Success is not something that can be easily defined because it means something different to every person who aspires towards it.

For some, success is about outcomes. How much money they make, how many medals they win, or how long they hold a ranking, or who they have beaten in a race.

For others, success is more individually driven. Improving their performances, being the best they can be, mastering a skill, or enjoying the act of whatever it is they are doing.

Not matter what success means to you or what field or endeavour you are trying to be successful in, one thing remains the same, success is hard work.

No one has ever been successful in anything without hard work. Whether we are talking about sport, work, relationships, child-rearing, or learning a musical instrument, success is going to take some work.

Take a moment and think about a person you see as successful. Whether you know them or not try to find out more about what it has taken for them to be successful.

The reason this understanding is important is because everyone has a definition of success. Not only do they have a definition they also want to be successful (based on that definition). This is important because when people feel like they are not being successful it affects them in very real ways.

Some people are particularly hard on themselves, some use very negative self-talk, some compare themselves to other more successful people, and some feel so overwhelmed that they lose the motivation to continue.

People who are successful and are doing the hard work feel empowered, in control, confident and most importantly, happy about their pursuits. This is the reason why understanding the concept of success requiring hard work is so important.

Sometimes when people feel unsuccessful they need to have a good look at what they are doing (and not doing) to determine the contributing factors. When people are honest (not negative, not unrealistic, but honest) then they can start to get themselves onto the road to their success.

So, here are three key questions to get you back on the path to achieving your success..

1. What is my actual definition of success (e.g., close relationships with my family, being ranked number one in the world, qualifying for an event)?

2. What am I doing (or not doing) that is holding me back from this (e.g., not spending enough time with my family, skipping sessions, not addressing my flaws)?

3. What must I do differently to change this and get me back on track (e.g., come home early on Thursday afternoons to spend time with my family, be better organised so I don’t have to miss sessions, listen to the feedback from my coach and use it to improve)?

Once you have answered the first three questions then it comes down to the honesty of making good choices.

If you choose to do the work, then success can be yours. If you choose not to make any changes and do the same things you have been doing then you can expect that success will continue to evade you.

One of the driving forces of the Mental Notes team is the desire for more and more people to understand their own individual meaning of success and work hard and smart towards achieving it!

Matt Ahlberg | Sport & Exercise Psychologist MAPS

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Despite this pursuit of continual improvement, I was reminded only recently of the effectiveness of simple ideas and principles that we have used for a long time.

Specifically, I am talking about being aware of and understanding what helps us perform and what doesn’t. This simple idea is as important now as it has ever been, and is as effective now as it has ever been.

The same pursuit of continual improvement occurs with athletes. As a result, they too can get caught up looking at what the next ‘big thing’ is to try to perform better, which sometimes results in forgetting the simple and effective things that help them perform at their peak.

So, lets look at a simple concept and remind ourselves of its usefulness..

Action has power. We need to remember that we have control over what we do, and that what we do can have a huge impact on how we perform.

Think back to a time when you have been at your best. Think about what you did, what you looked like, and how you acted.

Some common responses to these questions are things like warmed up well, had a good training block going into the competition, had my gear organised, ate well on the day, hydrated well, and stuck to my pre-performance routine.

As previously mentioned these are simple things, but they are incredibly important and powerful in terms of athletes getting the most out of themselves and performing at their peak.

The exercise of recalling what you have done prior and during your best performances is only part of the picture.

The essential part is the doing. This is exactly what we are talking about when we say ‘back to basics’. It’s a simple idea but not always an easy one. Action has power but it still takes focus and effort to act.

Taking action can be especially hard when we don’t ‘feel’ like doing things. It is during these times when it is most important to ‘do’. Before and during a performance, when an athlete doesn’t ‘feel’ great (e.g., nervous, low in confidence, overwhelming pressure), they often stop doing the important things because they ‘feel’ like they can’t. This is when it is most important for an athlete to take control of their actions and carry out the actions that they know are important for peak performance.

Very simply, if warming up well, sticking to the game plan, and using a pre-performance routine consistently helps an athlete perform at their peak then they have to do these things no matter how they feel if they want to perform consistently.

It is the ability to carry out these actions regardless of emotional state that helps an athlete perform consistently and is the difference between good athletes and great athletes.

