Channel Your Frustration

A good read for your kids before Try Outs. This is an article from a sport psychologist. 

Here’s an idea that will transform your life.

As long as you do it, your athletic life will be transformed.

Raise your right hand and say, “I will never let self-pity get the best of me.”

What is self-pity?

It’s the idea that you should never have to suffer.

Other athletes can endure setbacks, maddening officiating, or bad coaching.

…just not you.

The way self-pity shows up in competition?

When something happens you don’t like, you take a turn to negative town.

You complain – in your head and to people.

About officiating, coaching, conditions, even your own mistakes.

The list of things to complain about in sport is long and distinguished.

When bad things happen, most athletes indulge their self-pity and complain.

They complain in their mind — and to anyone who’ll listen.

They get attention this way.

Self-pity is normal, but it’s also emotional quicksand.

It distracts you from finding solutions.

Once activated, self-pity wants more pain, and it will feed off itself to make you miserable.

In the NBA, each player gets a box score from the coach.

And the last five letters a player wants to see is DNP/CD. It stands for “did not play, coach’s decision”.

Basketball superstar Steve Nash got these letters from his coach 14 times straight in his rookie year.

Self-pity?

Not for Steve. Not his style.

He figured playing behind two of the best guards in the NBA was a great opportunity to improve.

He said, “The practices are my games – my job is to challenge them every day, and that will pay off for me in the future.”

So here’s the deal:

No self-pity for the next 7 days. Not in your head and not out loud.

Instead of self-pity, you’re going to CHANNEL your frustration.

You’re going to make your opponent pay.

And while you’re re-training your mind, why not go all the way and re-train yourself for superior mental toughness?