The Peak Performance Expert

(St. Petersburg Times article.)

Coach Jon Gruden of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers explained his philosophy on losing 38-23 at Carolina on Wednesday by saying his team should essentially forget and move on. 

He said, “And I just think you’ve got to have a short-term memory. You’ve got to really live in the future. You’re never as good as you think you are, and you’re never as bad as you think you are, no matter what anybody thinks.”

Gruden further said, “This is about mental toughness, I think, too. You’ve got to continue doing what you’re doing and believe in yourselves. I think we have the character in our locker room that will allow us to do that.”

Well, I’m surely not a football coach but I still say Gruden has it half right.  A mentally tough performer doesn’t simply forget about a failure or a mistake and he or she doesn’t simply “continue doing what you’re doing” but rather, a mentally tough performer will step back and assess what went right and what went wrong and use the mistake or loss as an opportunity to learn and to improve.

So in my work with my clients (who aren’t football players but are business people), I suggest they adopt this useful phrase: “Isn’t it interesting that…”  The phrase helps in creating an attitude of healthy curiosity and also establishes a bit of distance from the negative emotional punch of the loss or mistake.

So, for example, when a client tells me she had a terrible meeting where she fumbled words,  couldn’t answer questions clearly, and seemed to lose the confidence of her team, I would encourage her to do the following:  First, take a moment to acknowledge the pain or embarrassment of the situation (you need to honor that reality).  Second, say, “Isn’t it interesting that the meeting went so terribly; I wonder what contributed to that outcome?”

This leads to a problem solving mode where we can pick apart what, if anything, went well, what went poorly and why, and what she needs to do differently in the future.  This approach builds mental toughness.

High stakes, high visibility situations are accompanied by excitement and tension.  It’s easy to get distracted by extraneous thoughts and feelings that interfere with your performance.  Meditation is a great technique to train yourself to let go of distractions and focus on what is most relevant - your performance! 

Now your first reaction might be the thought that you don’t have time to meditate. Well okay, but if you have a big event coming up you may want to think twice about this. 

Meditation is simple and hard; teachers of meditation say it is the simplest hard thing you can do!  Why?  Well, take about 10 minutes and try it - at least once. Come on… 

There are many different “types” of meditation but what they have in common is a focus on the breath.  So, what I recommend is this: 

Find a nice quiet place and sit up with your eyes closed. Now just notice the rise and fall of your breathing and don’t try to “do” anything. Meditation is more about “being” than “doing.” 

Just notice how your breath rises and falls, comes in and out. Just notice it and as you do so, when thoughts appear, simply notice those and let them go, without staying focused on the thoughts, without deepening them. Just notice these thoughts as distractions but don’t judge them or become attached to them. You’re going to practice not reacting to new thoughts. You’re just going to acknowledge their existence and let them go. 

Okay, if you’re like most people you realized you have many, many thoughts of all kinds and you probably noticed that it’s not easy to just sit there and focus on your breathing! (It’s the letting go of all these thoughts that prompt people to say meditation can be hard.) 

 When I meditate, I start thinking about such things as: that person I need to call; an email I must respond to; a birthday I forgot; what to cook for dinner tonight; something I forgot to tell my husband; and lots of other stuff. Each time that happens, I notice it and let it go…and again - I notice it and let it go…over and over.  You might be thinking - so what!? Well, each time I go through this process I am training my brain to let go and refocus, let go and refocus, let go and refocus. I am also training myself not to react impulsively but rather to observe with a somewhat detached interest. 

Now, isn’t that important for performing?  Consider how useful it would be to have that skill of letting go of irrelevant thoughts and feelings which can undermine your productivity and your performance and being able to refocus on what is most important - your performance in the moment! 

You also must be able to let go of any mistakes that you make because if you dwell on those mistakes you won’t be able to pay attention to what you need to do next.  Meditation can help you with that. You can learn to stay focused on your performance instead of getting caught up in distractions. 

Although it’s recommended that you spend 20minutes a day on meditation, you can also incorporate mini-meditations of a few minutes throughout the day.  A few moments here and there can also train your brain to let go and refocus. 

We here in Red Sox Nation are elated that Dustin Pedroia won the Most Valuable Player award in the American League.  “Pedroia the Destroya” has been a delight to watch this past season and his playing certainly saved the day in several games. 

Much as been made of his physical stature; Pedroia is listed as being 5′9″ but many say he is more realistically around 5′7″.  That’s small for a pro baseball player, of course, but what he lacks in physical stature he makes up for in psychological stature. 

