Ride with Your Mind

Introduction

Hi there. My name is Peter Morris. I am a past adult (non-riding) member of WADPC. I have put this page together for those of you (riders) who are looking for an edge in your riding. Some will find this information beneficial and some not. You will not find it in the "pony club manual" as it is does not form any part of the NZPCA curiculum. However, if you were to visit the website of the British Equestrian Federation http://www.bef.co.uk/Downloads/LTAD_Final_2.pdf you will soon see they have large variations in their approach to training equestrian athletes. They realise the importance of setting goals, developing self confidence and mental toughness, developing skills in visualisation and positive thinking and learning to deal with the pressures of competition (sports psychology). It is hoped that this information will help you in realising a greater competitive potential in your riding or a greater level of enjoyment and satisfaction. You must first of all realise that you are an athlete and as such should think and train like one. Champion athletes have a special way of thinking which is beyond average (that's why they are beyond average). They do not think like this because they are champions, they are champions because they think like this. This is a work in progress and is likely to change and be updated over time. Please watch the the videos, I am absolutely positive they will get you thinking about your approach to your riding. Also check out links on links page including those for Pippa Funnell, olympic equestrian medalist.

The information found here is combination of my own authoring and material found on the internet and in books.

If you have any questions or comments please feel free to email me, I would love to hear from you. I am more than happy to explain and clarify anything you maybe interested in. petemorris@clear.net.nz


Contents (click on one or scroll down)
Introduction
Goal Setting
Self Confidence
Positive Self Talk
Visualisation
Mental Toughness
Managing Performance Pressure
Adrenaline
Dealing With Fear
Links

Goal Setting

Goal setting is a very powerful technique that can yield strong returns in all areas of your life.
At its simplest level the process of setting goals and targets allows you to choose where you want to go in life. By knowing precisely what you want to achieve, you know what you have to concentrate on and improve, and what is merely a distraction. Goal setting gives you long-term vision and short-term motivation. It focuses your acquisition of knowledge and helps you to organise your resources.

By setting sharp, clearly defined goals, you can measure and take pride in the achievement of those goals. You can see forward progress in what might previously have seemed a long pointless grind.

By setting goals you can:

 Achieve more
 Improve performance
 Increase your motivation to achieve
 Increase your pride and satisfaction in your achievements
 Improve your self-confidence
 Plan to eliminate attitudes that hold you back and cause unhappiness
Research has shown that people who use goal-setting effectively:

 Suffer less from stress and anxiety
 Concentrate better
 Show more self-confidence
 Perform better
 Are happier and more satisfied.


Goal Setting Helps Self confidence
By setting goals, and measuring their achievement, you are able to see what you have done and what you are capable of. The process of achieving goals and seeing their achievement gives you the confidence and self-belief that you need that you will be able to achieve higher and more difficult goals.
Providing that you have the self-discipline to carry it through, goal setting is also relatively easy.


Goal Setting - Powerful Written Goals In 6 Easy Steps!
The car is packed and you're ready to go, your first ever cross-country road trip.
You put the car in gear and off you go. You are excited and on a high and can’t wait for your first stop. A little while into the trip you need to check the map because you've reached an intersection you're not familiar with. You panic for a moment because you realise you've forgotten your map.
But you say the heck with it because you know where you're going. You take a right turn, change the radio station and keep on going. Unfortunately, you never reach your destination.

Too many of us treat goal setting the same way. We dream about where we want to go, but we don't have a map to get there.

What is a map? In essence, the written word.

What is the difference between a dream and a goal? Once again, the written word.
Goal setting however is more than simply scribbling down some ideas on a piece of paper. Our goals need to be complete and focused, much like a road map.
If you follow the goal setting steps outlined here you will be well on your way to becoming an expert in building the road maps to your goals and success.


1. Make sure the goal you are working for is something you really want, not just something that sounds good. When setting goals it is very important to remember that your goals must be consistent with your values and your own personal circumstances. It will help if your goal becomes your passion.



2. A goal cannot contradict any of your other goals.
This is called non-integrated thinking and will sabotage all of the hard work you put into your goals. Non-integrated thinking can also hamper your everyday thoughts as well. We should continually strive to eliminate contradictory ideas from our thinking.



3. Write your goal in the positive instead of the negative.
Work for what you want, not for what you want to leave behind. Part of the reason why we write down and examine our goals is to create a set of instructions for our subconscious mind to carry out. Your subconscious mind is a very efficient tool, it cannot determine right from wrong and it does not judge. Its only function is to carry out its instructions. The more positive instructions you give it, the more positive results you will get. Thinking positively in everyday life will also help in your growth as a human being. Don't limit it to goal setting.

4. Write your goal out in complete detail.
Instead of writing “I want to buy a new car” write “ I want to buy a red convertible with black interior, alloy wheels and manual transmission.” Once again we are giving the subconscious mind a detailed set of instructions to work on. The more information you give it, the clearer the final outcome becomes. The more precise the written goal, the more efficient the subconscious mind can become. Can you close your eyes and visualise it? The sound of the exhaust, the feel of the bucket seats, the feel of the leather steering wheel. Can you see it? So can your subconscious mind.

5. By all means, make sure your goal is high enough.
Shoot for the moon, if you miss you'll still be in the stars. It is important to set your goals high enough to build confidence from your achievements and gain personal satisfaction, but not so high as to result in almost definite failure.



