Navigating the Madness: Mental Health & March Madness

AllMindsFull Newsletter- March 2024

It’s March, where we are celebrating and embracing madness! March Madness, the annual NCAA basketball tournament, is a time of excitement, anticipation, and fervor for sports enthusiasts across the globe. Fans are filling out their brackets, cheering for their favorite teams, and getting swept up in the drama of the games. It’s a month that brings about an emotional rollercoaster, with the highs of victory and the lows of defeat that can evoke strong emotions, impacting one’s relationships and ability of cope. Amidst the frenzy of March Madness, let’s take a moment to check in with our mental health, explore how we can use sport psychology techniques to enhance our mental wellbeing, and embrace the chaos that this month brings.

While March Madness brings people together and ignites a sense of camaraderie, it can also evoke stress, anxiety, pressure, and put people at odds with each other. The intensity of the competition, the high stakes involved, and the emotional investment in the outcomes can all contribute to mental health challenges during this time. For athletes, the pressure to perform at the highest level is immense. They feel the weight of expectations from coaches, teammates, fans, and, of course, themselves. The relentless schedule of games, practices, and media attention can take a toll on their mental well-being. The fear of failure or letting down their supporters can add to the already existing stress of competition. Now think about your own life. How do you manage your own pressures to perform, the endless to-do lists, and the weight of expectations from those in your life? How might that impact your mental health and wellbeing?

MindsGrow

Sport psychology and mental performance coaching are unique types of work that focus on helping athletes and performers reach their peak potential through mental skills training. With these specific techniques and tools, high achieving individuals can optimize their performance, push to the extremes of physiological and psychological fitness, and improve their mental toughness. Dr. Michael Gervais, one of the world’s top high-performance psychologists, explores how individuals achieve mastery in their performance with his podcast Finding Mastery. He says the first rule of mastery is to stop worrying about what people think of you, instead shifting that external focus inward to your purpose. Gervais has found time and again that “when purpose is bigger than pain, purpose wins.” Rooting into your purpose, your drive to be fulfilled, authentic, and more, rather than the purpose others have assigned to you or want you to have, will get you further than you can ever imagine.

MindsUnderstand

Even if you aren’t an elite athlete or performer, you likely experience that almost never-ending pressure to do more and be more. The world can be extremely demanding and draining, which can lead to burnout, relational strain, and mental health struggles. Whether it’s a boss demanding you stay late at work, a project deadline looming over your head, or a difficult conversation you’ve been avoiding due to discomfort, finding your purpose and learning to shift your mindset may be the buzzer shot you need to lead a more authentic and fulfilling life. Like the athletes you may be watching throughout the NCAA tournaments this month, anchor into your purpose to push through the mental pain and lack of drive to continue.

MindsElevate

So, how can you apply sport psychology tips to everyday life in order to achieve mastery over yourself and root into what is meaningful to you?

Tip #1: Know your why

Get really clear on your purpose, whether that’s in your work life, relationally, or simply with understanding and better nurturing yourself. Take time to dig deep and find what that driving force is behind each action to not only provide motivation, but also inspiration. Try writing a vision narrative if you feel like where you are currently is not in alignment with the purpose you want and that is meaningful to you.

Tip #2: Embrace compassion over comparison

Intentionally practicing inner compassion improves your ability to be kind to your inner experiences and treat yourself as you would those who are close to you, helps reduce the sting of comparison. Comparison and worrying about what people might be thinking about you reduces your inner joy, authenticity, and ability to experience the fulness of life. Learn to embrace compassion by taking a moment to offer yourself kind words or a cleansing breath each time you find yourself caught in the trap of comparison and fear of judgement.

Tip #3: Letting people down vs. letting people learn

Mindset and positive self-talk are vital to an athletes’ success. Thinking that you are going to fail and let people down can often lead to that becoming true, as our brain naturally wants to confirm what we believe. Try shifting the idea of “letting people down" to “letting people learn,” where your missteps allow people to learn how they deal with discomfort, unpleasant feelings, and loss of expectations. This mindset shift allows some of the pressure to be perfect and perform at your highest level all the time to decrease.

Here is our reflection question for this month of madness:

After gaining clarity on your purpose, what will you do differently to ensure that you are taking steps toward fulfilling that purpose? Whose opinions do you need to let go of in order to take those next steps?

AllMinds News!

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