Hello,

We've been talking about overthinking and I continue with the very best suggestion to overcome it.

And then I share part another part of my interview with CanvasRebel, giving you some insight into how my athletic identity created a major mental block in my performance ... and the lesson I learned that can help you overcome yours.

Be well,

Dr. Eddie

***

The Cure for Overthinking

If overthinking is the problem, mindfulness is the cure.

Mindfulness is a specific way of paying attention: on purpose, in the present moment, without judgement.

Overthinking is often by accident, about undesired consequences in the future, characterized by one negative judgement or evaluation after another in rapid succession!

Mindfulness is not the natural state of our brain. We think and evaluate most of the time, and for good reason. We have to make sense of this world and decide what is safe and what isn't, what we like and what we don't.

But we can get out of control overthinking and get stuck in our heads when our attention needs to be outside in the game as we play (and in life as we live it).

Mindfulness strengthens your ability to disengage the overthinking and refocus you attention toward what is most important right now.

How much better would you play if you could intentionally guide your attention to the most critical aspects of your sport, moment by moment as the game progresses, free from automatic thoughts such as negative evaluations and fear of future disasters?

I'm guessing a lot better.

Because what typically holds us back is not a lack of skill, but rather a lack of focus. We pay attention to the wrong thing at the wrong time and we make a mistake.

You can reduce these mistakes - and the distress associated with them - with mindfulness.

If you'd like to develop your mindfulness skills and decrease your anxiety, join us inside Success Stories Membership.

***

My Mental Block

An excerpt from the most recent CANVASREBEL publication:

I was a runner in high school. That was my identity, which was risky because I wasn’t that fast. But I loved the sport and trained year round for four years.

I hit a mental block senior year. I desperately wanted to break 2:10 in the 800m before graduating (I told you I wasn’t that fast!). But week after week I came across the finish line in 2:11. I ran as fast as I could but I still had energy left. Something was holding me back. I’d come across the finish line, go over to the sideline and throw up as if I had pushed myself to exhaustion, but at the same time also know that I had more in me and would say, “Ugh, I could’ve broken 2:10 if I just pushed a little harder.”

It wasn’t until I went to graduate school for clinical and sport psychology that I figured out what happened to me.

My identity was wrapped up in my performance. Not meeting my goal was a tremendous psychological threat.

By not giving 100% and coming across the finish line in 2:11, I didn’t fail. I had an excuse. I was not the failure. I simply didn’t execute thereby keeping hope alive that I could run faster. I could change my effort but not my talent or who I was.

This mental block was an attempt to protect me from definitive failure. I was weighed down by this question, “what if I gave it my all and still failed to break 2:10?!?” It felt devastating. So my unconscious mind prevented me from giving it my all to test that question. It protected me from that devastating feeling of ultimate failure.

Unfortunately, each week it also prevented me from succeeding.

It ends well, though In my very last race I came across the finish line in 2:09.

But I still wonder what I could have done if I had been willing to risk it all. My training was great in effort and consistency. Could I have broken 2:05? Even a 1:59? Unfortunately, I’ll never know.

It is this experience that helps me understand my athletes struggling with performance anxiety. For those with a strong athletic identity, winning and losing can determine our worth. And that pressure hurts our performance.

I wish I had answered my “what if I don’t break 2:10?” question. Because if I did I would have realized that who I was wouldn’t have changed. My friends and family would still love and support me. I would have felt very disappointed and sad, and I could have handled those feelings. These answers would have relieved the pressure and I would have run faster.

So please know this … You are more than your accomplishments. You are more than the wins and losses, your position on the team, your body shape and size, your job title, your income. These are things you do, not who you are. Your value is so much more than that.

Read the rest of the interview at https://canvasrebel.com/meet-eddie-oconnor/

And if you have anxiety feeling like your worth is based on how you perform, reply to this e-mail and let's get you back playing well and feeling good about it.

***

Dr. Eddie O’Connor

www.DrEddieOConnor.com

DrEddie@dreddieoconnor.com