6. This is the most important, write down your goals.
Writing down your goals creates the roadmap to your success. Although just the act of writing them down can set the process in motion, it is also extremely important to review your goals frequently. Remember, the more focused you are on your goals the more likely you are to accomplish them. Sometimes we realise we have to revise a goal as circumstances and other goals change. If you need to change a goal do not consider it a failure, consider it a victory as you had the insight to realise something had changed.


So your goals are written down. Now what?


First of all, unless someone is critical to helping you achieve your goal(s), do not freely share your goals with others???????? The negative attitude from friends, family and neighbours can drag you down quickly. It's very important that your self-talk (the thoughts in your head) are positive. Reviewing your goals daily is a crucial part of your success and must become part of your routine. Each morning when you wake up read your list of goals that are written in the positive. Visualize the completed goal, see the new trophy, smell the leather of your new saddle, feel the cold hard cash in your hands. Then each night, right before you go to bed, repeat the process. This process will start both your subconscious and conscious mind on working towards the goal. This will also begin to replace any of the negative self-talk you may have and replace it with positive self-talk.
Every time you make a decision during the day, ask yourself this question, "Does it take me closer to, or further from my goal." If the answer is "closer to," then you've made the right decision. If the answer is "further from," well, you know what to do.
If you follow this process everyday you will be on your way to achieving unlimited success in every aspect of your life.

The difference between a goal and a dream is the written word.

Self Confidence

Why is Self-Confidence Important?
Self-confidence is arguably one of the most important things you can have. Self-confidence reflects your assessment of your own self-worth. It will play a large part in determining your happiness through life.
Sport can be both enormously effective in improving self-worth, and highly destructive in damaging it. Where sport is used creatively, with emphasis on enjoyment, effective goal setting and monitoring of achievement of goals, it can build self-confidence as targets are reached and improvement in performance is noted.
Where children are compelled to participate in a sport for which they have no aptitude, this can be immensely destructive to self-confidence as failure and lack of self-worth are consistently reinforced. Coaches should ask themselves whether they are prepared to take moral responsibility for inflicting this damage, even if numbers are needed to make up a team.
Self-confidence allows you to take risks, as you have enough confidence in your own abilities to be sure that if things do go wrong, you can put things right.
Levels of Confidence
The way in which you are self-confident is important: if you are under confident, then you will not take risks that need to be taken. If you are over confident, then you can end up not trying hard enough and losing.
Confidence should be based on observed reality. It should be based on the achievement of performance goals: you should be confident that you will perform up to your current abilities. Good self-confidence comes from a realistic expectation of success based on well practised physical skills, a good knowledge of the sport, respect for your own competence, adequate preparation, and good physical condition. The success attained should be measured in terms of achievement of personal performance goals, not achievement goals such as winning.
Where you are under confident, you will commonly suffer from fear of failure (which will prevent you from taking risks effectively), self-doubt, lack of concentration, and negative thinking. Often you may find yourself blaming yourself for faults that lie elsewhere. These will damage your flow and disrupt your enjoyment of sport. Here you should use suggestion, visualisation, and effective goal-setting to improve your self-confidence and self-image.
Overconfidence is dangerous - it can lead you into situations which you do not have the ability to get out of. It can set you up for serious failure that can devastate the self-confidence you should have. Overconfidence is confidence that is not based on ability: it may be a result of misleading or pushy parents or coaches trying to help you without understanding your abilities, may be caused by vanity or ego, or may be caused by positive thinking or imagery which is not backed up by ability.

Self-confident athletes are more likely to remain calm in pressure situations because they believe in their ability to do what is required to be successful. Their confidence allows them to focus on the task at hand rather than worry about the consequences of losing or performing poorly. In such circumstances, confident athletes will also be less likely to give up, and in fact will increase their efforts to overcome the pressure because they believe they can do it.
Athletes who are under-confident are afraid to make mistakes, don’t take risks and generally wait for things to happen rather than taking control of their own performance.

Despite the advantages of having a high degree of self-confidence, this skill alone will not guarantee success. Athletes need to have a realistic level of confidence which matches their ability levels. Over-confident athletes are not likely to succeed, and will continue to fail until their confidence is brought back down to a more realistic level. During this process their confidence becomes undermined and a downward spiral begins to occur which in turn leads to further poor performances and so on. As a consequence of this, the goals the athlete has set for himself or herself can become blurred and distant. The athlete can lose focus and easily becomes distracted and sidetracked.

Same applies for under-confident athletes who end up setting goals less challenging and below their level of ability (this keeps them within their comfort zone).


Task-involved Athlete (Internally Motivated)

Is an athlete who is concerned with the development of his or her competence and uses levels of effort and task completion to assess his or her competence in a self reflective manner. They view their ability as something which can always be improved and therefore are satisfied when they perform at their personal best or have success in mastering a new technique or making personal improvements. Winning is not their main focus, rather personal satisfaction and achievement, it from this they gain a positive perception of themselves. They focus more on the process of winning rather than winning itself.



Ego-involved Athlete (Externally Motivated)

Is an athlete who views their ability as fixed or stable therefore limiting the effect high levels of effort have on their performance. Their priority is to show ability, often at the expense of effort. When effort drops off so does performance and as a result losses to less confident athletes occur. They judge themselves relative to others and have to demonstrate superior ability in order to gain a positive perception of themselves. This can result in a downward spiral to the point where the athlete lose self-confidence and in some extreme cases will avoid competitions where their ability may be scrutinised and may even find excuses not to compete, except at a level where they know their ability compares favourably with other competitors.




