What You Need To Control For Elite Level Performance

athletes losing control over their focus from a bad referee call

Have you ever been training or playing a sport, and no matter what you do it seems like there are a million distractions every where you turn? Someone takes your parking spot on the way into the gym and you have to park far away. Or perhaps people are talking incessantly in the gym and you can't seem to focus on the task at hand?

If this sounds familiar, don't worry, you are not alone. Distractions are always around us trying to pull our focus. It doesn't mean that you any less of an athlete, or that your are mentally weak and let stress get the best of you.

That being said, the best athletes have trained themselves to eliminate these distractions and control where their focus lies even in the most challenging of circumstances.

This is a practiced skill just like any other exercise or training drill. Our brains are hardwired to pick up all sorts of information to perceive threats and deal with them accordingly. However, if we can learn to control which information to focus on, and this can help reduce stress and lead to high levels of performance.

The first step in trying to hone in your focus of attention, is learning to identify what you can and cannot control. Sure, a referee making a bad call, or a training partner/teammate not pulling their weight is stressful, but what control do you realistically have over them?

By learning to identify what is our of your control, and really focusing in on what is directly in your realm of control, you will elevate your performance to the next level.

For example; take someone who is trying to increase their run speed, but it's raining, the ground is soggy, and they are running late to practice.

What they cannot control would be:

the weather

the conditioning of the field

traffic

They can control:

bringing rain/cold gear to keep warm in the rain

have cleats to dig into the soggy field

letting their coach/trainer know they are running late

Now it's your turn. In the space provided below, write down all of the things you can control while

performing your sport/in pursuit of your goal in the first column, and then list the

things that you cannot control in the second column.

What is your performance goal? ________________________________________________________________________________

What can you control	What can't you control
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10.	1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10.

Look at the list of things you cannot control. If you choose to focus on what you can’t

control, you will inevitably beat yourself. If you choose to focus on what you can’t

control, you are getting hooked. You must keep your focus on what you can control to achieve your highest level of performance possible.