What do all these elite athletes have in common?
Aug 25, 2022 3:21 pm
Happy Thursday,
It seems that more and more elite athletes are coming out and admitting they struggle with depression and/or anxiety. And they are becoming more vocal about encouraging you to seek therapy as they did, so you can overcome it like they did too. Check out the examples below.
And enjoy this sneak peek into the membership ... I've just released a new training module on how to perform WITH your feelings of anxiety and doubt. Research has found that calming down isn't the best for performance (because honestly, the threats you face are real). But how do you perform your best in these pressure moments? Learn how in Success Stories Membership.
Have fun this weekend ... I'm headed to my 3rd Spartan Race of the summer. This one in West Virginia :-)
Dr Eddie
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What these elite athletes have in common:
We often look to what the world's best do to guide our training. How do Olympians train? What do professional athletes do for recovery?
In recent years, we see that elite athletes are not immune to mental health concerns like depression and anxiety.
And athletes like Kevin Love of the NBA's Cleveland Cavs, Lane Johnson of the NFL's Philadelphia Eagles, Olympic gold medalist Michael Phelps and tennis' Naomi Osaka (among 𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘺 others) have opened up about their struggles. And more importantly about their treatment.
Each has attended and encourages counseling by a licensed professional. Because there is something that can be done about your performance anxiety, the pressure you feel, the demands upon you, the overthinking that paralyzes you, and the worry that consumes you.
Lane Johnson said this, "The biggest step for me was talking to a sports psychologist to help me manage and compartmentalize my life and what’s happening, making it a lot clearer."
https://www.cnbc.com/2022/02/11/super-bowl-champion-lane-johnson-on-living-playing-with-anxiety.html
Naomi Osaka offered this encouragement, "I feel like I've been trying a lot of different things because I tend to internalize things, and I also want to do everything by myself," Osaka said, adding that her coach, Wim Fissette, "kind of put it in a really good way. He was like, you hire a coach for tennis, for fitness. The mind is such a big thing. If you can get a professional to help you out .5 percent, that alone is worth it." https://www.cnn.com/2022/03/23/tennis/naomi-osaka-talking-to-therapist-spt-intl/index.html
And Michael Phelps put it simply, "Therapy saved my life." https://people.com/health/michael-phelps-says-therapy-saved-him-in-darkest-moment/
Kevin Love described therapy as “the best gift you can give yourself.” https://cbtsocal.com/what-does-kevin-love-do-to-stay-mentally-healthy/
"As an athlete, my mental state has a direct effect on my physical performance. I am still expected to perform no matter what else may be going on in life, but I think we can all relate to that in some way, because we are all going through something" said Love. Therapy not only helped individually, but he reports how team therapy improved the Cavs chemistry and focus last season https://www.insider.com/cavaliers-therapist-playoffs-kevin-love-2022-3
So how about you? Are you ready to do something about your mental health and well being?
I'd love to support you. Contact me at https://dreddieoconnor.com/telehealth-services/
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Accept the 75%
We have four basic human emotions: Happy sad, mad and scared.
One positive, three negative.
25% of what it means to be human is positive or is pleasurable. Only 25%.
So when we want to excel, when we want to do our best, and we're constantly running away from what we feel when it's painful or difficult or upsetting (e.g., anger, fears, sadness) we become very limited in what we can do, because so much of what we do involves pain.
In sport, for example, you try to be excellent. But there is sadness, there is fear, and there is anger in many aspects of the game. And if we need to stop what we're doing to fix these emotions, we get in trouble. You can't fight your emotions and play your best at the same time.
The key to excellence, my friends, is to learn how to make peace with - accept but not necessarily like - the emotions that are there so that we can put our attention on to what we're doing.
We have to learn how to live and perform in this other 75%.
For training to be your best in this difficult 75%, join me inside Success Stories Membership.
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Dr. Eddie O’Connor