How Goal Setting Helps Self-Confidence
Goal settingis probably the most effective way of building Self Confidence. By setting measurable goals, achieving them, setting new goals, achieving them, and so on you prove your ability to yourself. You are able to prove to yourself that you are able to perform and achieve effectively. You can see and recognise and enjoy your achievement, and feel real self-worth in that achievement. Importantly, by knowing what you are able to achieve, you are not setting yourself up for surprise failure - you almost always have a reasonably accurate assessment of what your abilities really are, which is unclouded by ego or vanity.


5 Steps for Building Self-Confidence

Self-confidence is an all important trait you need to acquire in today's fast-paced world. For one thing, you must have confidence in yourself first to earn the confidence and respect of others.
The following strategies may be useful to overcome such self-conquering thought habits. Consider these steps as the building blocks for greater confidence in any aspect of your life.


1. Concentrate on your strengths rather than on your weaknesses.(Ride to your strenghts while working on your weaknesses)

Confidence comes from within. You have to concentrate on the positive things about yourself. Remember the past is over; you can only change the future. Write down ten positive things about yourself.
Concentrate on your potentials. These are the reasons you should love yourself and have high self-confidence in yourself. Give yourself credit for every positive thing you have written about yourself. Remember, you're somebody special.

2. Remind yourself of past successes.

Confidence builds on past success. Because you had success before, you can (and will) have it once more. We strengthen our confidence in any interest when we remind or review ourselves of past successes.
If you are trying to develop confidence in a new aspect, past success can still be useful in strengthening our confidence. For instance, if you had success in doing something new in the past, recall those experiences when trying something else new - even if it is in a completely different part of your life.

3. Take risks.

Try doing things that you've never tried before. It's always a little bit of a challenge in doing new things and just the act of accepting these challenges, some little and some big, whether we are successful or not, frequently improves our self-confidence.
Approach new experiences as opportunities to learn instead of occasions to win or lose. Doing so brings you new opportunities and can improve your sense of self-acceptance. Not doing so turns every possibility into an opportunity for failure, and inhibits self-growth. You greatest rewards lie outside of your cdomfort zone.

4. Use self-talk.

Use self-talk as an opportunity to contradict destructive beliefs. Then, remind yourself to "stop" and replace more realistic assumptions. For example, if you catch yourself expecting perfection, tell yourself that you can't do everything perfectly, that it's only possible to try to do things and to try to do them well. This also allows you to accept yourself while still working to improve. See Positive Self Talk

5. Visualize your future success.

Corporate executives, Olympic athletes, and successful people in all types of undertakings see future success. Confidence will increase when we visualize ourselves succeeding. Think about it. If you know you will succeed, your confidence will soar, right?
Seeing future success does that very thing for us. Our minds cannot distinguish the difference between something real and something vividly imagined. So vividly visualize your success. What will it look like, smell like, taste like, and feel like to have succeeded? Who will be with you, what will you be hearing and where will you be? How will you be feeling at that instant? Placing this much vivid detail into your mind increases the likelihood of success, and supports greater confidence! See Visualisation




Apply these steps in your daily life and your confidence will soar.


