The Peak Performance Expert

Elite athletes are trained to not only manage but triumph in difficult situations.  This ability is often referred to as mental toughness.  I would say it is certainly part of the story. 

Athletes aren’t the only people who have to deal with difficult situations, of course and so it’s useful for everyone to learn what athletes pay sports psychologists for. 

In tense situations some people have a tendency to be reactive. That is, their attention narrows and so they fail to see the big picture and they jump to conclusions, dive into a conversation; defend their point of view vociferously (without giving the other guy a chance to explain himself) and generally get themselves into all kinds of trouble. 

It’s good to put a wedge or create a space between the impulse and the action. The space gives you a bit of time to reflect and consider what action should be taken.   I like to think of it as being similar to hitting the “pause” button on your remote control.   When you do so, you create a temporal and emotional space during which you can decide what to do next. 

The full recipe is as follows:  

Zoom out (to create a cognitive and emotional distance from a tense situation)

Pause (to create a cognitive and emotional space in which to reflect on the situation, challenge potentially negative distorted thinking, and consider best response)

Zoom in (to return to the situation and respond appropriately)

Repeat until you get it.

 Now this really works - if you actually practice it!

I used this with a client recently who tended to believe her competence was being challenged in meetings when anyone asked her a question. We simulated the situation with me asking her questions and her getting rattled or annoyed.  I then asked her to step back, literally, exhale slowly and imagine she was zooming out, way out, to create distance from the situation.

 During the pause in action, I asked her to quickly challenge her thinking, to sort through the distortions and regroup and when she was calm, to resume or zoom back in. We did this over and over until she mastered the pattern: zoom out, pause, and zoom in. 

Now of course I didn’t expect that in a real meeting, this person would say, “Excuse me while I zoom out and pause.” But it is possible to train your body and your mind to respond in the way you want and that is what happened with this client who learned how to quickly zoom out, pause, and then respond appropriately.  It does take time to master a new skill.  Athletes engage in drills where they perform the same task over and over until it’s second nature. You can, too.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, December 17th, 2008 at 11:35 pm and is filed under Mental Toughness. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.