The Mentality of Winning
If you were asked as an athlete, “what would winning look like to you?”, what would your answer be? Would you say that winning is acquiring as many accolades as possible that you can or having the best record compared to other athletes and teams? Could winning even be defined as simply not losing? Sports counselors in Orlando work with athletes to address performance anxiety in athletes.
Changing the Stigma on Winning
When this is done, the mentality of winning usually comes up as a stressor. That is because the mentality of winning is usually conditioned as just having the best performance or record but in fact the stigma needs to be changed. The mentality of winning can truly take effect when the athletes choose to invest, and appreciate the realities they are choosing to be in to promote their success. To have the mentality of winning is to have the mentality of choices.
Reframing Your Mentality
As an athlete, speaking to a sports counselor in Orlando or partaking in sports counseling can give the opportunity to cognitively reframe how to see this mentality of winning. Understanding the choices the athlete has makes the difference. Every choice presented to the athlete creates a potential reality and it is the athletes responsibility to choose the best reality for the best success of themselves that they can. This can also be considered visualizing the success the athlete wants for themselves as well too.
Developing an Authentic View of Winning!
Winning is not just about out-scoring or having a better record, but evaluating the athlete's effort, acknowledging the wins and the areas they could have done better in without harshly faulting themselves. Society has conditioned athletes to only think of winning in a superficial way, but an athlete that unlocks the ability, with the help of sports counseling, to have a true, authentic mentality of winning will stand far past the athletes around them due to the investment they took in themselves!