If you think you can, you can.
If you think you can’t, you’re right

Positive Self Talk

One of the most powerful influences on your attitude and personality is what you say to yourself. It is not what happens to you, but how you respond internally to what happens to you, that determines your thoughts, feelings, and your actions. By controlling your inner dialogue, or your “self talk,” you can begin to assert control over every part of your life.
Your self-talk determines the majority of your emotional life. The words that you use to describe what is happening to you, and how you feel about external events, will trigger the emotions of happiness or unhappiness that you experience. When you see things positively and you look for the good in every situation and in each person, you will become a very positive and optimistic person. Since the quality of your life is determined by how you feel moment to moment, you should make it a habit to only think and talk about what you want and keep your mind off of what you don’t want.
You are constantly faced with challenges, difficulties, and problems every day of your life. They are unavoidable. But as you draw upon your resources to respond effectively to each challenge, you grow and become a stronger person. When you look back over your life, you’ll see that you are the kind of person that you are because of all the difficulties and problems that you have had to overcome in your life. Without those setbacks, you could not have learned what you needed to know to develop the character and strength that you have at this point in your life.
Much of your ability to succeed comes from the way you deal with life. Having a positive mental attitude is indispensable for success and happiness. It is the key to success in business, and it is vital to building strong relationships with other people. Everyone wants to be around a positive person with a cheerful attitude towards life. But no one wants to be around a negative person who is always pessimistic about everything. Your ability to develop and maintain a positive mental attitude, no matter what the situation may be, will play a critical role in any success you achieve.
One of the best ways to define a positive mental attitude is having “a constructive and positive response to adversity.” It is only when you are confronted with a setback or adversity that you really know if you have a positive attitude or not. Anyone can be positive when things are going well. It is only when things are going against you, that you are able to demonstrate to yourself and others, that you have a positive character and personality.
One of the common characteristics of all high achieving men and women is that they recognize they will have temporary setbacks and disappointments. They accept them as a normal and natural part of their life. They do everything possible to avoid problems, but when they come up, successful people learn from them and rise above them. They continue to move forward towards their goals.
Optimistic people develop the habit of talking to themselves in constructive ways. Whenever they experience adversity of any kind, they immediately describe it to themselves in such a way that it looses its ability to trigger negative emotions.
There is a natural tendency in all of us to react emotionally when our expectations are hampered in any way. When something we wanted and hoped for fails to materialize, we feel a temporary sense of disappointment and unhappiness. We feel hurt and disillusioned.
A person who is positive and optimistic is resilient and bounces back fast when he or she encounters a problem or setback of any kind. He or she responds quickly to an adverse event and interprets it as being temporary and only external. An optimistic person takes full control of his or her inner talk and counters any negative feelings by immediately reframing the event so that appears positive in some way.
Since your mind can hold only one thought at a time, either positive or negative, if you deliberately choose the positive thought to dwell upon, you keep your mind optimistic and your emotions positive. Since your thoughts and feelings determine you actions, if you keep your words and thoughts positive, you will automatically be a more positive person and move more rapidly toward your goals.
It all comes down to the way you talk to yourself on a daily basis. When a problem or difficulty comes up you must learn to change your language from negative to positive. For example, you should learn to use the word challenge instead of problem. A problem is something you wrestle and struggle with. A challenge, on the other hand, is just something that you deal with. It is something that you rise to and that makes you stronger. The event is the same. But the way you interpret the event to yourself is what makes it sound and appear completely different.
You go about your day saying affirmations, such as “I like myself,” “I am the best,“ and “I can do it.” These are personal and positive affirmations that will build your levels of self confidence and self-esteem. By doing this, you will be driving these new positive thoughts deep into your subconscious. At first when you do this, you’ll feel kind of funny doing it, only because your mind over many years has been programmed with so much negativity that it will take time to reprogram your mind with these new positive affirmations.
The high achieving individual has the ability to continue talking to himself or herself in a positive and optimistic way no matter what the situation is. They are always calm, clear, and completely under control. As a result, they are able to exert a far greater sense of control and influence over their environment, and are less likely to be angry, upset, or distracted by problems or difficulties.
The starting point of becoming a more positive person is to monitor and control your self-talk every minute of the day. Keep your thoughts and words positive and consistent with your goals. Keep your mind focused on what you want and on becoming the person you want to be.
Remember that it is impossible to learn, grow and become successful without adversity and difficulties. You must rise above them in order to become a better person. So, welcome each difficulty as a learning experience and look into the situation to find something good or beneficial in it.
Always, keep your thoughts on your future and on your goals. Constantly think about the person you want to become. When things go wrong temporarily, respond by saying to yourself, “I believe in the perfect outcome.” Resolve to be cheerful and pleasant in every situation. Resist every temptation to respond to a situation negatively. View disappointment as an opportunity to grow stronger, and talk to yourself and others about it in a positive and optimistic way.

When you practice positive self-talk, and keep your words and your mental pictures consistent with your goals, nothing can stop you from being the success you are meant to be.

Visualisation

Visualization or mental picture imaging is the language of your subconscious mind.
If you choose to remember only one thing on this page, please remember this:
"Your subconscious mind cannot differentiate what is real or what is vividly imagined" (have you ever woken from a dream wondering whether it was real or not???). Through repetition, the image you visualize must come to pass.
Visualization is not just seeing what you desire in your mind's eye. It is about living in your mind's eye. This means using your five senses to make the images as real as possible.
The best time to do visualization is when you are in alpha because when you are in alpha, you can concentrate on your inner world and fully immerge yourself in your world of visualization.
When you visualize in Alpha, you will realize that you can visualize better and the images that you visualize will be so vivid that you may end up thinking that the images are real!
The clearer the visualization, the faster it shows up in reality.
One problem that many people face when starting to do visualization is that they keep changing what they visualize before the goal is achieved. This is often due to lack of self-understanding and poor goal setting technique. Write your goal down, the written word cannot be influenced by emotion, fear, criticism etc.
If you are still searching for the right path, you may go into different opportunities.
For example, you may go into a sales job, and you started to visualize yourself being the top salesperson in the company. But before you achieve the goal, you realized that sales is not something you like. Your goal changed and what you visualized changes as a result.
This is bad because in success psychology, we always say success attracts success and failure attracts failure. When you have a successful experience, it is easier for your subconscious mind to relate to that experience and thus bring more of such experience to you.
But if you keep having unsuccessful experiences, you will naturally fill your subconscious mind with images of those experiences, which becomes a hindrance in achieving your other goals.
In fact, one very powerful technique of goal achievement is to condition your subconscious mind with a successful past experience and convert that experience into your new goal that you want to achieve. This technique basically deceives your subconscious mind to believe that what you want has already happened so that it automatically brings forth the belief into reality. If you keep changing what you visualize or keep changing your goals, your faith in visualization will fall and your confidence in yourself will also sink. In this case, the more you visualize, the more you fail to achieve your goals and the worse you feel about yourself. Eventually visualization becomes a tedious and unrewarding process that actually hinders your progress instead of helping you!
The only reason why visualization doesn’t work is because you are not sure of what you want. If you are very sure of what you want, visualization must work for you!

Mental Toughness

There is a lot of talk these days around the power of “Mental Toughness” and how athletes that have this attribute maintain a competitive edge because of it. New Zealanders are very quick to blame some of our athletes sub standard performances on a lack of ‘mental toughness’ and many articles have written on how we need to up skill our athletes in this area.

