October 2012

If you are an athlete or a performer or anyone striving to achieve the best that you can be, sometimes things do not work the way they are supposed to. Perhaps you have trained for months for a marathon. You are prepared. You are strong. You feel good. Then in the middle of the race, you just can’t go any further. And you do not know why. Or there you are, a singer, up on the stage, confident, secure, knowing that you are ready to perform when suddenly you are overcome with fear. Or you are a business person who has to do a presentation to the big bosses. No problem when you are presenting to your peers, but presenting to the boss fills you with anxiety.

These are all issues that involve a problem getting to your peak performance. There are many ways to help you to get past this and achieve the ultimate performance. Visualizing your best possibility can be very helpful. Start with the first part of your day. You wake up and start getting ready, then go through every step, visualizing success on every part of that journey. Another helpful strategy can be saying positive thoughts to yourself like, “I can do it” or “I can succeed” or whatever makes sense to you.

Finding ways to deal with stress are a huge part of achieving your best. However, sometimes there may be deeper reasons why you are freezing when you should be soaring. Perhaps you had an injury. The fear that injuries can engender can be buried deeply within us. Perhaps when you were a child you had people tell you that you were worthless and that you would never amount to anything. These wounds can be deeper and may need deeper work in order for them not to get in your way. The important thing to remember is that there are people that you can work with that can help you to, as the commercial says, “Be all that you can be!” There are ways to truly deal with those wounds so that they are not stopping you anymore. Do not feel that these problems cannot be fixed, there are options available. If the first person you go to, does not help, then find another. Never stop striving. Never let your fear stop you!

And don’t forget to enjoy the journey!