I hate it when someone asks for mindset help on how to deal with fear and worry before a work out and the advice they get is “just choose not to be afraid, it’s easy!” The truth is choosing not to be afraid isn’t easy for everyone. Let’s quickly break down what goes into developing a mindset before a workout or competition that’s not based in fear.
First, Fear lives in the future; it’s an imagination about what might happen. Worrying or being afraid is not the same thing as planning.
Danger is different. Danger is real, and you mitigate danger by planning for it and by growing your confidence by training and successfully overcoming it.
So, when facing a challenging workout, especially when you don’t have much experience, you must focus your energy, thoughts and action on developing a specific plan for the workout with someone qualified to help you break it down and create a realistic plan based on your knowledge and experience. Get control of your thoughts and get present by developing and focusing on a plan that attacks the more challenging or dangerous parts of the workout, not by allowing yourself to spend time lost in imagination about failure.
Focus your energy and effort on executing the plan instead of worrying or being afraid about the outcome. Your brain can’t be thinking about executing the plan and be afraid at the same time!
Remember, putting a plan together only needs to take a few minutes. It’s ok to talk about how you will approach and attack challenging skills in the workout, but it’s NOT productive to spend time talking about the negative things that might or might not happen. What might happen isn’t written. Be where your feet are! Get present, and stick to your plan as you grow your experience. As your skill level grows, so will your confidence. You will see your level of anxiety diminish.
Capture your thoughts about what might or might not happen. Scale appropriately, then approach the workout in a planned, purposeful manner that will allow you to take the risks necessary to bring the energy you need to give your best effort.
Keep Coming Forward
Jimmy Hensel