Essentially the fundamental component of Mental Toughness is Self Belief. Having absolute confidence in your own ability to achieve your dreams and translating that belief into a very real “I can” and also an “I deserve”. There is much talk around Australian athletes who exhibit very clear signs of Mental Toughness in their competitive approach. Interestingly many interpret this as “arrogance’ and “aggression” which is exactly the opposite of self belief and in fact is self belief gone wrong. The Australian approach to sport is not arrogant, I can understand how at times their confidence can be misinterpreted particularly when we are analysing their confidence from a position of fourth or as the possible under dog.

It is an unfortunate part of human nature that we sometimes view those who have confidence as being arrogant or ‘up themselves”. Some people feel intensely insecure about people who are on top of their game or are successful, and sadly they want to bring those people down to their level rather than admiring them or indeed learning from them. This can also translate to individuals not wanting to appear too self confident and actually talk themselves down to retain their acceptance from their peers. “I’ll never be a good rider”, “I’m hopeless at shows” etc. These types of statements are sometimes said so that an individual doesn’t appear too confident yet are so damaging as ultimately their self conscious believes these statements and they become a reality.

Maintaining self belief is fundamental to any goal and is the key to ‘Mental Toughness”. This self belief is critical at the inevitable times when things do not quite go to plan. Developing your own personal “Tool Kit’ will arm you with the necessary means of coping with the very real challenges that are faced. Within this process you are preparing yourself so that you can cope with distractions, loss of confidence, self doubt, setbacks etc. Preparation is critical so that you are armed with mechanisms for coping as these situations arise.

A tool kit needs to have a variety of coping mechanisms within it as some days one scenario may work and others it may not. You may need three or four to run through and on some days you may go through all of them and then start back through them before you are able to quieten your mind and be absorbed within the ride with any result. Naturally the make up of your toolbox is an incredibly personal thing and will be different for every rider.

I have developed mine with the purpose of quietening my mind to allow me to stay in the present. I am very good at letting my mind wander, particularly in the warm-up phase of any ride. When this occurs I work through the contents of my tool box to help me stay focussed. The first one I use is to just concentrate on the foot fall of my horse and to listen and feel the rhythm of her movement. If I find myself still distracted I then run through my reminders for my position including how my arms are feeling, is my face relaxed, are my legs feeling long etc. After this I have my three key words that I say to myself that remind me of my own self belief, why I love my riding and also to help keep me in the present. My three words are ENJOY, FOCUS and BELIEF and attached to those words are feelings and images that I have spent time on developing for myself. Recalling those words in challenging times helps to remind me of my goals and why I am riding and ultimately reminds me to focus on the now and to have confidence in my own ability.

As part of your mental training it is essential that you identify those situations that are reality situations that need to be addressed and also those that are irrelevant. For example if you have a flat tyre and are running late for the show then naturally this occurrence will effect you and needs dealing with so as not to erode your confidence. Conversely to this worrying about who might be watching you and what their thoughts are is irrelevant and uncontrollable and should be dismissed with no further thought. A useful tool for dismissing these types of thoughts in times of pressure is to have your own visual tool that you employ if they creep into your mind. I personally have a very clear STOP that I say to myself and visualise in my mind to eliminate irrelevant thoughts. This is something that I have used over time and is now incredibly effective for me even though at first it was difficult to actually stop the thought process.


Just as we train ourselves utilising technical and tactical skills, it is imperative that we incorporate time for mental training within our routine as well. Take time away from your horse to think about the times when you are faced with challenges in your riding AND HOW YOU DEAL WITH THEM. Use this time to also develop your own “tool kit”, which will assist you and ensure you are prepared. As all skills are refined and learnt over time, so too are the mental skills required to ensure your self belief will not be eroded in challenging times. Remember it takes 21 days to change a habit so be patient and work on these skills as part of your ongoing riding routine.

Above article courtesy of Nicki Stone. Nicki is a local eventer who incorporates sports phsycology as part of her training. More articles can found at
http://performancehorse.co.nz/index.php?pr=PERFORMANCE_UPDATE



8 Tips to Mental Toughness

It takes more than visualisation, self-talk, relaxation and concentration to be a real winner in life. It takes a kind of strength through mental toughness that few people understand. But once you DO understand it, you can master yourself and how you respond to ANYTHING that comes your way. Remember, too, that YOU ARE GREATER THAN ANYTHING THAT CAN HAPPEN TO YOU.
You do not have to be born with mental toughness. Mental toughness is a transferable trait. You don't have to go through a trial by fire to experience it. Life will give you what you ask for. But once you ask, Life sets you to task. You will be challenged, many times a day to keep moving forward and reach your goal.
Here are some action tips for you to gain more mental toughness in EVERYTHING you do.

1. Listen to the experts. Read biographies and news articles, listen to audio and video programs telling of winners who have overcome tremendous obstacles and setbacks to become successful. Check out success stories in magazines and the Internet - fitness, money, or otherwise - you'll find they are people JUST LIKE YOU. So if they can do it, WHY THE HELL CAN'T YOU?

2. No pain, no gain vs. Patience, pacing, and persistence. You don't need to go through emotional or physical pain to succeed. This is a myth. When you realize that failure and handicaps have NOT prevented winners in any area of life, you gain more confidence and courage to pursue your own dreams. But you don't need to "come from behind" to get ahead. Learn from the trial and error of others, expect a lot of yourself and expect to get it. It can be easy to overtrain, overcommit, and overwork if your expectations are too much. GO WITH THE FLOW. Success WILL come; understand it may take months instead of days.

