Joanne Love is a Mindset and Leadership expert, and she has worked as a high-performance expert for more than 25 years. We were lucky enough to have Joanne join our Athlete Pathway Webinar series last week as a guest presenter.
Joanne joins the series to discuss how athletes can create a Mental Toolkit, and how they can use these mental skills to build their brand, engage sponsorship, deliver a keynote speech and nurture their athlete pathway.
You can watch a recording of the webinar here or register to attend the final webinar in the series, "Storytelling" with Indigenous Educator and Champion Athlete, Shantelle Thompson.
Here's Joanne's top tips from the webinar.
Focus - Performance = Potential - Distractions
How we focus plays a big part in controlling our anxiety and seizing an opportunity. Unfortunately, the biggest issue for most is they don't understand how it manifests and what it is.
Many think about focus in an extreme way, believing that you are focused when you are only thinking about one thing, and shutting out all other things.
Another misconception is that many believe we find it hard to focus because we are always and easily distracted.
Focus is about understanding what are your distractions and taking action. When biases are shifted, we open our minds to possibility without being swayed by the often-misplaced perception of our capabilities.
Self-Talk
We are each our own worst critic. When we receive it from others, it hits us hard, but after a few days have moved on. However, when the critic is ourself, the effects can be long-lasting and devastating.
We say things like: I'm not good enough. I don't deserve success. What if I fail – what will people think about me?
What we need to do is to be able to pull in the reign on this powerful voice and foster another voice - our inner nurturer. What you might discover is your critic is loudest when you're challenging yourself.
When you're pushing outside your comfort zone and about to try something new. It's not a sign to stop, it's a sign to keep going. Push through it. This often where your personal magic happens.
Identity
Athletes must know their values to build their real identity and foster self-worth. So they can believe in themselves and follow-through; essential if they are going to build a brand.
An athlete's decisions are a reflection of our values and beliefs, and they are always directed towards a specific purpose. But when they are influenced by others, those top-down decisions can get hi-jacked by our Ego.
When the Ego takes over, they are reliant on validation to maintain their drive; and they overestimate their abilities and worth, and under-estimate the effort and skill required for achievement.
As coaches or support crew, some of the decision placed on them, can make them feel unworthy and leading to excuse-making and self-sabotage.
We have a responsibility to put that protective ring around our athletes and use psychology and neuroscience to ensure that their wellbeing stays positive not just now but also into the future.
Like any skill that needs to be embedded, change won't happen overnight, but if we put in as much time for the mind as we do for building conditioning and perfecting technique we will soon see change – After all every mindset matters.
The Athlete Pathway Webinar Series
Don't forget to register for The Athlete Pathway Webinar series.
The FINAL webinar is coming to a Zoom room near you on the 11th of November at 11am AEDT.
This time, we'll be speaking to Indigenous Educator and Champion Athlete, Shantelle Thompson about how she uses Storytelling to capture and convey her story for purpose .
Register here to attend the final webinar in the series.
Got a question?
You can get in touch with your expert, Joanne Love.
Joanne Love holds a degree in psychology and has been an elite swimming coach for many years, being included on many State, National and International teams. Joanne has represented Australia at the 2008 Beijing Paralympics as a swimming coach and has also coached a number of Olympic Medallists and World Record Holders. Joanne currently works with elite sporting organisations imparting a wealth of information on how psychology and neuroscience can create successful outcomes.
Joanne has been featured in and contributed to numerous publications, incorporating both psychology, leadership and coaching, while also being featured as a regular guest speaker at conferences, schools and sporting organisations. Joanne also acts as a mentor to other elite sporting coaches, working with them to incorporate psychological skills in their training programs.
Contact Joanne
Introducing The Athlete Pathway Webinar Series
Are you ready to learn more about Athlete Brand and the incredible benefits it has to offer ALL athletes?
Join us online for our 6-part webinar series created for athletic directors, educators and advisors.
Click here to learn more about the webinar series or to register to attend.
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