Getting back to basics by doing the important things no matter what is not always easy but is effective in achieving consistent peak performance.

If you need help getting back to basics then visit one of the Mental Notes team, who can work with you to help understand what works for you in your performances and learn the skills to be better equipped to do the things you need to get the most out of every performance.

Matt Ahlberg | Sport & Exercise Psychologist MAPS

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Understanding how to be successful in sport sets anyone up to be more successful in life. Whilst being successful in sport requires a lot of physical hard work, the recipe is simple and can be applied to any area of life.

The pathway to success is attitude. Whether we are talking about sport, school, work, relationships, holidays or social life, our attitude dictates our success.

If we work hard to make sure that we live our lives in line with the attitudes we want then we will be more successful, more content, and manage the rough times much more effectively.

Our attitude in sport and life comprises of our perception of and response to situations. If we perceive a big race or event as a chance to show off what we can do and improve ourselves, then we are on the path to success. If we perceive a big race or event as stressful, scary, or worrying then it is likely that we are on the path to failure.

Our actions play a huge role in our attitude and as a result, our success. How we act in a situation will have a big impact on the outcome of that situation. If we train hard, track our progress, and prepare well, success is ours for the taking. If we skip sessions, don’t look after our bodies, and are disorganised and unprepared, failure is a likely outcome.

Attitude is often talked about in rigid and fixed terms – “she has a great attitude” or “he has a terrible attitude”. Realistically, we are in control of our attitude and can change it if we really want to. Our attitude is flexible.

Let’s get back to success and the themes of a successful attitude. Here are a few questions to consider.. What does a successful person have that an unsuccessful person doesn’t? Whether it’s competing, running a business, or raising a family, what do the very best have that the rest don’t?

Some basic aspects of the attitude that successful people have include:

– Hard-working

– Focused

– Determined

– Self-belief

– Discipline

A person’s attitude is not set in stone. If we want to have the ‘right’ attitude, we can have it. We can develop a successful attitude if we think and act in ways that match the attributes we are trying to attain.

In order to be hard-working we must think of all the effort required and the reasons why we do what we do, and use those to motivate ourselves to get the work done. At the same time we must actually make sure that we get in and get the work done. Without actually doing the work we can not achieve anything.

If we are going to be focused then we need to put training and competing first in our list of priorities. We sometimes need to say “no” to some activities (e.g., parties, holidays) despite wanting to do them.

If we are going to have self-belief then we need to think about all of our strengths, remember our good performances and recall all the hard training we have put in to preparing ourselves. At the same time we need to actually do the hard training, prepare well, and carry ourselves in a confident manner.

These are only a few examples but the idea is simple. If you want to be successful then you need to think and act in ways that will make you a success. It’s not always easy to do, but if your actions and thoughts are in line with the type of attitude you need for your chosen pursuit then you will be happier and more successful.

In summary, success is about choices. If we choose to think in optimal ways and do the required actions, then we can expect some success. If you choose not to do these things then you can’t be surprised when your success is limited.

Matt Ahlberg | Sport & Exercise Psychologist MAPS

The post The Pathway to Success: The choice is yours! appeared first on Mental Notes.

One of the most basic aspects of elite performance is preparation.  It is basic because everyone understands how important it is to be prepared in terms of performing well.. don’t they?

An Olympic year is an opportune time to look at why preparation is important.  It is not uncommon to see gifted and talented athletes not preparing well enough physically and mentally for competition, and as a result their performances are often inconsistent. Their lack of quality preparation is not a function of laziness or arrogance, but rather often related to the fact that they don’t fully understand why preparation is important.

Good preparation is important for a number of reasons.  First, as most would understand, it prepares the body for competition by making it fit enough and strong enough to perform.  Preparation also prepares the body in terms of being able to handle repeat performances, and recovering from niggling injuries. Second, preparation gets the mind ready for competition and all that competition might throw at it.  More specifically, it prepares the mind to be focused, confident, and calm.

If the body is not fit enough and strong enough to do what it needs to do in competition then performance will be hindered.  There is no way around it.  If the training is not done then no amount of confidence or self-belief will replace it.  Preparation in the form of quality training is imperative.  Simply put, if you choose not to do the hard work then don’t be surprised or upset when you don’t perform at your best.