Pedroia is a perfect example of a mentally tough athlete. He has heard snide comments and criticism about his size from the beginning (including from his father who doubted he could make it to the big leagues). Fortunately his mother encouraged her son to forge ahead despite the doubters.  Dustin brushed aside the naysayers and kept working at his craft.  He could have given up and few would have questioned it but he did not.  Yes, he persevered but he demonstrated all of the qualities of a mentally tough athlete: 

1. He exhibits a championship mindset which means he eagerly seeks feedback on his work and is relentless in self assessment.  He perceives critiques as information, not accusations and uses that information to improve his performance. 
2. His concentration is superb.  He is able to tune out distractions and focus on the task at hand no matter what the circumstances. 
3. Pedroia’s composure is maturely defined.  This guy does not get rattled even in  the big games. 
4. If he makes a mistake or has a set-back, he does not dwell on the mistake but rather learns the lesson embedded in it. (Comes back from mistakes.) 
5. He is crystal clear about what motivates him and the “why” is big enough to sustain his huge efforts. 
6. Dustin is a commitment king; he works constantly to improve and refine his craft. 
7. This guy has enough confidence for the whole team and it comes from a firm belief that he has the ability and talent to get the job done. 
8. Finally, Pedroia exhibits courage in the true sense of the word - courage is derived from the French word for heart (coeur) and we have seen him play his heart out game after game after game. 

How do you rate on the 8 dimensions of mental toughness?

Looking at the sports pages, it seems that any athlete is mentally tough.  The term mental toughness is overused or misused by commentators.  Anyone who exhibits determination and who works hard is deemed mentally tough. 

But - it’s much more. There’s a difference between describing a mentally tough person and becoming a mentally tough person (athlete or not). In athletics, one becomes mentally tough through years of hard work, dedication, and commitment; through a willingness to follow the routine of practice, perform and evaluate; and most importantly by adjusting one’s thinking. 

Champions in athletics and in business maintain a fairly dispassionate perspective about their chosen area of competition.  They may love their game or their vocation but they do not fall prey to emotional over-involvement.  Their thinking is disciplined and their approach is deliberate.  Rather than frantically going for the big grand slam, they are satisfied with base hits.  It’s the steady consistency that ultimately wins.                

Our bodies come equipped with an immune system which, when fully developed, succeed in fending off unwanted viruses and bacteria to help keep us healthy. For some people (those undergoing chemotherapy or those who are HIV+, for example), the immune system is compromised and hence, the person is more susceptible to disease. 

Interestingly, the immune system can be strengthened by exposure to certain viruses and bacteria which allow the body to develop antibodies to better fight off disease.  The same thing can be said for what I refer to as our psychological immune system or our resilience to adversity. Many people who have experienced severe adversity report that they emerge from it feeling stronger, happier, with greater clarity about what is important to them and with an intense commitment to achieving their chosen goal. 

This is not true for everyone, of course.  There are those who get beaten down by rough times and who never recover.  Some might say this makes sense; that life’s curve balls do have the power to ruin a person.  I would argue that perception has a role in this.  For every person who gives up there is one who turns it around and thrives. 

There are countless examples.  In the world of sports, Lance Armstrong comes to mind.  He has almost become a cliché in these kinds of discussions - how he endured intense painful treatment for cancer, including brain surgery and then how he became one of the greatest athletes in the world by winning the Tour de France 7 times.  He has stated many times that without the cancer, he never would have become the superb athlete he became. 

In the world of jazz, there are 2 tales: Ella Fitzgerald and Billie Holiday.  Both had gruesome childhoods filled with abuse, poverty, and loneliness.  Both became big jazz sensations but Billie chose to numb her pain via heroin, which ultimately killed her while Ella shunned drugs and, despite diabetes, lived a long life filled with laughter and love.  Choice has something to do with this - the choice to see the world in a particular way. 

Because so many people operate with a fear mentality, where they anticipate failure or humiliation or adversity, they never actually move forward.  It can be helpful to consider that it is often the anticipation of adversity that is far worse than the adversity itself.  (Research supports this notion.) 

Here’s what you can do to boost your psychological immune system: 

• First, write down 4 adversity experiences you have had and then consider some positive things that happened as a result.
• Second, write down 4 mistakes you have made and the lessons learned from each. 
• Third, list 4 successes you have experienced and include what motivated you, what obstacles you encountered and how you felt upon completion

One of the things that separate champions from also-rans is the reaction to mistakes. In my work as a performance coach, I have seen many people’s careers stall because of fear of making mistakes.  No risk, no gain. They are reluctant to move out of their comfort zone and so their lives remain stagnant - dead - going no-where. 

