Welcome to my Peak Performance blog. I’m thrilled to be invited into the SportStars INSIDERS family!
As way of introduction, my name is La Shawn Wells and I am a peak performance coach. I work with students and student athletes to strengthen their mindset and mental toughness so that they can perform at their peak.
I have over 30 years’ experience parenting three high level student athletes and over 20 years as a youth coach.
Recently I have been working with young female student athletes to build self-esteem; helping teach them to operate at Peak Performance on and off the field, by building mental toughness and creating a proper mindset. All while improving self-esteem.
As the owner of Right Choice Coaching (www.RightChoiceCoaching.com), I offer personal coaching, family coaching, workshops, several different assessments, and many other resources and tools.
I look forward to talking with you here in this forum. Send your comments and lets start performance the dialogue!
Be Well,
La Shawn B. Wells, JD, CLC
Peak Performance Coach
lashawn@rightchoicecoaching.com
7 Attributes of Peak Performance
“We will only see, hear and experience what we look for.”
Darren Hardy
One of the most important things a student athlete needs to learn is how to perform with the right mindset.
Learning how to operate at Peak Performance, on and off the field by building mental toughness and creating the right mindset will help athletes, especially young athletes win the game. All while also helping them improve their self-esteem.
When coaches and parents say, “you need to be mentally tougher”, or they tell you to focus, they often are speaking a foreign language to the young athlete.
We know from years of research and study on human development, that belief is a skill that can be developed, just like all skills.
If you are not born with a predisposition to be a fast runner, then you need to work on it to become faster. Some athletes are predisposed to have a healthier or more positive belief in themselves, but the one who lacks a strong belief in himself, can also learn that skill — positive mindset and mental toughness.
In my workshops I introduce to coaches, parents and student athlete’s the 7 Attributes of Peak Performance.
Imagine your young golfer or tennis player, softball, football player or soccer player performing at their highest potential; with the mental toughness of Serena Williams and a Mindset of Michael Jordan
Lets dive in to The 7 Attributes of Peak Performance, with the…
Number one attribute, FUN.
FUN is one of the most basic and yet most important principles to reach your performance peak. FUN keeps an athlete loose and relaxed. And FUN helps an athlete stay properly focused.
The second attribute that I help athletes develop is high self-esteem. There is a direct relationship between self-esteem and peak performance. As one goes up, so does the other.
Our third attribute, athletes becoming process-focused and not outcome-focused.
By teaching athletes what to focus on “before and during a game”, that can make or break her performance.
When athletes have a clear vision of where they are going by writing their vision on paper, they create the athletic self-image that they can start to move towards. By committing a vision to paper, athletes address their beliefs, fears, and attitudes about every facet of their athletic self-image.
Free To Fail!
Attribute number four, is in order to reach peak performance, athletes need to be free to fail. To make mistakes helps them to play at their very best. This is because, with this mindset, they have nothing to lose, and that’s exactly what happens when an underdog pulls off a big upset by the way.
Fifth Attribute: being challenged. The key, however is not to turn the challenge into a threat. Threats rely on external punishment or avoidance of pain as a source of motivation, and though they occasionally work, often they completely backfire.
On the other hand, when we are challenged in a healthy way, it means we have bought into the challenge; we are having FUN; we are focused on the process and free to make mistakes, and we are confident.
The Sixth Attribute; Peak Performance requires players performing with very little conscious thought.
I call this attribute “being automatic” or non-thinking. When athletes – at any level, perform to their highest potential, one common characteristic of their mental state is a “quiet mind.”
Our Seventh and final Peak Performance attribute is an optimal level of excitement/nervousness going into the game.
This is accomplished by learning how to write SMART goals based on dreams, and creating a list of strong affirmations that interact in a way that control behavior. The power of affirmations comes when we realize that the mind doesn’t know the difference between real and imagined.
For example, suppose you “imagine” late at night that there is a prowler in the house. Are you any less frightened than if you “knew” there was a prowler in the house? Certainly not. You are afraid because you imagine a fearful situation. The use of affirmations to build confidence applies to the same principle, but with a positive goal in mind.
Lets start thinking together. Lets reach your potential.
Be Blessed!
La Shawn B. Wells, JD
Peak Performance Coach
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