Winning At the Mental Game

BECOMING A PEAK PERFORMER

For more than 100 years, the field of sport psychology has existed to assist elite performers to handle the challenges that are inherent to their field.  As the parallels between elite athletes and elite musicians are vast, performing artists may find increased potential by following the athletes’ lead.  In fact, a closer look reveals that nearly everyone in every field has to ‘perform.’  Come along as we work to develop the mental game related to performing to realize more successes in whatever you do!

Sports psychologist, Kate Hays,  notes in a 2010 article in Psychology Today that “performers function in domains that expect extremely high standards,” and adds that they must possess the skills “to

• Excel in high-pressure contexts

• Perform in front of an (actual or implied) audience Bring their talents and skills into proficient action at a specific moment - that is, there is a temporal dimension

• Present a public “face” that may be different from their ordinary self

• Meet performance standards

• Respond to high external demands

• Demonstrate appropriate coping skills under pressure

• Handle judgements regarding their proficiency or excellence

• Face performance consequences.”1

Does this sound familiar to you?

Athletes and the Arts is an organization that was designed to integrate the science of sport and the performing arts.  They posit that “both athletes and artists:

• Practice or play every day

• Play through pain

• Perform at all times of day or night

• Compete in challenging environments

• Enjoy little “off-season”

• Feel strong pressure to succeed

• Risk career-threatening injury”2

As such, performers must endeavor to engage practices that will assist them in gaining the mental acuity to succeed at the highest levels of the arts.

If these pressures resonate with you, join us for a new series, “Performance Edge” - designed to offer strategies that will improve resiliency and increase your ability to handle the challenges faced within the professional world.

This is going to be fun!

1. Hays, Kate.  The Performance Edge:  It’s not Just a Sport.  Psychology Today.  January 12, 2010

2. Athletes and the Arts.  Athletes and the Arts:  Integrating the Science of Sport and the Performing Arts.                                                     http://athletesandthearts.com/dev/wp-content/uploads/AthArts-General-handout1.pdf