Mental Moment-The Past is Behind You

Posted January 2, 2013

In Coaches, Professional & Olympic Athletes

Happy New Year! I hope that you, your family and friends had a safe and joyous holiday season!

Before the holidays I did some writing about how to write potentially useful new year resolutions. Today I want to talk a little bit about how 2012 is behind you. In order to move into 2013 you’ve got to let go of 2012.

You can’t do anything about the past

Whatever happened in 2012 stays in 2012. It’s a little like whatever happens in Vegas stays in Vegas. 🙂 You can’t go back and change what happened or didn’t happen because 2012 is gone. This thinking is very similar to the conversations I have with performers. While the performance is happening if you make a mistake you can’t go back and fix it. At the end of a performance there is no sense ‘what iffing’ yourself because you can’t go back and change what’s happened. Many performers get stuck in this place and find it very difficult to get out. It’s important to realize that you cannot change the past.

Reflect on what’s happened

Although you can’t change the past there is no harm in reflecting on your performances and coming up with a plan for moving forward. Reflection consists of taking a look at what’s happened; developing an awareness. Awareness is proceeded by action; developing a plan. This phase is not a time to beat yourself up for not being perfect. This phase is a time to develop awareness of what you’ve done and come up with a plan to enhance your mental and physical skills to be able to do it differently or better the next time.

Moving forward

You can figure out how to move forward in a way that is different than what you’ve done in the past. Most of what I do when I work with performers is help them develop awareness and move through the ‘what if’ moments and to feel less effected by them. The ‘what if’ moments become less and performers learn to let go of perfection and mistakes. When performers can come to a place of understanding that mistakes happen and there is no perfection they are able to be more emotionally balanced and focused.

I hope the start of 2013 is a time for positive reflection!

Dr. Michelle

Photo credit: http://www.education-africa.com

awareness, balanced, past

Dr. Michelle Cleere

Dr. Michelle Cleere helps top athletes, musicians, and executives in competitive fields unlock the power of the mind and create the mental toughness to be the best. She gives her clients the mental tools to deal with performance anxiety, gain more confidence, and build resilience. Check out her credentials.