Let’s face it, we all live hectic lives that leave us drained of energy on some days. Having a coach, trainer, or workout buddy can be incredibly motivating, but what about those times when you’re alone and need a mental boost? This is where being self-reliant by creating your own immediate energizing strategies can come into play.
Whether you are intrinsically or extrinsically motivated in nature, we all tend to have those days when energy and motivational drive is low. You still show up for your sports practice or training session, but something just isn’t clicking. At the end of the day, we are the only ones
in control of our own actions. Therefore, it’s a huge asset to understand how to be able to implement your own energizing techniques as needed. This means, being able to focus on your task and accomplish what you came to do.
In this article I will present 5 immediate self-energizing techniques which you can try out during your next workout!
1. Immediate Goal Setting
Goal setting can vary in depth from immediate, short-term, and long term. Long-term goals are beneficial in many ways for an athlete and can be seen as their main source of motivation, but what happens in the moments of game or training? I believe that immediate goals are the most commonly ignored, however they may actually be the most important of them all. Instead of thinking, I really want my team to win the football championship (long-term) or I really want to be the game MVP (short-term), you should use an immediate goal setting strategy as something to aim for in that very moment. Ex: don’t drop the ball, chop your feet through the line, stay low, run hard, etc. For those exercising, this can be something as simple as, completing all prescribed sets in a workout or staying on track of your proper rest periods. Immediate goals give us motivation for the here and now. Use them to accomplish the smaller task at hand which will ultimately lead you towards your short term and long term goals.
2. Self-Talk
Self-talk is one of the most powerful tools you can use as a self-energizing strategy. We all have thoughts that run through our head during performances and sometimes they can be positive and beneficial or negative and detr
imental towards our own success. I’ve always been told that feelings typically turn into thoughts, which then turn into actions. So, if you’re feeling scared or nervous, this may lead to you into thinking that you may fail the task, ultimately causing you to fail or perform poorly. Positive self-talk is the key towards achieving greater mental strength, physical activity, and overall effort. You want to focus your inner voice saying positive words, phrases, or thoughts. These mantras can be internalized or expressed vocally. Some common examples of self talk are, a sprinter thinking “EXPLODE!” prior to the gunshot, a powerlifter screaming “UP!” during a lift, or simple phrases like, “you got this”, “easy”, and “just do it”.
3. Imagery
I like to think of imagery as self talk’s cousin, so to speak. While self-talk is the audible energizing strategy, imagery is the visual component for self-energizing and increasing motivation. Creating a mental image of what you are trying to achieve is extremely powerful and has been proven effective for boosting athletic performance. You want to mentally focus on visualizing the challenging task in a successful way, so when it actually occurs in real life, you will already have had a mental picture of yourself succeeding through that specific task. This relates back to the feelings-thoughts-actions concept I had mentioned before. Let’s say a fighter is nervous about an opponent he has never faced before, he can use imagery to visualize himself making the first punch of the round or the knockout punch to win the match. This can help boost cognition and reduce pre-competitive stress or anxiety prior to the match. Another example is a fatigued marathon runner visualizing the last sprint through the finish line to boost mental motivation.
4. Attentional Focus
Focus and attention varies from person to person, but we know that when we get aroused or stimulated, it affects our performance. Some athletes respond to high arousal levels with an increase in performance, while others may find it harmful to theirs. Knowing how youbest perform in regards to amount of arousal is important towards your own individual success. When under or overly stimulated, our attentional focus broadens, leading us to take in more irrelevant cues like: the noise of the crowd, what we want to eat later, and the type of shoes somebody is wearing. Narrowing your attentional focus and gating out irrelevant cues is ultimately what needs to be achieved. This narrowing allows you to focus on the task at hand, becoming fully attentive and ready to perform without distractions. Think about this energizing strategy as placing yourself “in the zone” and finding a sweet spot in your arousal level for only relevant cues to be seen. An example is when a defensive corner isn’t paying attention to the play and gets checked by the wide receiver running down field. The physical check of the opponent increased the cornerback’s arousal level, leading to a heightened awareness of his surrounding and consequently, a narrowing of his attentional focus to increase performance again.
5. Self-Activation
This is the final stage of the energizing strategies. Self-activation refers to developing one’s own personal methods in order to achieve maximal motivation and energy in performance. They should be unique and specific to you and the task at hand. You
should be able to utilize them at any moment and know when they are needed. Self-activation embodies all the concepts of goal setting, self-talk, imagery, and attentional focusing. You see this in certain athletes as they prepare for an event or competition.
Common sights are: baseball players hitting their bats against the home plate before
a pitch, track athletes jumping up and down prior to the start of the race, powerlifters slapping their thighs before a big lift, and fighters shaking out their arms before the start of a round. Some people may see these as rituals, but regardless of what unique cues and strategies you tend to use, the result should always be positive and beneficial towards your sport or training performance.
Whether you’re an athlete in game or an average gym goer, I highly suggest that you try out these 5 self-energizing strategies next time you need a quick boost. Find out what works best for YOU, and stick to it!
POST REPLY