BY LESLEY TIMBOL
HOW TO REFOCUS AFTER MAKING MISTAKE
BY LESLEY TIMBOL
( ADAPTED FROM DR. PATRICK COHN AT PEAK PERFORMANCE SPORTS, LLC.)
Despite your best intentions, making mistakes is inevitable.
But it doesn’ t stop there.
Bodybuilders tend to dwell on the mistakes they make and this includes DURING show time.
They often think about the mistake they just made repeatedly, replaying the error in their mind.
And then that mistake becomes a distraction, taking the focus off performing in the present moment. When a bodybuilder’ s mind is stuck in the past, they tend to make even MORE mistakes.
When you make mistakes in competition, you have the choice between 2 mindsets:
1. Overthinking Mentality This occurs when you highlight your mistakes in your mind, especially during critical moments of the competition, resulting in a rapid decline of your performance. But also, internalizing your errors, creates the fear of making even MORE mistakes during the competition. So your fear of messing up intensifies your anxiety thus becoming an even greater distraction.
2. Short-Memory Mentality Embrace having a selectively short memory. What do I mean by that? Quickly reset your focus after making a mistake and then shift your focus onto your next move. So in using the short-memory mentally, you would then see the mistake as a corrective measure or a way to provide insight for adjusting your game plan. In this respect, a mistake provides feedback rather than becoming a distraction. Furthermore, the ability to quickly refocus minimizes anxiety and immerses you in the competition, so you are intuitively posing and flowing through your transitions.