You scored (out of 20):
Super-Elite Mental Toughness – The Warrior:
You are a mental toughness warrior. It’s clear that you’ve put some serious time into challenging your mental skills, whether conscious or not. You often push yourself to the edge and even enjoy breaking down because you innately know that only by breaking yourself down, but putting yourself in a position of failure, can you build yourself up. You are able to refocus after a slew of mistakes and zero in on what’s important in that exact moment, cutting out other distractions, past mistakes, and other concerns. You are humble and strive for balance amidst the drive and desire of your pursuit.
And like all warriors, you value extra coaching and always put yourself in a position to receive extra training. You understand that anything you’ve ever trained and mastered is like the tip of the iceberg: to really max out your performance, you need to continue to identify what’s below the surface both in the mental-emotional and physical-tactical spheres of your “game”. In other words, you are very well aware that while you have reached a certain level of mastery in your physical and mental skill development, there will always be other areas to develop to continue to push the envelope of your personal excellence.
Mental Toughness Training for the Mental Toughness Super-Warrior
Unfocus then Refocus:
- The top performers in the world are those who can zero in on what’s important in that exact moment, cutting out other distractions, past mistakes, and other concerns.
- Being able to refocus after a slew of mistakes is a sign of a mentally tough athlete.
- To focus on the past (on the mistakes that just happened) or to focus on the future (what might happen next) takes your mental energy away from the present, where you perform your best. As we say at Mental Toughness Inc., “Performance only happens in the PRESENT”.
- However, focusing for too long on what you’re doing can actually have the opposite effect than what’s intended: You might find yourself zoning out when you least expect to, or want to.
- Oftentimes as athletes and high performers we are taught to FOCUS!!! We hear our coaches or instructors say this to us incessantly “Just focus” or “You lost your focus”. So, our quest becomes to focus as long as possible. While that’s admirable, trainable, and definitely helpful (and you can train your focus on our Get Psyched app) there is another way that you, as a Super-Elite Mental Toughness Warrior might not have practice before (and it might seem counterintuitive at first)
- One trick to help you focus is to Purposefully “Unfocus” when you have a break in the play, in a time-out, in between skills, or in between games/events. It’s inevitable that you will zone out; we can only hold our focus for so long before we do. The point her is to focus out when focus is not needed so that you’re focused in when it is.
- For example, racecar drivers are taught to purposefully zone out for a moment in the straightaway so that they do not lose focus when it really counts! If they lose focus at key moments in the race the result can be deadly, after all.
- After you purposefully unfocus (or whenever you’ve mad a series of mistakes or your head isn’t in the game), a great way to get back on-focus, in the present is with a Refocus Cue:
- The sound of the whistle
- The field marshal saying, ‘On your mark. . .’
- Some athletes say a verbal cue like, ‘Let’s Go!’ or ‘Just Do It!’ followed by a physical cue like clapping their hands twice or shaking out their hands.
- Other athletes say: ‘Now!’
- Pick a refocus cue that works for you, and keep practicing it in training and in competition/performance. Mistakes are going to happen, even to the best athletes in the world, and most importantly it is how you react to these mistakes that define your performance.
Why Mental Toughness?
Mental toughness is basically a “natural or developed psychological edge”(1) that helps you better deal with the demands, pressures and distractions of your sport. Now who wouldn’t want that, right? Especially when some researchers say that mental toughness is that extra characteristic that separates talented athletes from those who become superstars (2).
Mental toughness will help you:
- Stay relaxed in any environment
- Experience low anxiety levels
- Be competitive without stressing about winning or losing
- Believe in yourself, in your abilities, and in your ability to control your destiny
- Remain unshakeable even in the face of adversity
Call to Action
Whether you scored high or low on this quiz, or somewhere in between, it’s equally as important that you keep training your mental toughness. The competition is going to get harder and your competitors will get tougher, so it is imperative you train your mental along with your physical skills.
This assessment is a call to action. No matter where you’re at, the next level of your mental toughness training starts right NOW:
- Fully take on the coaching in this assessment or in the ‘Mental Toughness Tipster’ weekly email you will now receive.
- Follow us on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram to get daily Mental Toughness Tips (@mentaltoughinc)
- Or send us an email with any questions you have.
We are committed to your Mental Toughness, so use us as resource to achieve your peak potential right away!
Get Psyched!
The Mental Toughness Team
References
(1) Connaughton, D., Wadey, R., Hanton, S., & Jones, G. (2008). The development and maintenance of mental toughness: Perceptions of elite performers. Journal of Sports Sciences, 26 (1), 83-95.
(2) Crust, L. & Kayvon, A. (2010). Mental toughness and athletes’ use of psychological strategies. European Journal of Sport Science, 10(1), 43-51.
(3) Clough, P.J., Earle, K., & Sewell, D. (2002). Mental toughness: The concept and its measurement. In I. Cockerill (Ed.), Solutions in sport psychology. London: Thomson. pp. 32-43
(4) Pelletier, L.G., Fortier, M.S., Vallerand, R.J., & Briere, N. (2001). Associations among perceived autonomy support, forms of self-regulation, and persistence: A prospective study. Motivation and Emotion, 25(4), 279-306.