After more than twenty years of studying champions, I have realised that it is not the winning that determines the sustainability of a champion’s journey, but rather their losing! It is the fact that losing is perceived early, on their professional journey, as an opportunity to motivate, learn from and as a driver to make changes. Most importantly, losing can be seen as a motivator to work harder at the mental game. The experience of losing is often just information that it is time to adjust and refine your mental tools. Losing prompts us to put a little extra time into mentally working on a particular aspect of our game using mental exercises we have picked up over time.
Legendary champions are also not only defined by their great performance during competition, but even more defined by their mistakes. Of course, they feel disappointed, angry, frustrated, upset with their mistakes, but they feel these emotions within the mental frame of the fact that mistakes are going to happen. The key to handling them is to fully experience the energy felt as a result of the mistakes and work on harnessing this energy.
When champions allow their emotions to occasionally bubble out during the intensity of competition, then they ensure that their mental tools/routines are enacted in order to bring themselves back to the moment for the next crucial part of the game.
Most of the time the seasoned performer is familiar with the occasional feeling of disappointment and frustration from competition when mistakes are made. They also know from experience what happens when they mismanage their emotions after a mistake. This usually results in a snowball effect of more mistakes and a downward spiral of negativity. Hence, the rehearsed, automated mental tools for handling mistakes used by champions in sport, serve to mentally correct their mistakes and reset themselves to the next moment of the match.
All champions hate to lose, however, they understand it as part of the journey of sport and the growth of oneself. The process of dealing with loss and mistakes has a large impact on whether it can be a stimulator or inhibitor of future progress and success.
I have found that champions have the following in common when it comes to the processing of mistakes and failure:
- They have accepted that mistakes, losses, and failure are normal and very much a part of the process of improving and stretching their potential.
- For mistakes, they have their process/tools in place for resetting to the next moment. In cases, where their emotions have got the better of them, they feel them fully for a moment, accept that they are human; they understand that losing their head (control) even happens to the greatest legends! If they are unable to go to the bathroom at that moment to breathe and re-centre, they find a way to stall their performance in order to recalibrate their composure and focus. They then move straight back to their process/tools for resetting to the next moment of the performance or match at hand.
- If they lose the match entirely, they allow themselves to feel the pain of the loss wholeheartedly for a limited period. This period, whether it is a minute of anger or day of disappointment, they themselves, take the responsibility for ensuring that their negative feelings are NOT going to influence their further performance or improvement.
- They see a mental picture or mental movie in their minds of how they can navigate their failure differently next time around, making possible corrections or trying out a different mental process that can serve to keep the momentum on their side. The positive mental “software” can then become copy-pasted into their mind as an option for the next tournament.
- They analyse what areas of their performance need improvement. They also look for what they did well and continue to build on their strengths. They invest in a little extra training to fortify their weakness and to train their strengths into weapons.
- They dig into their treasure chests of successes to remind themselves of their best past performances. This boosts their confidence that may have dissipated from the recent loss.
- They see setbacks as challenges to inspire even more desire to work harder and become more focused toward even greater future match performances.
- Last but not least, they remind themselves that they are on a journey of life, and part of their lesson here on earth is to learn to find joy in this colourful experience of life’s ups and downs.
Let’s practise applying these 8 steps to our own lives and inspiring it in our children and students.
By Toni Gaddie
Clinical and Sports Psychologist
([toni@gaddie.net](mailto:toni@gaddie.net))
Toni Gaddie co-founded The Champion Academy with her sister Rikki Gaddie Dworcan in 2012.
The Champion Academy offers private and group sessions as well as corporate training.