Preparation in the form of being organised and structured is also important for the body to handle the rigours of performance.  Active recovery, ice-baths, stretching, triggering, and all of the other small, but important things must be done if the body is going to be ready for repeat performances at the highest level. So, preparation in the form of having the facilities, time, and resources set up to do these small things also becomes critical.  Doing all of the training, performing well and then not being able to facilitate recovery at a major event is a sure way to underperform.

Methodical preparation is crucial in terms of confidence and self-belief.  One of the major sources of confidence an athlete (or a non-athlete) can draw upon is good preparation.  Athletes compete much better when they know they have done the work and they know their bodies are ready to do what is required.

Preparing well must include performing the physical movement that the sport involves.  A lot of this has to do with acquiring the skill to the point where it is near automatic.  An equally important part is that the mind learns how and where to be focused during the event so that performance can be maximised.  For example, a rower can be tall and strong and achieve great ergo results but if they don’t know what to focus on and when during a race, their mind will be all over the place resulting in poor performance.  A golfer can stand on the range and hit perfect ball after perfect ball but until they get out and play on the course, their mind won’t be truly trained to focus on the right things at the right times.

As a result of good physical and mental preparation the mind can be more calm and in control during competitions.  When an athlete feels they are prepared, they are ready for whatever the event will throw at them, and they believe they can perform well then the mind is clear and calm.

The Mental Notes Consulting team specialises in helping athletes compete at the peak of their capabilities.  We have a range of skills and tools designed to help athletes feel focused, calm, confident, and ready to compete.  They are very effective and essential for athletes who want to be competitive in their sport.  However, something as simple as being prepared and organised can also help to make the difference between good athletes and great ones.

Matt Ahlberg | Sport & Exercise Psychologist MAPS

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Something that the Mental Notes Consulting team talks to a lot of people about is the fact that each mental skill or tool we use can be used to deal with more than one issue.

One of the great things about the mental game is that one skill can be used in different ways to deal with any number of issues, if you have a good understanding of the skill. For example, goal-setting is a very common skill and is most often related to motivation. But if you know how to set goals effectively you will know that goals are excellent for focus and confidence as well.

Performance plans are an excellent tool to handle a number of issues that athletes in all different sports will face during competition. Having a performance plan is a simple but effective way to deal with pressure, to have confidence, and to push through the tough aspects of a competition.

Let’s look at some examples of using performance plans in different sports..

In golf, we use course plans to make sure that decision-making processes are well thought out and not simply reactions to emotion. We also use course plans in golf to stay focused on the right thing at the right time. It is very easy to get caught up on thinking about scores whilst playing golf, so being able to have a plan to come back to helps to keep golfer grounded and focused on one shot at a time.

In swimming, we use race plans to handle pressure. When swimmers spend all year training and preparing for a handful of important races there is a lot of pressure to perform with minimal second chances. It’s easy for swimmers to get caught up with thoughts of how important the race is as well as doubts about achieving their goals. Having a race plan to come back to decreases self-doubt and occupies the mind of the swimmer with a positive focus.

In triathlon, race plans are useful for both of the reasons discussed above but we have also found them useful for getting through pain and pushing the body to new levels. Triathletes find that having a plan is something concrete that they can stick to no matter what their body is telling them.  A race plan helps triathletes have something to work to and commit to when their bodies are hurting. Having an external focus (i.e., a race plan) keeps a triathlete’s thoughts away from themselves, their bodies, and the pain.

In a sport like rugby, a game plan provides a team with a single goal so that each player knows and understands their role and not as many resources are wasted compared to the team who doesn’t have a clear plan. On an individual level having a game plan helps players have a focus outside of themselves, which helps them deal with poor performance, mistakes, and missed opportunities.

So, whatever name you give to the performance plans in your sport, you can see how important they are to include in your competitive performance. There is no elite athlete performing at their peak who doesn’t use a performance plan. Using performance plans help athletes focus on the right things at the right times, manage pressure and nerves, and handle all the little setbacks that sport throws at them.

Mental Notes Consulting has consultants throughout South East Queensland who can work with you to help maximise your performance and reach your potential by helping you create and stick to performance plans.

