SPORTS TEAMS & ATHLETES

Learn distinctive techniques that harness the power of your mind and emotions to maximise performance, success and enjoyment over the long term. Most of us have seen an outstanding athlete compete or train below their true ability and wondered why. Perhaps you have experienced this yourself. We have also seen an athlete or team surprise everyone with an extraordinary performance. What suddenly enabled them to show what they could really do? Perhaps you have experienced this too. We all know that performance varies from day to day. But why? What unseen factors are powerful enough to make an athlete's performance rise and fall so much? For a long time, I believed that sporting performance and success depended almost entirely on physical fitness, technical skill and experience. Today, I understand why these alone are not enough to achieve peak results. I competed in taekwondo and was considered a promising, capable athlete. I won titles and was selected for the national team. Yet despite excellent fitness and tireless technical practice, I faced invisible barriers that I could neither identify nor overcome. I did not realise it then, but today I can see that the problem lay in my mindset and emotional state: what I call ‘conflicting beliefs’ and a ‘fluctuating emotional state’. Let me explain. 1. Conflicting beliefs These arise when we expect the same thing to bring us both pleasure and pain. We may long to win because victory means elation, recognition, reassurance about our abilities and new opportunities. At the same time, we may fear that winning will bring greater training demands, more commitments, pressure to remain number one, performance anxiety, less time for other things, rejection or a fear of not meeting expectations. An example from my own life was competing at the Nordic Taekwondo Championships, where I performed far below my ability. Nobody understood why I was not braver or more assertive. Shortly beforehand, however, I had experienced a painful incident in competition that damaged my teeth, and I feared it would happen again. Although I wanted to win, my fear of suffering another dental injury outweighed the pleasure I associated with victory. That fear affected how I felt and the decisions I made throughout the competition. I focused entirely on protecting myself from injury rather than fighting to win. I lost my first bout and was eliminated. Deep down, I was relieved to have come through unhurt, but I told no one — not even my coach. To maximise performance, an athlete needs to resolve conflicting beliefs and build a strong set of beliefs that supports them and brings them closer to their goals. 2. A fluctuating emotional state By emotional state, I mean how we feel mentally at the moment we arrive for training or competition. Our mental state directly influences our neurotransmitter and hormone systems. In a PEAK EMOTIONAL STATE — our strongest mental state — testosterone, endorphin and dopamine production increases, while production of the stress hormone cortisol decreases. In this state, our boldest beliefs come into play and the brain gains the fullest access to our trained and innate abilities, such as technical skills; information, such as our coach's priorities; and resourcefulness or creative thinking, such as how we respond to unexpected situations. In other words, a peak emotional state maximises our access to knowledge, skills and creative thinking. As a result, we make better decisions, move with greater quality and produce outstanding results. A major bonus is that, in this state, athletes can truly enjoy their sport. A fluctuating emotional state simply means that our feelings are unstable and change with external circumstances. A peak emotional state means being full of energy, self-belief, self-trust, passion and enthusiasm, together with care for our teammates. The Unstoppable Athletes workshop is designed to strengthen emotional wellbeing and beliefs. Athletes gain a deeper understanding of the brain and nervous system, along with powerful, practical tools for entering a peak emotional state before training and competition. Participants also learn an effective technique for replacing limiting beliefs with beliefs that build unshakeable self-belief and trust. This is a powerful, enjoyable performance workshop for sports clubs, athletes, coaches and supporters who recognise how much success depends on an athlete's mindset and emotional wellbeing, and who want practical ways to work with both.