The mind-set of champions is different. Rather than avoid risk, they embrace it.  Rather than shrink from challenges, they seek them out. And when they make a mistake, they don’t dwell on the failure aspect, instead they learn from it. 

Peak performers (and I include here everyone from athletes to business professionals to performing artists) view mistakes as the opportunity to learn how to improve performance; they recognize that there is so much more to learn from a loss than a win and so they take time after a loss to conduct an honest, objective evaluation.  This self-assessment includes assessing what went right and what went wrong; what factors contributed to the failure; what could have been done differently; and what areas need strengthening in order to prepare for a future performance. 

I recommend  that such a self-assessment be done in writing for several reasons. First, putting thoughts on paper (or an electronic version although I prefer the old fashioned tactile way of holding pen and scribbling on paper - preferably a notebook dedicated to your performance record) is itself an act of commitment and allows you to organize your thoughts for future reference. Second, it allows you to keep track of your goals and your progress.  Third, that which we pay attention to improves. 

So, next time you make a mistake or experience a failure, do what peak performers do - honor the feelings of disappointment briefly then step back and evaluate the mistake in an objective, dispassionate way and highlight the lesson embedded in the mistake. 

A Canadian study of 219 sets of twins suggests that mental toughness has a strong genetic component.  Tony Vernon, the lead researcher from the University of Western Ontario, said that the questionnaire-based study assessed the genetic and environmental contributions of 4 traits associated with mental toughness.  These included: feeling in control over one’s life, commitment, confidence and the ability to face new challenges.  Apparently 52% in the variation of mental toughness was due to genetics.  Mental toughness also correlated strongly with extroversion.

What does this mean for those who are not positively genetically endowed?  Well, they may worry more and be more pessimistic and may not have the courage to take risks but - and this is an important but - this does not mean that they cannot learn to be mentally tough.  My work as a coach and consultant has afforded me the grand opportunity to witness people being transformed. We now know, thanks to the new field of neuroplasticity, that the brain is always changing and that one is able to change one’s brain  in ways one wants…with a little guidance from a good coach.

 Every time Matt Garza of the Tampa Bay Rays pitches, there is a lot of talk about his potential “wildness” and his emotionality.  It seems Garza’s temper got him into trouble a while back and manager Joe Maddon encouraged him to see a sports psychologist.  The results have been mostly positive.  He’s more of a team player and is much better able to control the intensity of his emotions. 

When Garza faced my Red Sox in the last game of the ALCS, he was fierce in his accuracy and the force of his pitches.  The Red Sox couldn’t hit anything he threw at them.  In other words, Garza demonstrated superb control.  He was able to harness all that intensity and channel it just the way he wanted. (Too bad for us.) 

Last night he didn’t fare as well when he played the Phillies in game 3 of the World Series. This led to speculation: did the rain delay affect him?  Did the reality of playing in the World Series get to him?  We’ll never know but it’s always fun to guess. 

The Garza story brings up an important element in sports psychology known as the Zone of Optimal Functioning or the ZOOF. This refers to a performer’s sweet spot, just the right level of physiological activation that allows him or her to perform well. 

The concept of flow in sports (or any performance) refers to a state in which there is a perfect or near perfect match between the perceived demands of an activity and the abilities of the performer. Flow is accompanied by feelings of being energized yet calm and focused with your attention directed on what is essential. 

It’s a myth that “the harder you try, the better you’ll do.”  Too much activation or arousal can lead to feelings of agitation and tension and a shift of attention from the activity at hand to oneself or others. Of course, too little activation can lead to feelings of apathy or boredom (left field?) and result in too little focus on the details necessary to perform. 

Garza is a great example of this.  Too much and he’s wild and loses control of the ball; too little - well, we haven’t’ seen that!  Think of yourself and the activities you engage in. Are you too revved up or too laid back?  What works for you? 

Some people need to get revved up.  They feel it energizes them and that they perform better. (Garza, again, listens to rap music before the game.  Maybe he listened to too much of it last night!)  Other people need to calm down and control over-activation. 

Another way to think of it in musical terms is a rah-rah college fight song or a languorous bossa nova.  Are you a fight song person or a Bossa Nova type?  Different activities might require different levels of activation.  Consider the differences between a hockey player and a brain surgeon, for example. 

A man who had attended one of my seminars emailed me a few weeks later to say his golf game had improved because he realized he was a “Bossa Nova type of guy.”  When he teed up, he imagined hearing a slow Bossa Nova which allowed him to slow down, relax, and focus.

