Frequently we are surrounded by negativity. Whether it comes from things we can or cannot control, the people around us, our thoughts, or life events that happen every day. Sometimes there is so much of it that it feels impossible to power through. In athletics, negativity can come from outside sources around us, whether coaches, parents, teammates or ourselves internally. It can be hard to shuffle through our negative thoughts or even realize that sometimes those thoughts are just temporary. The same goes for dealing with negativity from those around you. It can be difficult to drown out others who try to bring you down by saying things that might make you feel like your dream is impossible. In athletics, it can be telling you that you aren’t good enough or you’ll never make it to the next level.
There are ways we can all power through negativity, whether it comes from others or ourselves. Developing environments that help you succeed and changing your mindset can genuinely help you power through moments of negativity—reminding yourself of your ability, on and off the field. It takes work and effort, but it will help you achieve the goals you want to in life and potentially help you get to that next stage in life.
Creatures of Our Environment
Los Angeles Angels relief pitcher Ty Buttrey expressed it best on one of our Champions School podcasts. We are all creatures of our environment. The things we have in our lives, experiences, and people around us sometimes set our environments. Often we tend to think we are creatures of habit, but that usually isn’t the case. Our actions and responses depend on the environment we set up for ourselves. Having the right environment can help build better habits more quickly.
A lot of that can stem from having a solid foundation. I discussed in a previous blog the steps to building your foundation. Having that foundation can help you set the environment around you. A foundation can help develop habits that make you a better person. When we think about relationships in our environment, the primary relationship in your life is the one with YOURSELF. That is the relationship that needs the most focus and should be first at all times. Having a solid foundation gives you a better sense of self. When you master your internal relationship, it helps you develop external relationships that reflect yours. If you are kind, passionate, and empathetic, the relationships you develop externally will reflect that. Creating the best relationship with yourself also requires adoration and respect for yourself. How you treat yourself daily is enormous.
Positive Self Talk
One of the first steps in treating yourself with adoration and respect is positive self-talk. Positive self-talk can enhance your performance and general well-being and get you out of moments of negativity. On top of giving you a more optimistic outlook, it can provide greater life satisfaction, better physical well-being, improved immune function, and many other healthy traits! Positive self-talk can help you accomplish your goals in the competition and help bring your mindset to a good place throughout your day and in life.
An article in Healthline provides some times on how you can make positive self-talk your norm:
- Identify negative self-talk traps: Taking time to pinpoint when you experience the most negative self-talk can help you anticipate and prepare for it. Is it on the mound when you just walked the last two guys? Is it after you struck out in an at-bat? Or is it after a bad game and you let the negative self-talk control the amount of sleep you get that night? Certain scenarios can lead to more self-doubt. Being aware of them can help you maintain them
- Check-in with your feelings: During these moments and events or bad days, take time to evaluate your self-talk. Think about how you are reacting to events of the day in your head and what are some things you can do to turn it around.
- Find the humor: Laughter has always been known to help relieve stress and tension. There are always options to find ways to laugh even when you are struggling to get up from
- Surround yourself with positive people: This goes back to becoming creatures of our environment. When you have good people around you, you can absorb their positivity even on a bad day you might be having.
- Give yourself positive affirmations: We talk about writing three things down you are grateful for every day. Whether at the beginning of the day, middle, or end, if you have moments of self-doubt or negative self-talk, take time to reflect on what you are grateful for. It can be people around you, your skills and abilities, or just little things that bring you joy. On top of that, seeing positive words or inspiring reminders can be enough to redirect your thoughts.
Negativity can surround us, whether it comes from ourselves or from external factors we face in life. We can have moments of self-doubt in athletic competition, in the workplace, in our relationships with others, and so on. Taking time to work on ourselves and changing the way we think may impact us and help us develop better environments around us where we can thrive in. Using these tips to power through negativity can help us figure out what truly makes us happy on a given day. It can provide us with the skills to get through athletics and life struggles.
