By Margaret Smith, Ph.D.
An athlete’s understanding of his own body is the most powerful tool he possesses. The extent to which an athlete understands his or her own body plays a major role in how hard that athlete can push, how long that athlete can train, and how much that athlete can get out of his or her efforts.
But our understandings of our own bodies are complicated. Those understandings get formed by messages we receive from all of the people and happenings around us. They get formed by the ways we learn to see ourselves in relation to those people and happenings. They get formed by the ways we talk to ourselves as we try to make sense of it all.
Our understandings of our own bodies drive us down the path to higher performance. But often it is a whole lot easier for those understandings to become road blocks. How we assess ourselves in response to demands of work, home, and family – and how we assess ourselves in terms of social media “likes” or split time expectations -- can add to or take away from the kind of body understanding that enables high performance.
In sport and performance psychology, we talk about the daily cognitive deposits and withdrawals we make into our well being. Positive thoughts and interactions build us up and build up what we have to fall back on in hard times. Negative thoughts and interactions can remove what we’ve worked to build. Unless we reframe them. At the MindSide, that’s what we do.
The MindSide works with athletes and teams to build the kind of mindset that yields a net positive understanding of bodies, of athletic potential, and of opportunity for high performance. We can help you make sense of the everyday deposits and withdrawals that are affecting your athletic performance. We can help you achieve your athletic goals and find the joy of feeling like a champion in your own body.
Margaret Smith, Ph.D. is Athletic Performance Coach at The MindSide, LLC.
Call Margaret at 205-209-2462 or email her at margaret@themindside.com.
The MindSide is now part of the Birmingham Track Club’s Member Benefits program. The same services we provide to professional athletes across the country are now available to BTC members - and their families - at a 40% discount. Call or email to schedule a consultation.