In less than half an hour, my (note the possessive “my”) Red Sox will confront the L.A. Haloes for game 4 of the ALDS.  This is a game that should not have needed to be played but here we are. 

Tonight the Sox need to focus, focus, focus on each pitch and they must forget about any bloopers that happen and move on.

 As I’ve mentioned before, focus occurs on 3 dimensions: width -  focus is either broad or narrow; direction - focus is either internal or external; and time - our focus is on the past, the present or the future. 

Flexibility is key.  Although a batter might reflect on what he knows about the pitcher and consider the kind of pitch likely to come his way (broad-internal-past focus), he will perform better in the moment with his attention focused externally, on the pitch coming his way. 

This may sound elementary but the reason some batters get into trouble is they are thinking too much, either about the pitcher, the way they are feeling or their last at bat. This is where healthy amnesia comes in.  If a guy had a lousy at bat, he might want to briefly review what went wrong and how he can make it right but then he needs to forget about it and move on.  If not, his focus is narrow-internal-past instead of where it should be - narrow-external-present. 

Of course, all this holds true for the pitcher as well.  Look closely at the guys tonight.  Who’s the coolest customer?  Who is able to quickly review and learn from a mistake, shake it off, and move on?  That will likely be the winning pitcher…assuming he has a good offense piling on those runs! 

On with the game!

My guys, the irrepressible Red Sox, already have a play-off slot.  They confront  the Los Angeles Angels Wednesday night.  I was tempted to take a mini-break from baseball until then but now I’m not so sure!

Seems to me tonight’s show-down between the White Sox and the Twins will be a  game not-to-be-missed.  The Chi-Sox won Monday night, forcing a tie breaking game tonight.  Not only will tonight’s game be a contest of athletic superiority, it will also be a test of mental toughness.

Young pitcher, Gavin Floyd, performed well for the White Sox on Monday after some initial jitters detected by veteran pitcher, A.J. Pierzynski who tried to break the ice by asking Floyd if he was a “little nervous.”  Floyd laughed and acknowledged he was but, in true baseball fashion said that “it was time to go out there and play baseball. There’s no time to be nervous.”   Later, Pierzynski said, [Floyd] admitted he was nervous, which is good, because if you’re not nervous in that situation, there’s something wrong with you.; just admit it, because everyone is a little nervous in a game when your season is on the line. It’s a good thing because it means you’re alive and you’re into the game. He pitched great.”

It’s refreshing to see athletes admit they are human and experience anxiety in these high stakes situations. I’m reminded of something John Wayne said: “Courage is being scared to death but saddling up anyway.”

Yeah.  The test of courage is not an absence of fear but experiencing the fear and forging ahead anyway.  It also helps if you have some tips on how to manage what is manageable.

Tonight, neither team has control over who wins.  (We never have control over any outcome.) They cannot control who is injured, who is feeling exceptionally tired. They cannot control the fact that the other team might be better rested and in better shape.  They cannot control the calls from the umpires. Each man must exhibit superb focus, composure, and confidence.  Mental toughness can trump other factors any day.  Players should focus on things they can control such as their  thinking and their bodily response to stress.

In my post dated 9/19/08, I wrote about a Self-Calming exercise which helps if someone is too revved up.  When we’re too revved up (like Floyd was early on in Monday’s game), we are likely seeing a situation as threatening.  If we see a situation as threatening, our bodies tense up (not good for an athlete) and our brain releases a certain chemical cocktail that affects our ability to think clearly.  Knowing this, an athlete can first, focus on his body, using some means to relax to the level that’s right for him.  (Some players, like Kevin Youkilis, seem to play better at a higher level of arousal than others.)  Often several slow exhales can do the trick.

Then some shift in the internal conversation has to happen.  If Floyd was saying to himself, “Yikes!  This is a BIG game…I can’t screw up…it’s up to me,” of course this would increase his anxiety and adversely affect his focus.  (His focus should be external, not internal.)  It may be that after that little talk with his catcher he was able to change his self-talk to something like, “Yes, this is a big game and I’m prepared. I’ve got a great catcher with lots of experience guiding me and he and others have faith in me.   I’m getting better and better with each pitch.”

All the players tonight have to have similar conversations with themselves. They can’t get caught up in the enormity of the game.  They have to focus on each pitch as if it’s the first.  If a guy makes a mistake, he has to let it go and refocus on the task at hand. If an umpire makes a bad call, he has to let it go and refocus.   Each guy has to go out there and focus on his own process.

And may the best team win!