Circumstances: Beyond Your Control?

Are you going to have a bad race because of the weather? How about because of the hills on a course. Maybe it's too muddy! How about following a bad day at school? Or it just so happens you fall during the race.

Circumstances may or may not affect your race. They may affect your opponents, possibly more than they affect you! When it comes to environmental circumstances, like weather (windy/rainy/heat), they will usually affect all participants. Many times, the laws we talked about last week will surface. We need to get the opponents to break those laws more than us. Then you have an advantage. If you need to trick yourself to feeling good about circumstances, then you can buy into statements like "It rains twice as hard on the other guy!" Sometimes, you will just need to overcome the adversity. Remember, there was ice on the Delaware River when George Washington crossed it!

Taking a look at Track, what if you get stuck with a "bad lane", like lane 8 in the 400 meters. Well, I ran my PR in lane 8, I coached a school record in lane 8 and the world record was set in the Olympics in lane 8 this year. What ever lane you get, that is your "favorite lane" on that day! So if you ever get lane 8, then lane 8 is GR8!

How about if something bad, but somewhat trivial, happens to you before your big race? Say you are driving to the district meet and you get into a car accident. This happened to one of my athletes years ago. It was just a parking lot bump, but it became a distraction. Stepping to the starting line, she was probably thinking more about the car than her cardio fitness. She did not run very well that day.

What if it is not just a single event, but more of a long term social setting that you are exposed to. Control what you can, focus on the positives and envision your picture perfect world.

Now, let's explore if something tragic happens. Felix Sanchez is an Olympic 400 Meter Hurdler. He won 43 consecutive races in 2001-2004, including the Olympic Gold. During the 2008 Olympics, his grandmother died. He ran poorly, placing 22nd. In 2012, Felix set out to win another medal. He pinned a photo of his grandmother inside his racing bib. HE WON!

Interview

When things around you make you want to feel bad, turn things around. Let's recall Happy Gilmore's "Happy place." Sorry we do not get to show you this clip. After Happy closes his eyes and envisions his ultimate dreams, he opens his eyes and admits that he feels better. That "feeling" will affect his performance, this time in a positive way.

Summary. Figure out what circumstances you can control and which ones you cannot. When circumstances affect all parties involved, determine which laws apply and minimize their negative effect, and use them to your advantage over opponents. Above all get excited about "non-tragic" events. For those circumstances that just affect you, having a positive mindset is the best antidote for unexpected negative events. In regards to tragic events, can you figure out a way to use them as motivation? (We will talk more about this when we get to rituals). If you can, great! If not, it is imperative that you replace those thoughts with the "perfect picture" of what you want it to be like.

You can let circumstances affect your attitude, then in turn it can (or will) affect your performance. The bottom line is that your attitude is most likely going to affect your performance, so develop the skill of choosing the appropriate attitude that will be most conducive to enhancing your performance. This is not an easy task; choosing the positive perspective in a negative situation does not come naturally, but it is the best path to take. Your circumstances may or may not be beyond of your control, but your attitude is ALWAYS within your control.