We talk a lot about athletes, nutrition, health and wellness, fitness and working out. But how can you be a better athlete in 2019? How can you increase your health and wellness in the new year? It all starts with your mind, and repairing the mind, body and soul.
Becoming more grounded and happy starts with letting go of worry and stress. Physically, spiritually and emotionally it’s time to let go of the person you thought you should be in order to be the person you really want to be. Letting go of anything in life can be incredibly scary, but it can also be an amazing act of self love.
Letting go of your worries and stress can make all the difference while you’re on the field, basketball court, track or in the pool.
Start by stopping limited thinking with negative self-talk. Stay focused on the positive or you will make the “I can’t” into a reality. Negative self-talk can take many forms. It can sound grounded or it can sound downright mean. It may take on the feel of being a realistic appraisal of a situation, only to develop into a fear based fantasy.
Negative self-talk can affect us in some pretty damaging ways. It can lead to decreased motivation as well as feelings of helplessness. This type of critical inner dialogue has even been linked to depression, so it’s definitely something worth fixing.
If you are a worrier, know your triggers of when you feel worry coming on. If people or browsing social media sites make you feel worried after you’re on them, stop it! Change your perspective and this will also change the way the body reacts to the stress and worry.
Let go of the unknowns. Moving forward into a new game, meet or match can be tricky, but you are in control of you. Passivity breeds depression and stress. As humans we love to feel like we can control everything. We will do almost anything to avoid feeling uncertain, but sometimes it’s just unavoidable.
If you start to feel uncertain about your next opponent, rival match up, or just game in general trust in yourself. Trust in yourself and what you’ve accomplished during practices. A champion looks at a tough competition as a challenge to be met rather than a threat to back down from. Quitters use a tough break as an excuse to give up, champions use a tough break as a reason to drive themselves to work harder and achieve more.
DREAM, one of the Midwest’s well-known youth mentoring organizations, provides life-changing and life-enriching experiences to at-risk youth through mentoring and after-school programs in Omaha, Nebraska, and Springfield, Missouri. Their proven approach puts children in a comfortable setting where they’re encouraged to discuss openly, learn, and grow as individuals. Are you interested in getting involved with DREAM? Contact us today.