3. "What next?" thinking. Give yourself solution-oriented feedback when solving your problems. Don't dwell on what went wrong. What are you going to do about it? Spend your energy on moving forward, finding an answer. Journaling (keeping a diary) helps here. What did you accomplish today? What went well? What can you do better? How do I feel about my progress? Are my goals making me reach, or am I just going through the motions? Am I focused? Are my goals MY OWN?

4. Get comfortable with the unfamiliar. Make it a part of your daily routine to do something totally different than what you normally do. You'll be better prepared to handle diverse environments with greater calm and confidence.

5. THINK AND SPEAK WELL OF YOUR HEALTH. Teach yourself to use positive self-talk about fitness and personal health. Too much attention is paid to minor aches and pains, like there's value to not feeling good. We tend to make real what is the "main feature" of ourselves. What's YOUR "main feature"?

6. Hang out with people who have already achieved their goals or who are dedicated to goals similar to yours. Avoid associating with people who have the same unresolved problems or who are frustrated by their lack of achievement. You know, the pity parties. "Oh, woe is me. My life is in an upheaval. How about you?" "You poor thing. Woe is me, too. I feel terrible about myself. How about you?" Some people tend to thrive on the attention they get when they feel bad. A strong community of like-minded people give you motivation, support, and purpose for succeeding.

7. Focus on desired results. Pure and simple: winners dwell on the rewards of success. Losers focus on mistakes and failure. Do what's necessary NOW. Be in the present. Then you don't have to worry about what happened yesterday (dressage or s/j phases while doing x/c) or what's going to happen tomorrow (s/j or x/c phases while doing dressage). Thus, two-thirds of your worries disappear.

8. Expect the unexpected. You can't control what nature and others do. You can anticipate what MAY happen, and prepare for them as best you can. You can also control your response to what happens.

Managing Performance Pressure

It is important to realise that there are differences in the external environment and your own internal environment in practice as compared to competition. No wonder performance sometimes differs in these two settings—the environment one competes in is often very different from what one experiences in practice. The challenge is to prepare for these differences so performance is not compromised.

Ask yourself the question, "what plagues you?" That is, when your competitive performance has not been up to your capabilities, what seems to get in your way—low confidence, anxiety, an inability to manage distractions? In this article, we will address the final piece of this puzzle. That is, what are strategies to help manage competitive pressure? The following are some suggestions.

In Practice

Because external pressure is often part of the competition experience, you need to prepare for these pressure situations. Just as you prepare yourself to deal with strengths or tendencies of the opponents you face, you need to prepare yourself for the unique pressures or challenges you face—be they physical or mental. Purposefully use practice to prepare you for the challenges of competition. There is a multitude of ways to prepare for pressure situations, dependent on "what plagues you most." The key is to integrate the competitive challenge into practice to provide the opportunity to learn how to manage the challenge. As examples,
 Create rewards for yourself for performing up to a certain level. These incentives can help attach significance and pressure to your performance.
 Practice critical elements of performance under conditions of physical and mental fatigue, the same fatigue you will experience in competition.
 Try to simulate the physical manifestations of anxiety (increased heart rate, rapid breathing, and jitteriness) then challenge yourself to perform under such conditions. These symptoms can be induced through physical exertion or imagery.
 Use imagery to create "competitive situations" in practice. Prepare yourself for performing under pressure by seeing and feeling yourself perform well under the conditions, both internal and external, that will exist when you are actually competing.

In Competition

Creating pressure situations or competitive conditions in practice is a step towards helping you deal with various types of performance pressure. It is equally important to have strategies in place to help during competition when faced with various challenges or obstacles. Let's look at some often encountered obstacles and identify strategies to implement to help you overcome the obstacle.
To overcome pre-competition worry:

 Remind yourself of successful practices and past performances.
 Focus on what you need to do in the competition to keep your mind filled with productive (not detrimental) thinking.
 Manage your self-talk to help you control your mental anxiety (refer to past PTJ articles on 'energy management').
 Distract yourself from your worries by talking with teammates, reading a book, listening to music, etc.
 Using imagery, review your competition plan—seeing and experiencing success.
To overcome pre-competition physical anxiety:
 Your increased heart rate, tense muscles, and rapid, shallow breathing can be managed through controlled breathing exercises or other physical relaxation strategies.
 If your muscles are tight, stretch them. Keep them optimally loose and limber by moving slowly and stretching.
 Ask for a light massage to work out tightness.
To overcome low self-confidence:
 Visualize the upcoming performance, seeing and experiencing your success.
 Focus on what is controllable. Confidence can be undermined when trying to control or worry about things that are uncontrollable (e.g. weather, competitors, start position, officials).
 The majority of athletes experience some doubts or concerns. The key is to avoid focusing on the doubts and instead get on with the business of what you need to do to perform well.
 Direct your physical and mental energy to your performance rather than using your energy on your opponent's performance.
 Remind yourself of the key elements of your performance, the things you need to do, and can do, to perform well.
 Set realistic, yet challenging goals for yourself.


To overcome the pressure to have a "peak" performance at a major competition:
 Implement the pre-competition routine you have developed that facilitates your performance regardless of whether it is a pre-season or end of season competition.
 Keep the competition in perspective. Acknowledge that you want to perform well, but it is just one of a multitude of competitive opportunities.
 Regardless of the environment, all you have control over is your performance. Focus on what you need to do to perform well.
 Implement strategies to build your confidence.
Using the above strategies will help you overcome the pressures of competition and reach new levels of performance. Remember practice makes perfect, so be sure to practice these skills before you need them in the heat of competition.

