“A successful person learns from their mistakes and tries again in a different way.”
Comfortable wisdom From Andrew Carnegie, a Scottish American industrialist and philanthropist. We redefine “successful”. man benefits from their errors and try again in another way.”
Mistakes happen and are a normal and inevitable part of sports and life. We are not perfect and never will be, as explored here: Look for daily improvement instead of perfect performance. Baseball hitters throw multiple strikes, musicians hit a wrong note, and basketball players miss free throws. It’s all part of the performance experience.
This is how we respond to errors that lead to more failures or profitability. A confident answer can save us from despair, hopelessness and despair anger often encounter errors to make effective changes and improve performance.
Acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT), a popular approach from sport psychology practitioners around the world, teaches that when something goes wrong, it’s an opportunity to identify what went wrong, adjust, and move on. To function effectively, we need to move past mistakes and the disturbing, distracting thoughts and feelings that come with them.
This is what ACT calls psychological flexibility. As British psychologist Ross White, Ph.D., metaphorically explains, “A bent tree will not break.” This is a white Tanzanian proverb.
Here’s how to bend flexibly in the wind and respond effectively to mistakes.
What Athletic Elite has to say
- Tennis extraordinaire Serena Williams: “I think a champion is defined not by their wins, but by how they recover when they fail.”
- NBA basketball coach Doc Rivers said, “I’m not going to be mad at you for making a mistake. I’m going to be mad at you for the next mistake you think about.”
- NBA Hall of Famer Kareem Abdul-Jabbar: “I think somebody needs to teach a kid that it’s okay to make mistakes. That’s how we learn. We make mistakes when we compete.”
However, our ability to learn from and respond to mistakes leads to success.
Smart and experienced coaches, trainers and coaches want to watch the performer fail during the exam or during the recruitment process. This is because they want to see how the performer of interest responds to their mistakes. A performer who adapts effectively and continues is a valuable asset. Demonstrating this kind of psychological flexibility reveals more about a person’s competitiveness than any basketball dunk or baseball speed.
Athletes and performers who respond to mistakes with frustration or anger are their ticket to failure at auditions, benching, and potential. career– end crash. Negative body languagetemper tantrums, lack of focus, lack of skill, cleaning, etc. are prime examples of the tree breaking due to unbending.
In short, psychological flexibility
Remind yourself that mistakes happen. Do not worry about possible mistakes, be prepared and ready to respond to them with psychological flexibility. Anxiety is a distraction that interferes with successful performance.
Unpleasant thoughts, feelings, and bodily sensations may occur after failure. Train yourself to be ready for internal distractions so that when it inevitably comes, you can allow it and focus on what you need to do next. Pause with a deep breath, notice what happened, and respond intelligently with effective behavior. Stop, notice, reflect and choose.
All of this is what ACT calls “acceptance” of distracting internals.
Acceptance means that you acknowledge whatever thoughts, feelings, and bodily sensations arise, that you want to own them, and then focus on the actions necessary for your performance. Trying to eliminate thoughts, feelings, and experiences in the body often leads to an obsession with them, which can be distracting and impair performance. Being stuck inside can make the discomfort worse feeling. Trying to extinguish unwanted thoughts and feelings is like putting out a fire by throwing lighter fluid on it. Good luck with that.
Wisdom for coaches and parents
Many coaches and parents tell athletes to “trust the process,” but often become frustrated and angry when the performer under their wing makes a mistake. Mistakes are a normal part of “the process,” and when coaches and parents lose their cool and step aside, they fail to “trust the process” and learn how to move forward. They inadvertently lead the athlete to make mistakes. Process derailed.
Follow the advice of Serena Williams, Karyn Abdul-Jabber and Doc Rivers. Teach kids how to move on from mistakes by being psychologically flexible, cool, and calm, and guide them to focus on what’s next, not on what happened with a mid-game lecture or tantrum. Athletes are upset about what has already happened. Stop pouring lighter fluid into it.
The final game
Competitive metrics are like war. There will be battles lost. Winning the war is the ultimate goal of such endeavors.
Disturbing thoughts and feelings will inevitably arise. Be prepared and ready to respond effectively with psychological flexibility. Be present with deep breaths, short pauses, awareness, and meditation on all that you are experiencing, allow it, and continue to do what you need to do to work.
A tree that does not bend cracks and breaks. Swinging with the wind when the battle is lost bears the fruit of winning the war.