Matt Ahlberg | Sport & Exercise Psychologist MAPS

The post The Game Plan appeared first on Mental Notes.

At Mental Notes Consulting we constantly talk about the ‘right’ state of mind to perform at your peak.  Many people assume that this means that everything we do relates to thinking – whether it’s planning, positive self-talk, motivational thoughts, or imagining successful performance.

Whilst these skills are incredibly useful and important, they are only half of the picture when it comes to successful performance.

Actions have power.

It is important to plan, set out routines, set goals, and have positive thoughts but if there are no actions to back all of this up it is an exercise in dreaming.  Putting these things into action is what separates the ‘could-have-been’ athletes from the ‘greats’.

If we turn to our recent Queensland sporting heroes we see this message reiterated over and over in their successes.

Recently, the Queensland Reds won their first Rugby Championship in the professional era.  Any Reds fan who has stuck by them throughout the years despite the lack of results, will tell you that they have looked different since the coaching appointment of Ewen McKenzie.  They have been putting into action all of the things they have been saying they needed to do to win and the result has been very successful for them this year.

The Maroons state of origin team learned from game two that what they needed to do was to start strongly and assert their dominance over NSW early. They had done this well in the first game, not so well in the second game, but then came out firing for game three and like the Reds, created success.

Actions are required for peak performance because actions need to work in unison with the mental components of the game.  It’s not enough to set goals, or to have a game plan. The goals and the game plan require action for them to lead to success.

The most successful athletes in sport are the ones who walk-the-walk.  Roger Federer has been as cool as ice on a tennis court for several years but this wasn’t always the case.  He had to go away, work hard on his mental game, but then put it into practice on court.  It has been his consistent actions that have made him one of the best tennis players of all time.

Darren Lockyer is incredibly talented and very mentally tough, but what many sometimes underestimate is how hard he physically works to be in his peak form.  He could have talent and mental toughness but if he didn’t do the actual work he wouldn’t play at the level he does.

Quite simply, if we don’t walk-the-walk then we will never be successful.  The mental component is incredibly important to performance in all sports at all levels but if you don’t put in the hard work then you will never reap the rewards.

Jim Rohn, a famous American motivational speaker, uses a quote about discipline and success which states,

“Success is no mystery.  It is a matter of discipline.  Discipline is not letting go of the things we know we should do, we do them!”

If you look back over your recent performances (whether in sport, at work or even at home) and think about all the little things that you know you need to do to be successful in that arena, ask yourself if you are honestly doing them in the way they should be done.  You may be surprised at what a big difference actions can make.

So the message sent out by Nike all those years ago is incredibly important still today – Just do it!

Mental Notes Consulting has consultants throughout South East Queensland who can work with you to help maximise your performance and reach your potential by helping you to take the actions required to be successful.

Matt Ahlberg | Sport & Exercise Psychologist MAPS

The post Just Do It! appeared first on Mental Notes.

Many of these choices seem to be made almost subconsciously.  We feel like we don’t give them a lot of thought, we just make them and away we go.  But whilst it might feel like a lot of our daily choices are subconscious it’s important to recognise that they are not.

Too many people want to believe that much of what they do every day is out of their conscious control. This kind of an attitude breeds feelings of helplessness, anxiety, and a lack of confidence to make changes in our lives.

The reality is that we are in control of the vast majority of things we do everyday.  Whether we get up early or not, whether we turn left or right, whether we eat well or eat poorly.

Whilst athletes can seem to have it all together, they too can be guilty of not taking responsibility for their choices.  Any serious athlete sets himself or herself a goal.  Whether it’s a training goal, a competition goal, or a life goal – they have a goal.  In order to achieve their goals they must make the right choices more often than they make the wrong choices.

No one will ever “always” make the right choices but elite athletes need to make the right choices more often than not.  More specifically, we are talking about the choice to be the athlete they want to be. Whether they want to be a natural, a fighter, a worker, or a star they need to make the right choices to be that athlete.

So, what are the choices we are talking about?  We are talking about everything from being organised the night before so that they get up and get to training early and not late.  We are talking about eating the right things at the right time to maintain a healthy competitive weight.  We are talking about integrating the mental game into physical training in order to prepare more completely.  In short, we are talking about choosing to be excellent.

