Most people have a craft or hobby that requires a great deal
of skill to perform. We train and practice these skills in hopes to get better
and better at our craft, but when it comes down to performance, our results are
wildly inconsistent. More often than not, these inconsistencies are not a
result of lack of preparation (because that is often where we look first). As
humans, we tent to blame our preparation for our failures and prepare more for
the next time, that is, if you are the type of person who doesn’t quit at the
sign of failure. Failure can be very discouraging, but can also be very
motivational if you have trained yourself to see it that way. For instance, if
you fail, you might feel worthless and in an effort to never feel worthless
again, you quit. OR if you fail, you might feel worthless for the time being,
but you treat the failure like a puzzle that you have to solve.
Why did I fail? How
can I do better next time? Was this failure a result of my preparations or my
attitude?
As I said before, if might have a little bit to do with your
preparation, but in my experience, failure is often a result of a poor attitude
or a lack of focus. Something mental, not physical. The best thing you can do
to enhance your skills would be to learn to OVERCOME MENTAL BARRIERS. Don’t let
your emotions get in your way of success.
Confidence can be a hard thing to muster up on a whim, but
practice can definitely help. Observe your thought process during a time when
you are feeling confident and things are falling into place. Harness this
thought process and develop a plan to steer your thoughts towards confidence
when you are feeling insecure or unmotivated. Things are much easier to
accomplish when you KNOW that you are going to accomplish them.
My current hobby is Disc Golf. I spend my hours watching
tournaments and browsing forums on the best techniques to get the disc in the
basket with the least amount of throws. When the weather is nice, I head to my
backyard and practice putting or head to a field and practice distance shots.
My form still needs work but it is pretty solid, but when I get out to the
course to play my results are really inconsistent. Some days I have the best
game of my life, and some days I can’t even finish due to frustration and
failure. I have realized that these moods are completely dependent on my
attitude when I start playing and how I handle my first mistake. If I decide
that I NEED to do well on the course today, I will often fail because I am
trying too hard and will get too frustrated at the sign of failure. When the
first mistake arises, I become overly stressed as I try to find a solution to
the problem in an attempt to save my perfect game. This stress usually causes
me to make another mistake trying to overcome my previous mistake. The stress
continues to build until eventually, after many double and triple bogeys, I
walk back to my car in a terrible mood.
Oppositely, if I start playing with the goal to improve and
to have fun, my game ends much differently. I have learned that it is important
to take each individual shot without thinking of what will happen afterwards or
what has happened to get you there. Don’t think about your score or your goals
or your mistakes; simply focus on what you have to do to make a successful shot
and visualize how that shot will look. This is a lot easier said than done. There
are often times when missing a shot will result in the disc rolling downhill
farther than you previously were or maybe even landing in a lake. If you cannot
fully get these thoughts out of your head, you will most likely miss the shot.
Making the shot requires complete confidence that you will make it.
The concept of “being present” is very important in every
aspect of our lives, not just in disc golf. Having a hobby that continually
breaks you down and humbles you is essential for growth. Just as this hobby
breaks you down, so will life, and it is important to learn how to deal with
such failures and turn them into successes. “Being present” is all about being
where you are, both physically and mentally. If you are hanging out with your
children, do not think about what you want to do when they go to bed. Be there
for them and get the most out of every experience. If you are playing a round
of disc golf or going for a run, do your best to eliminate thoughts of other
things. This is especially hard while being in pain on a run, but no one else
can control your mind but you. And if you can’t control it, it is now
controlling you.
Now you may ask, why
is it important to be present? If I am accomplishing my goal of running, why do
I have to focus on the pain? These are great questions with answers that I
am still figuring out for myself. The one thing I know is that by being fully
present, you can begin to learn yourself. If your mind is constantly cluttered
with random thoughts, how will you know which ones are important? The best way
to clear the mind is simply to empty it and focus on one thing. Of course
running alone accomplishes the goal of burning a few calories or helping you
sleep at night, but there are no lasting effects unless you also work on your
mentality. Running provides a unique experience in which you are constantly
faced with struggle and pain. To continue running, you have to overcome these
obstacles and keep moving. Learning to not only deal with the physical pain,
but all of the negative thoughts telling you to stop. If you can overcome these while running, you
will have a much easier time overcoming them when real life obstacles arise.
Stay present. Learn to control your mind and you will find peace.
No comments:
Post a Comment