Tip of the Month - July 2021

Coach Monika Says…

-Mental Blocks Keeping Athletes From Achieving Their Goals-

This post is part of TED’s “How to Be a Better Human” series, each of which contains a piece of helpful advice from someone in the TED community. Amanda Crowell, cognitive psychologist, states that everyone encounters mental blocks at various times, which tend to keep people, i.e., in our case, athletes, from achieving their goals. However, these obstacles can be overcome. 

*Note: The following is modified from the original by Schloder and applied to athletes.

When was the last time you, as an athlete, planned on accomplishing certain tasks like New Year’s resolutions to eat healthier, get more rest other than sleep, ‘letting go’ of your tech tool while resting or trying to get sleep, keeping your focus on your daily exercise regime or training pattern?

Athletes always plan or want to follow guidelines for their training regimes, sleep routine, relaxation, rest, or recovery from injuries…. but do they always? Despite their sincere desire many tend to fall short. Why? One might be tempted to say it’s because of inconvenience, laziness, or lack of willpower. Crowell calls this phenomenon “defensive failure,” and offers an example from personal experience about her goal to attend the gym regularly. Days into the New Year, several weeks or months later, she still had not followed through. “I meant to go; I intended to go but I didn’t! Why not?

To answer her questions, Crowell did three years of research. “Defensive failure” is the term she came up with to encapsulate what occurs when people want to achieve something, think about it constantly but don’t follow through. She discovered three major mindset blocks that are keeping people locked in a cycle of “defensive failure.” 

She explains the failure the following way:

Block #1: “I just don’t think I can really do this”

Experiencing a shaky start in the undertaking is enough to deter many athletes from pursuing something further or longer because the mindset becomes “I just can’t do it. They tend to convince themselves that others just have more talent or the genetics to do their thing, and some just don’t have it. They start to believe that the core of success is talent and genetics, then a rookie mistake matters a lot; it becomes the actual indication and conviction that they just don’t have what it takes.” 

Breaking free from your barrier: Rather than ‘developing a defeatist attitude’ that you should have never tried the task at hand you should acquire the ‘growth mindset’ to think of each failure as another step toward progress, according to psychologists in the field. You should consider these as real opportunities to learn because inherently you do know that success is not necessarily based upon talent alone but that it is indeed effort over time that produces accomplishments. When feeling that one has fallen short of the goal, athletes should convince themselves that this experience is actually putting you one step closer to your goal.

Block #2: “Maybe I am just not good at this like other athletes” 

Through years of experimentation and intense reflection, athletes establish their own identities, namely who they are and who they want to be or finally become. For many, this is a tough and challenging, and often lengthy process. Establishing one’s identity can provide a sense of meaning and a place in the world on one hand but sometimes the very process gets in the way when trying to set or alter or achieve personal goals. When Crowell first became certified as a coach, she struggled to sell herself and find clients. She made plans to attend different networking events, but when the dates approached, she’d invariably decided that she was too busy. After researching “defensive failure,” she realized that she was actually resisting blowing her own horn because it went against her identity. This is a common feeling. Many athletes do the same because they want to avoid doing anything that threatens their sense of self. 

Breaking free from your barrier: You should seek out others who are facing the same dilemma to share concerns. This is at times difficult because athletes tend to hesitate or have reservations to reveal their innermost thoughts and feelings. It has to be based on trust but one can learn from a heart-centered helper type supporter. The closer you can bring your goal or activity to your identity, the easier it is to move forward.

Block #3: “I feel like I have to do this but I don’t really want to do it” 

Crowell states, “Secretly, you don’t want to do it; you just think you should want to do it. Basically, you value it for the wrong reasons.” There are generally two reasons we want to achieve certain results. On the one hand, we can value these for intrinsic reasons, derived from the inside such as your interests, your curiosity, or … your long-term hopes and dreams. On the other hand, there are extrinsic ones, such as ‘all the cool people do it’ or ‘my parents would be proud of me,’ or ‘I just like to be successful and admired.’

Breaking free from your barrier: You should think of intrinsic reasons – the underlying motivation for doing what you want to do, which presents your personal energy source. You need to access such whenever needed. If the undertaking is difficult, the urge increases to quit. It is that very intrinsic interest that keeps you focused on the steps that need to be taken. If you operate only with extrinsic reasons to achieve your goals, you may in the end decide that it’s not worth pursuing. But if you truly feel and are convinced that that is really what you want, you have to draw the bright line between pursuing your goals and your long-term hopes and dreams. After you figure out that underlying inspiration, you should write it down on paper and stick it on your bedroom wall or computer. When tempted by the moment to give up, you should read it, visualize it, and let it be revitalizing for your pursuit of excellence.

References:

Crowell. A. (2019). Three mental blocks that keep you from achieving your goals, according to psychologists, cited in Daniella Balarezo, D. (2019, May 3). Three mental blocks that keep you from doing what you say you want to do. Ideas. Ted.com Retrieved July 5, 2021, from https:// ideas.ted.com/3-mental-blocks-that-keep-you-from-doing-what-you-say-you-want-to-do/

Mautz, S. (2019). Three mental blocks that keep you from achieving your goals, According to psychology. Anything's possible – and is more probable when you're aware of these three mental obstacles. Inc. Best in Business. Retrieved July 5, 2021, from https://www.inc.com/scott-mautz/3-mental-blocks-that-keep-you-from-achieving-your-goals-according-to-psychology.html

Schloder, M.E. (2019). Getting rid of mental blocks. Supplementary Notes. Canadian National Coaching Certification Program (NCCP). Module: Basic mental skills.