Choosing to be excellent involves a number of different things.  The first is about consciously acknowledging what it takes to be excellent in sport.  This is about setting a standard or a benchmark for what is necessary for success in that sport.

The second is about making sure that they make the right choices to reach that standard.  Making the right choice is rarely easy but then being excellent in sport is not easy.

The final part of choosing to be excellent comes down to being honest and acknowledging that if they make the wrong choices then they can’t expect to get the result.

In this way achieving excellence in sport is very simple.  If you make the right choices, then you will achieve to your potential time and time again.  If you make the wrong choices, then you won’t.

Some athletes make their chances of success so much slimmer by making the wrong choices over and over again and then refusing to believe that they have control over these sorts of things.  The reality is that we have much more control over these things than we think.

On of the most “excellent” athletes I have had the privilege of working with keeps a small (homemade) poster on her kitchen wall.  It reads,

“A champion:

• sleeps well every night
• always eats the right food
• is at training early
• does the extra work that others don’t
• has a goal for every session”

This poster is her way of identifying what excellence in sport is.  Everyday she makes the right choices to achieve excellence in her sport.  That is why she is so successful and that is why she is enjoying every minute of it.

Mental Notes Consulting has a team of dedicated consultants who can help you to make the right choices in sport.  For more information or to tell us about your success stories in making the right choices in your sport feel free to send us an email at info@mentalnotesconsulting.com.au.

Matt Ahlberg | Sport & Exercise Psychologist MAPS

The post Sport (and Life) is About Choices appeared first on Mental Notes.

When the waters finally recede there will be a lot to learn from these floods as there was from the infamous 1974 floods.  But for the moment let’s focus on what we have learned about the mental strength, the resilience, and the toughness of human beings from what we have already seen.
In sport we talk about toughness, about bouncing back, and about self-belief as being critical for success and achievement of goals.

Being glued to the TV coverage and subsequently helping friends in the midst of this madness, three things strike me as interesting about the mental strength of human beings and I think they are important lessons that we can all use in our daily lives and certainly that athletes can use in their careers.

The three things I have seen in people time and time again throughout this crisis and that I think are important lessons are:
1. Helping each other out;
2. Getting on with the job; and
3. Seeing no other option but success.

Helping each other out during a flood crisis just seems to be the Australian way.  People don’t even have to be asked to help.  They are out looking for ways to help others.  It’s so easy in the professional era for athletes to get caught up in their own affairs.  But what we see time and time again in sport (and as we have seen during the floods) is that when people are working together they are far more effective. Looking for ways to work with others even in individual sports can help your training and your performance to go to the next level.  Working with others can push you harder, help to understand your strengths and weaknesses more, and can help to keep the enjoyment in your sport.

Getting on with the job has been what so many thousands of people have been doing in the past few days.  Whether it has been moving possessions, sandbagging businesses, or ferrying people to safety people have been jumping in and getting the job done.  In sport we often to see people who are going to do things.  The athletes who talk less and do more are more often the successful ones long-term. Australia is filled with talented athletes who never made it because they never really just got on with the job.  Planning is important but at the end of the day there is no replacement for doing the work.

“No other option” is very true for all of the survivors of the floods.  They face months if not years of struggle to rebuild their lives.  The one thing that will get them through this period and out to the other side is that in their minds there is no other option but to get through it.  It’s a simple idea but a powerful one.  Many athletes would do well to set up their own goals and plans for achieving them with this attitude in mind.  This “no other option but success” approach breeds resilience and a never-say-die attitude which are essential for any athlete to be truly successful in their sport.  It’s hard to get up at 4am every morning to go to training before school or work.  How do you do something that is so tough?  Simple, there is no other option if I want to be the best.  It is near impossible to stay focused for a 12 month-plus recovery from some injuries.  How do you do it?  Simple, there is no other option.

The reason this last concept is so powerful is because we see so many examples in our history of people who have had no option and as a result have had to find a way through.  And the way through is found in the looking.  Our Australian soldiers who fight overseas do such a good job because in their minds, there is no other option.  People recover from natural disasters like the 1974 Queensland floods, the Christmas day bushfires in Victoria and the most recent 2011 Queensland floods because there is no other option.