Adrenaline

Adrenaline is known as the fight or flight hormone because it is secreted whenever there is a stress reaction or whenever negative emotions such as fear (whether it is an actual fear or a perceived fear), guilt, anger, or worry are experienced. Stress reactions can be either emotional, such as coping with job or school pressures, pressure of competition or physical, such as pain or injury. When adrenaline is secreted, it signals the body to make changes in its behaviour. This can cause increased heart rate, sweating, stomach churning, muscle tension and light-headedness.
Fight Or Flight
The body has three instinctive responses to fear (whether it be real or perceived), which are triggered by the primitive part of the brain, bypassing the part of the brain which involves logical thinking. The three responses are fight, flight or freeze. In a primitive world, before the constraints of modern living made pretty much all of these inappropriate or undesirable, the system worked brilliantly. If you were a big muscle-bound young man, you would probably be able to fight off most threats. If you knew you were not strong enough to fight and win, maybe you could run like hell and get away! On the other hand, maybe you would be better off becoming the next best thing to appearing dead or invisible, and therefore, no threat and no longer in danger. Sometimes symptoms can match up with all the three responses in some part.

Fight - adrenaline will trigger aggressive behaviour. You may not become physically aggressive, but may get irritable and snappy which will discourage others from wanting to be around you. Muscles become tense and the heart will pump harder to provide them with blood. Sticky palms are the body’s response to anticipated need to cool the muscles down – they could be going to get a work out. The body is at its most powerful and effective.

Flight – the body again pushes as much oxygen as possible into the muscles to enable them to work effectively. Less oxygen is directed the brain as this will slow things down and waste time. Thinking can become muddled. In some circumstances peripheral vision is reduced so that focus can stay on the escape route. The digestive system empties out and shuts down, so that the body weighs less and does not waste unnecessary resources breaking down food. This is an emergency response.

Freeze – nowhere to go and no chance of battling out of the situation? The desired option is to ‘play dead’ like a mouse fooling a cat. Shallow breathing can hardly be heard. Muscles go weak. You want to curl up into a tiny ball and become invisible. Your mouth is dry and you can hardly speak, yelling would draw attention.
Without these reactions, we would not exist, but if the dangerous situation is not quickly resolved, the body becomes severely depleted of its ability to replenish and function normally.
It is beneficial to identify your fears, break them down into manageable chunks to help resolve them and use some of that adrenaline to your advantage.

Taking Control
Fear and excitement produce the same physical responses. The difference is in perception, choice and control over events. Try and challenge the physical responses and take an element of control over them. Challenge your feeling that choice is limited and you are trapped in a sequence of events that cannot be altered. Challenge your perception of what is good or bad, possible or impossible.
Adrenaline production can be stopped in moments – after just one minute it will have cleared enough to let you start thinking clearly again.

1. Reversing your physical response to adrenaline is the first step to halting production – simply breathe in deep (feel your chest and belly rise) and exhale slowly. Do this even once and you will feel better. Keep repeating it and there will be time to think of further, slightly more challenging remedies.
2. The next step is to let go of the unnecessary tension in your muscles. Tension is communicated to the horse, which may become agitated and upset. Tension also causes the rider to loose their ability to balance, think clearly, react quickly and reduces co-ordination between brain and muscles. Get to know your own body’s reactions to pressure. Try to detect tension in your shoulders, arms, hands, seat, upper and lower legs (even your face). Further contract tight muscles, hold for five seconds and then release. Follow up with a deep breath. Feel the tension ease. Scan your body for other tight muscles and repeat.

3. Stomach and chest muscles may also feel tight. Concentrate on these areas as you work on your breathing. The message going back to the primitive brain area as a result of you taking control will now be that danger has passed, symptoms will ease.

