Get Your Olympic Gold Medal Mindset
Elite performance coach Paul Burden spells out three crucial psychological steps to smash through performance barriers to develop your peak performance mindset and be the best you can be…
Okay okay!... I know the medals in the pic above look like a couple of chocolate hobnobs wrapped in gold foil. And in fairness, when I was a growing up, there wasn't much in my grandmother's world that couldn't be fixed with a nice pot of tea and a chocolate hobnob. But... As much as I appreciated her kindness, I wanted to win more than just the consolation prize. I really wanted to stop going to pieces under pressure and have the confidence and focus to be at my best when it mattered most.
All Action is Preceded by Intention and Motivation
Rising to the top of your sport means relentless hours of training to maintain peak physical condition and develop game changing skills. As a top performer you’ll realise that all action is preceded by intention and motivation. To be the best and reach your potential, you must develop the psychology to dig deeper, react quicker and think smarter than your competitors, enabling you to go the extra mile as they fall by the wayside.
You must also have the courage to discover the psychological weaknesses that have been holding you back, so you can overcome them to unlock your potential, smash the boundaries, annihilate the competition and give the performance of a lifetime when it matters most.
Here are three powerful ways to use your psychology to dramatically up your game:
1. Set massively compelling goals
This might seem obvious, but ask yourself, are your goals compelling enough that you can’t not take consistent action? Think about it: Our ability to take action is driven by our emotions and other unconscious resources, like motivation, confidence and enthusiasm.
These unconscious resources are rarely rational. We all know what it is like to use conscious willpower alone to achieve things, especially if your heart isn’t really in it. It's not easy to stay focused and motivated.
Conversely, when you can consistently recruit these powerful internal resources to create consistent unconscious drive, taking massive action to achieve your goal becomes not just easy, but unstoppable.
To be a true leader in your field you must set your sights high and develop the confidence and motivation that come with unwavering self-belief and consistent focus.
2. Learn to perform under pressure
If you want to win big, being able to deliver the performance of a lifetime in high-pressure situations is vital. This requires clarity of mind, confidence and unwavering focus on the desired outcome. It also requires the absence of excessive stress, anxiety, fear and panic, which cloud thinking, impair coordination and reaction times, trashing performance.
Thankfully, even if you’ve buckled under pressure in the past, you can re-train your mind to respond more positively and resourcefully to pressure and stress.
One example might be to re-train your unconscious response mechanisms resulting in problem emotions (e.g. anxiety, fear, panic, anger) to trigger more resourceful emotional states such as confidence, focus and flow. Changes at this level mean these resourceful emotions unconsciously come into play. You don’t have to try to make them happen, the very triggers that used to cause you to waver now trigger unconscious resources that support you in making the most of every opportunity.
3. Set yourself up to win
Top world-class athletes don’t focus on coming second or third; their eye is on that top spot on the podium and the gold medal around their neck. Nothing else will do.
The preparation to consistently ensure the top spot will have a very different mindset to the preparation required to come second or third. The behaviours generated by these different mindsets will yield very different results.
The big challenge is to develop the confidence and conviction to set your sights firmly on the top spot and give it 100%. When you truly have the confidence to set yourself up to win and the conviction to follow through, you’ve got the foundation to achieve the success you are capable of.
Get Your Olympic Gold Medal Mindset
If you're reading this because you want to be the best you can be (and you're looking for success beyond chocolate hobnobs!) then download Paul’s eBook ‘The 7 Golden Rules for Peak Performance’
Sport Success - Amanda Lightfoot, Olympian Team GB
"After our first session together I felt more confident and excited about achieving my goals and the impossible now seems possible.
"Paul has helped me overcome the things that have been holding me back in my sport by changing my mindset. It's incredible what he can do and I fully recommend him.
"I'm excited to see how far we can go and my belief in myself from before to now has increased massively. Thank you Paul..."
Amanda Lightfoot - Olympian Team GB Biathlete 2015
Get Your Olympic Gold Medal Mindset
Be the Best You Can Be
The 7 Golden Rules of Peak Performance
By Leading UK Performance Coach Paul Burden MSc
Powerful ways to increase your performance and achieve more including:
- Setting Massively Compelling Goals
- Resolving Blocks Fears & Conflicts
- Love What You Do
- Learning to Perform Under Pressure
- Setting Yourself Up to Win
- Making the Most of Available Resources
- Building on Your Successes