The Baseball Observer Mental Skills Issue | Page 12

Self-Talk

Understanding the right language

by Coach Helke, AIC, CSPC, CSH, CCS, BMS

What it is not

Let me put your mind at ease first. It’s not about putting “your head in the sand” ignoring something negative and acting as if it isn’t there by saying “happy words” or phrases. What we’re covering here is Constructive Self-Talk.

Constructive self-talk is about acknowledging a negative then moving past it by using your inner dialogue to guide your thinking to find solutions. It focuses on what can be done in the present in a proactive manner and that starts with the language used. Even though this articles main focus is over coming negative self-talk, it should also be used to reinforce positives also.

You really should discover for yourself that truly effective self-talk is deeper than just saying the “right” words or just repeating words and phrases you might have gotten from reading articles on the internet, listening to a CD or seminar. While it’s true they will probably help to a point, you will still fall short of your actual potential. Most are general commonalities to fit the masses. A “one size fits all” model if you will. Unfortunately many omit some important elements.

“Would you rather have a doctor operate on you based on a “one size fits all” model or careful examination to be able to accurately operate on you specific to your needs?”

Indeed, you do have to look at what is

common; but more importantly you also

need to address what is unique about you for effective change. It's one of the signature characteristics of you being you or a team a team. There are no true duplicates. Everything has a uniqueness about it and that’s what you need to be seeking. You’re not looking to be made an imitation or clone. You need to be you. The best that you can be. This all starts with the understanding of how language, your language, affects you.

Disciplines used in

Constructive Self-Talk

To be optimally effective, self-talk must take into consideration you as an individual and the interrelationship of many disciplines. Here are a few:

•Cognitive psychology (study include memory, perception, and learning)

•Psychology of perception (the process of recognizing and interpreting sensory stimuli, how it is related to the five senses and how it differs from reality)

•Neurobiology/ neuroscience (how the brain physically works)

•Semantics (sub-disciplines including the study of word meanings and word relations and the cognitive structure of meaning)

•Pragmatics (the study of the use of language)

•Psycholinguistics (how language is processed in the brain)

•Neurolinguistics (how language is computed in the brain)

•Cognitive Linguistics (how language interacts with cognition, how language forms our thoughts and mindsets)

The Baseball Observer - Mental Skills Issue

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