How You Speak To Yourself Is The Key To Performance

You don’t have to wander too far into the depths of the internet to stumble upon someone talking poorly about themselves.

Self-deprecation is the trend right now.

But…

If you want to perform at the highest possible level (and I know you do because you’re reading this right now), this is a genre of humor that needs to be dropped instantly and avoided at all costs.

Being able to laugh at yourself for making a mistake is one thing, but saying something that lowers your self-esteem is a whole other thing.

No pros (at the very top) are telling themselves they suck after they make a poor pass or will make the punchline of a joke that they’re a horrible person.

Whether or not you believe it, your view of yourself impacts your performance quite a bit.

I’ve seen it ruin some players.

I’ve seen others ride their wave to the top.

And the biggest thing is:

Your mindset is a choice.

You get to decide the thoughts that stick with you and the words that come out of your mouth.

I’m going to tell you why you should use them impeccably and only to sharpen your sword.

Mental Impacts

Framing the way you talk to yourself does wonders for your everyday life.

Long story short, people who talk negatively to themselves show higher levels of anxiety.

I don’t know about you, but I can think of a few players who were eaten up by their anxiety.

Being able to take control of your thoughts and reshape them into something useful is key when it comes to a bad performance.

As an example, this study correctly guessed who would perform better based on their evaluation of how the athletes talked to themselves.

Our brains literally get rewired (shown by this study).

Outside of the pitch, it allows us to see the world in a more manageable and positive light.

Although this part is an anecdote, the better you feel, the better you train.

The better you train, the better you perform.

Physical Impacts

I know what you might be thinking.

I didn’t think that reframing how I thought about myself would impact my physical performance, either.

But I’m living proof, and there are many studies that are ready to back me up.

For example, this study that showed positive self-talk could improve vertical jump.

And it doesn’t matter if you don’t believe that positive words will improve your performance or not.

Even people who didn’t believe it would work but used it eventually ended up performing better than those who didn’t, as shown by this study.

This could be something like reframing a negative into a positive.

Instead of “don’t miss,” it’s “finish it.”

The little things hold their weight and should not be overlooked.

How to make the shift

Start small.

Intentionally, but small.

Training is a great place to start.

Notice when you want to harp on yourself for a bad pass or shot.

Reframe it.

Once you get the hang of shining light on a few areas of life, it’s going to feel much more natural to become an overall positive person.

It will take time.

In my two years of working with a sports psychologist, I only felt like I mastered the on-pitch portion after a year.

But it was a start, and it more than impacted the rest of my life in so many ways.

Confidence builds through the roof.

You take on challenges you didn’t think you could do before.

This is something I strongly encourage you to implement in your life.

For when you’re ready to improve

Improve your stamina in 6 weeks

The best hydration drink (code: footytutor10 for 10% off)

Our favorite mouth tape (code: footytutor for 10% off)

The best game to improve your first touch

Until next time,

Footytutor