30/08/2017
TOP 3 THINGS ON AN ATHLETES MIND AND WHY THEY ARE MEANINGLESS
Most people would agree that we feel our best and perform our best when we have less on our minds.
Many would agree that our best ideas often come to us when we aren't thinking about too much. Like out walking the dog or taking a shower.
On the flip side, I am sure we can all relate to the feeling of hopelessness our stuckness when we are scrambling our brains to find an answer.
From my experience and from chatting with many fellow professional sports people there seem to be 3 things constantly on players minds.
1. The Most Recent Game: Whether the game just played or the game coming up, it seems to be at the forefront of our thinking. The result, selection, our performance, the teams' performance.
2. Our Next Contract: Where will we be playing next year, will we have a job, how much will our contract be worth.
3. Life After Sporting Career: What are we going to do, are we doing enough now to set ourselves up to transition, providing for the family.
It would seem like these examples above are really important and our thinking about them is very meaningful, that we better take it seriously and find answers now.
These thoughts are actually completely neutral and have as much meaning as thinking about what we want to have for dinner tonight.
The more a person knows that he or she is completely whole and that their feelings ebb and flow via the universal energy of thought taking form in the moment and that it’s completely normal to move between clarity to clutter throughout the day, the more a person sees that feelings are not caused by the circumstances outside of them. This knowing allows the cluttered thinking to pass through the system without us trying to struggle to find answers and add to the clutter.
Coming to understand the inside-out nature of the human experience allows us to see through the outside-in illusion and a by product of that is all the thinking slows down. We rest more of the time in clarity, the god given capacity to perform at our best, to create, connect and problem solve comes through with ease. When we are no longer entertaining the clutter that arises with the illusion that well-being and value rests outside of us. We know that no matter whats on our mind or how we feel we have the capacity to perform.
Let me give an example of the outside-in illusion that we all may relate to: A 3-year-old has a favourite teddy bear, it seems to them the feelings of love, security and peace come from the teddy bear. We as adults can easily see that it doesn't work that way, the love is coming from within the child 100% of the time never from the teddy. As we grow older we fall for the same trick of the mind but we substitute the teddy bear for “more important” things like job, money, relationships the list goes on.
When we begin to see that our experience is generated within us 100% of the time we fall away from getting stuck in the illusion that things outside of us create our feelings.
When we see life more clearly its impossible not to act from our natural design of love, creativity, authenticity and insight. Our built in guidance system is running the show.
Thinking still flows through us and that's ok. When we see that all of life is an inside job we know we have an inner guidance system that will always lead us in the right direction.
So how do you realise this inner understanding for yourself?
The funny thing is, it is already there you already have this capacity within you. Reflect on times where you played at your best, you may have moved from nervous to confident without even realising. As you start to notice the times you were already benefiting from it, you open the door to seeing it more and more fully.
No matter how we feel or what may be on our mind, it's all fine, we just go out and play on the sports field and in life.