It is quite amazing what people can achieve when they work together, get on with the job and believe that there is no other option but success. These are some important lessons that I think we can take from these very early days of the floods and use them in all of our lives and in sport.

Matt Ahlberg | Sport & Exercise Psychologist MAPS

The post Lessons from the Floods appeared first on Mental Notes.

We use this process to try and regularly assess how we are performing as sport psychologists with our clients.  More recently, as we were going through a review process, I began to notice the great similarities in the work we do with elite athletes and other groups of people.  There are also some clear differences in the work we do with athletes competing at the highest levels but more often than not the things that benefit these athletes work very well with the rest of us also.

This highlights the idea that the Mental Notes Consulting team has believed in for a long time, which is that there is something in sport psychology that can benefit everyone.  Young or old, serious or social, athlete or non-athlete there is great benefit in the work you can do with a sport psychologist.

The main goal of sport psychology is to enhance enjoyment and performance in sport. From this definition we can see that anyone really could benefit from some involvement with an Mental Notes Consulting sport psychologist.

What can “non-elite” athletes get from working on the mental side of their performance?

To answer this question it is worth looking at some examples of people who don’t necessarily fit the “elite athlete” stereotype.

The developing athlete.  There is an assumption that unless you are already technically and physically elite that there is no point in working with a sport psychologist.  This couldn’t be further from the truth.  Certainly the amount and type of work we do with younger and developing athletes is different in comparison to the elite and professional athletes but it is just as important.  The great benefit about beginning to work with a sport psychologist earlier is that developing athletes can learn skills and techniques that can be practiced and refined over several years alongside the physical and technical skills of their sport, all of which develop a more complete athlete.  Simple skills like performance routines, emotional control, developing confidence, and learning and improving from all performances are essential for elite competitors and can be learned from a very early age.  The other great benefit of beginning some work on the mental game earlier is that it has flow-on effects into other important areas of life (e.g., focus and concentration at school, self-esteem, and discipline).

The social (not-so-competitive) athlete.  In my experience anyone who comes to see one of our consultants is still competitive (even if only with themselves) despite the fact they might not be trying to win gold medals.  These athletes, very often, have the same performance concerns as their elite counterparts and have just as great a desire to see improvement and reach goals, the only difference is that they aren’t collecting a pay cheque for it.  These athletes often work just as hard, prepare just as well, and want to perform at their peak just as much as the elite athletes do.  So, they benefit greatly from understanding concepts relating to training the mental component, dealing with pressure, developing resilience, and having hardy self-belief.

The high-achieving non-athlete. This person comes in all shapes and sizes. They are doctors, lawyers, musicians, CEOs, and business owners.  This is where we start to see how the developments in the field of sport psychology have had flow on effects into other arenas.  We are seeing more and more people who are not involved in sport but want to perform in their arena at their peak seeking help from sport psychologists. These people learn how to get the most out of themselves, know their boundaries but push them daily, how to communicate with and motivate others, and also how to find balance in their lives so that they can achieve their work goals and their life goals simultaneously.
The creators of life change.  An increasing number of people want to create change in some parts of their lives.  There is certainly a balance to be struck between self-acceptance and self-improvement but there is nothing wrong with people wanting to change things about themselves.  Whether those things be to manage anxiety, lose weight, manage stress, improve relationships, or find more meaning in their lives the creators of life change group can benefit from skills including identifying true motivations, managing thought patterns, finding some emotional control, communicating better or building confidence.

The Mental Notes Consulting team’s training and expertise is in sport psychology and we are very upfront about that but through demand, we are open to and excited about building the amount of people coming to us who are not the stereotypical athletes.  What we have been able to do is use the same skill set that we have developed with athletes and found it to be very effective with these other groups.  That’s why we can see that as far as sport psychology goes, there is something in it for everyone.

Mental Notes Consulting consultants work throughout south-east Queensland and can help you to achieve your goals.  Visit our website to find out more about the work we do, our consultants and some of the programs we have on offer.  Also, check us out on Facebook or follow us on twitter.

Matt Ahlberg | Sport & Exercise Psychologist MAPS

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