Minimize Negative Effects: How the Pros Do It

Here’s a simple example in sports to help minimize negative effects: a baseball pitcher throwing a ball in practice. It’s not nearly as important as throwing the same ball, from the same distance and for the same purpose at the end of a close game. The act is same in both instances. One event just has much more meaning to the player. You’re with me on that, right?

So, logically, if we could reduce the meaning or importance of the event, then we reduce the pressure, right? And we perform better.

How do we do that? Well, we take advantage of a little psychological trick called “comparisons.”

This is something that you already do very well. It’s a powerful function of your mind that can be used to overcome pressure!

Here’s what I mean… you might think that a rock the size of a car is big, right? But put it next to a meteor hurtling down toward earth and that makes that car-sized rock insignificant in comparison, doesn’t it? You figured out how to minimize negative effects!

Think of Something More Important to minimize negative effects

What we want to do, is reduce the meaning of the important event by thinking of something much MORE important and with much MORE meaning. This makes the pressure so much smaller and your body will respond to that perception by relaxing some.

In real-life competition when we are feeling pressure, here’s how to do that:

Remind yourself that in the big picture of your life, this pitch, this serve, this shot, this kick is really next to nothing. Your life is so much more meaningful than this event.

Here’s a powerful way that you can adopt to yourself what Super Bowl QB, Russell Wilson uses to deal with pressure:

Russell Wilson of the Seattle Seahawks had one of the most pressure-packed situations ever at the 2015 super bowl on his last play.

Here’s what he said just days before the game:

“Football doesn’t define me. My Faith is the number one thing in my life.”

Can you see how one play, even in the biggest game on earth, is still not as meaningful to Wilson as his faith. It makes that one play less pressure-packed for him.  I’m sure he thinks of this every day which is why he also said:

“ I never play scared. Never have, never will.”

That’s what you want!! You may say that I picked a bad example because he ended up choking and his team lost. That’s besides the point. Sports has it’s ups and downs and reducing your pressure doesn’t guarantee success. I promise you though, he got to where he is because he knows how to handle the pressure. He’s done it so many times.

At the moment of pressure in competition, find something that is more important or meaningful than this  singular event and compare it. Prepare your mind this way, in advance.

There’s always something more important to direct your mind to and compare to that will reduce the pressure in the moment.

Let’s do this.
Craig Sigl mental toughness trainer