Like great Olympians, you can thrive under pressure that crushes others
TC North //August 19, 2016//
Like great Olympians, you can thrive under pressure that crushes others
TC North //August 19, 2016//
(Editor's note: This is the second of two parts. Read Part One.)
Freestyle mogul skier Jerry Bloom, a three-time world champion and two-time Olympian, uses a focusing thought in the seconds before starting a race:
“This is the single-most important turn. It’s all I need to think about. Just make a good turn here, and my skills will carry me the rest of the way. I imagined the perfect first turn.”
So do most other Olympians before their competition. Elite athletes use a mental and physical pre-event routine as performance enhancers. Michael Phelps, the most decorated Olympian of all time, always does three arm flaps on the starting block after the starter says, “Take your mark”. Usain Bolt, a.k.a., the Lightening Bolt, Olympic 100 meter gold medal winner three Olympics in a row, always says a prayer and crosses himself after the starter says, “Take your mark”. These rituals are part of the race for these athletes.
Do you focus your thoughts this clearly before engaging in your most challenging situations? Do you know how to thrive under the pressure that crushes those who aren’t mentally tough? Like the great Olympians, you can learn to create an optimal state of mind before engaging in your most challenging or most important personal and professional situations.
Being your best under stress
One of the keys to being your best personally and professionally is having a pre-event routine to optimally prepare your mind and body to engage in the situations that are most important to you. Take a moment now to think of an upcoming situation or event where you want to be your best. It can be a personal or professional situation. Let’s refer to it as, “your important event”. As you continue to read, think about how you could create a pre-event routine to be your best during your important event.
Here is what Karen, a tech company regional sales director for 10 years, did to go from a middle-of-the-pack producer to the Vice President of Sales. She developed a pre-selling routine using three techniques for all her sales calls. She:
Karen became her company’s top producer and then VP of sales. She credited her pre-selling routine for her dramatic rise.
Structure of a pre-event routine
Have you watched Olympic gymnasts, swimmers, divers or track athletes, engaged in their pre-event routines? During the hours and minutes leading up to their event, they all have very individualized and well-practiced pre-event routines that include:
Develop a pre-routine
Take a moment to reflect on your event.
There are high performers in all fields who have learned to create an optimal mindset before engaging in their challenging and important business and personal situations. When making a big sale, leading a meeting, making a speech, interviewing for a job, conducting or receiving a performance review and even being with family after a hard day can all be improved with pre-event routines to create the optimal state for mind and body.