to do something different or uncomfortable?”
Be open and honest with yourself about what scares you. Embrace it.
Reward yourself for doing uncomfortable things.
Stepping outside this comfort zone can be a scary and challenging task, but once you get the courage to take the first step, you open yourself up to unlimited growth and the potential to be your greatest self. As Nelson Mandela once said, “I learned that courage was not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it. The brave man is not he who does not feel afraid, but he who conquers that fear.” In summary, have fear and do it anyways. You fullest potential awaits.
Filling our Emotional Well-being Plate
June 3, 2023
As athletes, performers, or otherwise high achieving individuals, it can be easy to understand the importance of quality sleep and a well-balanced diet. We are often filling our plates full of things to help us be successful: weight training sessions, tutors, ACT prep courses, competitions, networking meetings, and of course, practices. All these things can take up a lot of our time and resources which can make it difficult to check-in on emotional needs. It is essential to make sure we are taking care of our emotional needs plate. Emotional needs are often defined as feelings or conditions that move us to feel happy and fulfilled. Without these needs being met, it can leave us feeling alone, empty, hurt, or frustrated. Participating in some form of mental health therapy (like sport psychology) can help identify what emotional needs are most important to you, and which ones are or are not being filled. In addition to therapy sessions, there are several other self-guided ways you can check-in on emotional needs.
· Pause, take a few deep breaths, and tune into how your body is feeling
· Ask yourself “How am I feeling in this moment?”
· Use descriptive words to capture how you’re feeling
· Brainstorm and identify what might be contributing to how you’re feeling
· Identify ways you can take care of your emotional needs
At times, we may not always love the experience of “feeling” certain emotions. It can be challenging to identify and sit with those difficult emotions. However, if we don’t accurately identify what we are internally experiencing, it can be difficult to address and heal those voids. This also makes it more challenging to ask for what we need from our support network, or otherwise make changes to what may be contributing to our emotional state. Like sport, if we are having difficulty hitting a skill, and we don’t break down the technique to identify what can be improved, it makes it much more difficult to improve on that skill than it does if we recognize the issue. Same with emotional needs; we need to identify what we’re feeling so we can make improvements not only in how we are relating to those feelings but also what we do with those feelings.
QUICK TIPS!!!
· Leaning on a support network can be a great way to help fill our emotional needs.
· Using “I” along with “and” statements can be a great start a conversation to ask for what we need. One example of how to utilize this is “I really want to get into a great college, so I am studying in this ACT prep course, AND I’m feeling really burnt out from studying lately and I think I need a night off.” Or “I’m excited about all of the training opportunities I have coming up this summer, AND it’s important to me to incorporate time with my friends.” Using “and” helps us convey and honor that both statements are true. Having these conversations with support networks such as parents, partners, siblings, and friends can help create balance, allow us to feel heard, validated, and help us find ways to include important things in our life.
In addition to leaning on support networks to ask for what we need, below are a few (of many!) other ways we can promote emotional well-being and fill our emotional plate. Finding time to include these activities can be immensely helpful.
· Practice mindfulness (YouTube “5-minute mindfulness activities”)
· Go on a relaxing walk
· Dance to your favorite song
· Listen to a podcast
· Try a new activity
· Have lunch with a friend
· Watch a movie with family
· Make a new recipe for dinner
An Attitude of Gratitude
Thanksgiving can be a great time to reflect on what we are grateful for this year. While reflecting and feeling gratitude every day enables us to reap the most benefits, Thanksgiving Day is a great way to start practicing this skill! Studies have shown that feeling and showing gratitude provides us emotional, social, personality, career, and health benefits (Amin, 2014). When we show gratitude we feel better about our circumstances, leading to an increase our resiliency and self-esteem. Research shows that friends who express gratitude to each other are more likely to work through problems in their friendship and have a positive perception of their friends (Lambert & Fincham, 2011). Studies have also shown gratitude to reduce symptoms of depression (Seligman et al., 2005), improve sleep and overall physical health (Hill, Allemand, & Roberts, 2013).
How do we find things to be grateful for within our lives? When identifying things to be grateful for, it can at times come easily to us, like when we’ve had athletic or professional success, or when our family has been physically healthy this year. Other times, finding things to be grateful for can feel more challenging, especially if we have endured hardships such as not making the team we had our hopes set on, or battling injuries or other medical concerns. However, finding things, big or small, that we are grateful for can go a long way in providing mental and physical benefits. We encourage you to put energy into finding an attitude of gratitude this holiday season. Make sure to keep track of how you show gratitude to yourself and others. This will help reinforce the act and turn it into a habit.
Here are a few ways to practice gratitude:
· Journaling – 5 minutes about things we are grateful for
· Be proactive in finding the good in things, acknowledge them and appreciate them
· Write a Thank You note to someone
· Complete a random act of kindness
· Think of 3 things you’re grateful for each morning
· Say Thank You for those who help prepare the Thanksgiving meal
· Reflect on the First Thanksgiving and acknowledge the efforts and sacrifices of those involved
Practicing gratitude is a skill. Make a concerted effort to work on this skill daily. If you would like to learn more about this skill or want help in building your attitude of gratitude, please reach out to us here at Achieve and we would be more than happy to help support you. We are grateful for you taking the time to read and learn about this topic.
Resources
Amin, A. (2014). The 31 benefits of gratitude you didn’t know about: How gratitude can change your life. Happier Human. Retrieved from http://happierhuman.com/benefits-of-gratitude/
Hill, P. L., Allemand, M., & Roberts, B. W. (2013). Examining the pathways between gratitude and self-rated physical health across adulthood. Personality and Individual Differences, 54, 92-96.
Lambert, N. M., & Fincham, F. D. (2011). Expressing gratitude to a partner leads to more relationship maintenance behavior. Emotion, 11, 52-60.
Seligman, M. E. P., Steen, T. A., Park, N., & Peterson, C. (2005). Positive psychology progress: Empirical validation of interventions. Tidsskrift for Norsk Psykologforening, 42, 874-884.