My work with several pro triathletes focuses on building their confidence, helping them focus, finding ways to push their limits in training and preparing them for the pressures of big events, including the upcoming Paris Olympics. For one of the athletes you’ll see in Paris in a few weeks, I’ve been doing what I call “emotion training.”
The basic idea behind emotion training is that every big race is going to produce a plethora of strong emotions, ideally positive emotions, but, more often, emotions that are both unpleasant and unhelpful. Yes, there is going to be hope, anticipation, excitement, and inspiration. But there is also going to be anxiety, worry, fear, trepidation, and even dread, all clearly not “make you go fast” emotions.
You don’t want your big races to dictate your emotions. Rather, you want to dictate your emotions as you approach those important events. Here’s how you can condition the emotions that you want to feel in the lead-up, and during, those races.
Identify Your “Dark” and “Light” Emotions
- The troublesome emotions I mentioned above are common “dark” emotions, but you should look back on your own past emotional experiences before big races to see which ones are more present. Knowing which negative emotions are likely to arise in you can help you to understand why you feel these emotions. For example, what perceptions do you hold that might lead you to feel trepidation and dread (e.g., a fear of failure).
- Identify the “light” emotions that you wish to feel most and that you want fuel your race efforts. Happiness, contentment, excitement, pride, inspiration or gratitude can positively motivate your racing. The ones which would be most beneficial for you depends on your personality and temperament. For example, you might thrive on calm and contentment before a race. Or you might be propelled by excitement and energy.
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Train the Positive Emotions
Once you know which “light” emotions you want to feel most in your “A” races, you want to practice experiencing them. This is where emotion training comes in. Here’s how you can feel, express and condition these emotions.
- Before you begin a workout, close your eyes and allow yourself to experience those emotions. Let these emotions fill your mind and flow throughout your body.
- During workouts, when you’re working hard, again bring those emotions into your mind and tap into them as fuel to push yourself even harder.
- When you finish your workout, once again close your eyes and allow yourself to feel those emotions deeply.
Visualization
I am a huge believer in the power of mental imagery (also called visualization) to promote positive thinking, emotions and competitive performances. Imagining what you want to feel before big races is a great way to condition your emotions for race day. As you see and feel yourself preparing to compete and then performing in the race, you can, in your mind’s eye and heart, experience and ingrain the positive emotions you want to feel in the actual races.
“Feeling phrases”
Come up with some “feeling phrases” that evoke the emotions you want to feel in your upcoming races. Several of my favourites include
- “Easy does it,”
- “Bring it on!,”
- “I love this!,”
- “What an opportunity!”
Once you’ve identified several feeling phrases, repeat them frequently until they become habit and even print them out and post them where you’ll see them often. Every time you see your feeling phrases, you will naturally say them to yourself, and, with each repetition, they will become more deeply woven into your psyche.
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Share
You should also share your positive emotions with others, such as family, friends, teammates and even followers on social media. When you express these wonderful emotions to those whom you care about and who care about you, those emotions are reflected back to you, and you can then absorb them more deeply.
Have Your Emotional Radar On
Given that “A” races are important to you, you may still feel some negative emotions that may begin to take over as the races approach (completely normal). Rather than letting them bring you down, you should immediately access the positive emotions that you have trained and ingrained through your emotion training and allow them to push the negative emotions away.
Your Emotional Goal
Your emotional goal, as you approach your big races, is to have the positive emotions you have trained into your mind and body with emotion training so deeply ingrained in your mind that those emotions just naturally come out and imbue your races with their positive energy. And, if some negative emotions do creep in, they are quickly squashed by the positive emotions that you so committedly trained into your mind.
Jim Taylor, Ph.D., is one of the world’s leading authorities on the psychology of endurance sports, as well as an Ironman, two-time USA National Champion, and three-time World Championship medal-winning age-group triathlete. He recently utilized his own “Emotional Training” methods to a three-medal performance at the USAT Multisport National Championships. To learn more, visit: www.drjimtaylor.com
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