Mental toughness training: is there power in positive thinking?

Yesterday I interviewed Shannon Miller, the most “winning” female hockey coach in history.

I asked him how he builds confidence in his athletes. What’s your mental endurance training secret as a coach?

She said: “I get to know each player and their strengths. I focus on her strengths by being really positive with her. Then I set realistic goals for her and encourage her all the time. One by one she achieves her goals, giving her confidence tons of momentum.” .

Simple truth?

1. Know yourself.

2. Focus on your strengths.

3. Set realistic goals based on them.

4. Take advantage of your momentum.

Yes, simple.

So why do so many people struggle with their confidence?

In which step do they fall?

This will surprise you.

It’s step 2 – the ability to focus on your strengths.

Most people cannot focus on their strengths for a reasonable period of time.

They are inherently negative.

They have been trained since the age of five to think, speak, and be negative.

When they reach adulthood, it is a deeply ingrained habit.

Shannon actually had the opposite experience.

His mother was a super positive person. Shannon says: “I used to sing and play guitar as a kid. For a long time I thought it was really good because of my mom. Later, when I was old enough to evaluate myself, I realized that I can’t sing at all. “, I laughed.

Positive thinking doesn’t mean putting on your pink glasses and ignoring reality.

It means focusing on where you are REALLY good repetitively.

After interviewing Shannon, I started thinking about all the superstar athletes I have ever met.

They all have ONE characteristic in common.

They really think they are the cat’s meow.

Even when they make mistakes or lose, they minimize those trivial things in their mind.

Do you want to test my theory?

See a great competition like the US Master’s Golf tournament or the Stanley Cup.

Listen to the interviews of the losing athletes.

They rarely insult each other after a loss.

In fact, they are almost always talking about how well they played, even if they drowned or unraveled.

Focusing on your strengths is a really important skill in sports mental strength training.

You need to cultivate this habit, soon.

Here’s a quick and easy way to get started.

Right now, without thinking about it, say out loud your top three strengths as an athlete or coach.

How did you do it? Were they easy to come up with?

If not, you need to do some work on this.