Dealing With Fear

How sad it is to see people spend their lives haunted by fear. The joy of life is squeezed out of them by fear of failure, criticism, betrayal, change, rejection, loneliness, poverty, growing old, getting sick, losing one's job, and saying what is on their mind. They are afraid of death. But what is the point? The fear of death doesn't prevent them from dying; it merely prevents them from living.
Fear is like a mutating virus, always causing havoc. It transforms itself into suspicion, mistrust, anger, hostility, aggression, anxiety, worry, hopelessness, and a host of other negative emotions. In fact, most of humanity's problems stem from this primal emotion. Fear paralyzes us and builds an impenetrable wall that blocks our progress. We all will die, but how sad it is to die without having had the chance to meet the person we could have become, were it not for fear.
Our gravest problems are not losses and misfortune, for losses can be regained and ill fortune can be changed to good fortune, but our greatest problems are our fears. To a person of courage, problems and difficulties are mere obstacles that will be trampled on the march forward. On the other hand, even the smallest barrier forever blocks the way of the timid.
All our emotions are helpful tools meant to guide us. It is how we use them that make them positive or negative. For example, enthusiasm is generally helpful, but if I'm so enthusiastic that I act rashly, I may experience negative consequences. Fear is harmful when it is a product of my imagination and false beliefs and prevents me from doing what I wish. But when fear is based on rational thought, it issues a warning, which when followed, will protect me.
Yes, fear can lead us to making the right choices, but it is the debilitating effects of unjustified or irrational fear that is of concern here. How can we eliminate the fear that prevents us from reaching our potential? It starts with awareness. Although we may have no control over the events or circumstances that we fear, our anxiety is not part of those events. Our fear is merely our interpretation of the events. Our fear is composed of OUR thoughts. Once we accept this fact and take responsibility for our thoughts, we can begin to make progress.
Sometimes we cleverly hide our fears by disguising them. If we want to root them out, we need to be mindful of our thoughts and carefully analyze them. For example, when I say that I would prefer to remain in my present job because I am a cautious person, it may really mean that I am AFRAID to change jobs. Similarly, when I say that I'm not interested in computers, I may really be saying that I'm AFRAID of computers. Don't allow these or any other self-limiting beliefs hold you back
The cure for fear is action. You need to do what you fear. But you don't have to take giant steps. In fact, if you were to try to do so, you may fail and grow even less confident in your abilities. So, take small, baby steps. As you do so, each success will encourage and motivate you to continue. The rewards are well worth it. For as Henry Ford (1863 ~ 1947) said, "One of the greatest discoveries a man makes, one of his great surprises, is to find he can do what he was afraid he couldn't do."
Another weapon in our arsenal against fear is curiosity. Get involved with life. Learn as much as you can. Develop curiosity. Men and women risk their lives by boarding space vehicles not because they are reckless or fearless, but because they are curious. They are explorers yearning to go where few have ever been. You, too, can become an explorer. Your can explore your vast universe of inner space. You can plunge into the depths of your being and discover the courage to chart a new life, a new beginning. This year, resolve to live the life of your dreams. Kick down the barriers of fear and venture into the unknown. Dare to discover your hidden powers.
Yet another tool to fight fear is acceptance of what is. To experience the fullness and richness of life I should set goals and strive for growth. However, the goals I set are preferences. I don't cling to them and demand that they be fulfilled, for I cannot predict the future. Neither can I know how changing events may make my personal goals unattainable. But by being willing to adapt and change when necessary, I will eliminate fear of not reaching my goals. Instead of having a thwarted goal end in frustration and disappointment, it blooms into a valuable lesson and another step on the road to success.
Your imagination is like a powerful magnet that draws to it whatever you are anticipating. If you are expecting a bright and sunny life, lo and behold, that's exactly what you get. But if all you expect from life are dark clouds and gloom, prepare for storms, for they will surely come. Anticipation of fear can lead to explosive tension. Or, as Alfred Hitchcock (1899 ~ 1980) said, "There is no terror in a bang, only in the anticipation of it." When we use our imagination to focus on the positive, it is empowering and liberating. Yet, when we use it to focus on the negative, it is paralyzing and crippling. Consider the words of Epictetus (50 ~ 120), "It is not death or hardship that is a fearful thing, but the fear of death and hardship."
Become sensitive to your feelings. When you are aware of them, you can control them rather than have them control you. When you feel afraid of doing something you should be doing, stare fear in the face. Say, "I'm not afraid of you. I welcome and embrace you. But it is I, and not you, that will decide what I am afraid of. I welcome fear. I welcome being afraid of losing my potential. I have decided to be afraid of living with regrets. I'm fed up with becoming a puny person that is startled by the sound of my own footsteps. So, I have decided to act and do what I fear. I welcome you, fear, as a friend, for you always point the way I can experience more growth. From now on, whenever I feel fear, I will pause to discover whether the lesson you bring is to avoid danger or accept a new challenge. By fearing what I should, I avoid suffering, and by not fearing what I should not, I achieve success."
Discovering the joy of life can be as simple as being willing to accept discomfort. Barbara Streisand explains, "I can say, I am terribly frightened and fear is terrible and awful and it makes me uncomfortable, so I won't do that because it makes me uncomfortable. Or I could say get used to being uncomfortable. It is uncomfortable doing something that's risky. But so what? Do you want to stagnate and just be comfortable?" Well, what do you think? Do you want to stagnate and just be comfortable?

Links

Pippa Funnell - British Equestrian Olympic Medalist
http://www.horseandhound.co.uk/best/399/64589.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pippa_Funnell#Career

http://www.uksport.gov.uk/news/972/


Jane Savoie - Olypmic Equestrian Reserve and Olympic Coach
http://www.myequinenetwork.com/Home/ConqueringHorseShowNerves/tabid/196/Default.aspx

Kerry Spackman - Mind Guru
http://www.buzzle.com/articles/139174.html

http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/videos/2595301

http://www.motorsport.org.nz/Scholarships/news22Feb08Scholarships.html

http://www.motorsport.org.nz/Scholarships/news22Feb08Scholarships.html


Steve Hooker - Olympic Pole Vaulter - Visualisation - Facing Your Fear
http://www.vaultingpoletips.com/vaulting-pole/hookers-visualization-techniques-in-pole-vaulting-really-worked

Otago Daily Times Article - Sports Psychology
http://www.odt.co.nz/lifestyle/magazine/16918/sports-psychology-getting-those-dishes-done




Michael Phelps
http://www.anthonyfernando.com/2008/08/18/michael-phelps-five-secrets-of-success/



Michael Phelps
http://www.reuters.com/article/telecomm/idUSPEK3494320080814


The Power Of Positive Thinking




Tiger Woods - Mental Toughness - Tigers dad speaking of Tigers mental toughness.



Michael Phelps - Visualisation
http://www.iworld.co.uk/weblog/archives/2008/08/beijing_olympic.html


Dealing With Fear, Loss Of Confidence


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Pippa Funnell sports psychology

Mental Toughness

Tiger Woods visualisation

Tiger Woods mental toughness

Michael Phelps visualisation

Mohammed Ali visualisation