Distractions are sometimes caused by things that have happened in the past that you just cannot let go of. Elwyn was a long-serving senior man- ager and high performer in a business that was undergoing a structural re-organisation which would mean having to deliver even higher per- formance with fewer resources. The change involved introducing a new matrix management structure which resulted in one of Elwyn’s former peers being promoted to a position into which he now reported. Elwyn liked his new manager at a personal level and had always got on well with him as a peer, but two things bothered him about the new situation: firstly, he felt the new management position was unnecessary and cre- ated further bureaucracy in the form of yet another layer of decision-making; and secondly, he believed he was more capable than his new manager and was both confused and angry about being over- looked for the position.
Our coaching sessions became dominated by Elwyn’s failure to accept the situation. It was clear that his focus was not on his day-to-day perform- ance, but on the circumstances surrounding the earlier re-structure. Here was a classic case of someone who was focusing on the wrong things and, worse still, it was having a debilitating effect on his performance.
The same can happen in sport where performers sometimes focus on things that will not help and often impair their performance. Rugby play- ers who focus on not dropping the first pass they receive, or golfers who focus on not hitting the ball into the bunker to the right of the green often end up doing those very things. And the rugby player who does drop a try-scoring pass in the first few minutes of a big game might spend the rest of it focusing on this ‘catastrophic’ mistake. Likewise, the golfer in the bunker might be focusing on frustration and anger at being in it rather than on the vital recovery shot. If focusing on the mistakes they have just made is not enough to distract these performers, then focusing on the future is another danger to delivering optimum performance. The rugby player may spend the remainder of the game worrying about what tomorrow’s newspapers will make of his vital error. The golfer in the bunker may be focusing on how crucial the next shot is in securing a much-needed big pay cheque.
The examples of Elwyn, the rugby player and the golfer demonstrate how it is very easy to be distracted from delivering your best perform- ance. They also illustrate how it is not just events and factors in the current environment that are competing for your attention; past and future events, and how you think about them, can also dominate your focus and impair your performance – if you let them!
So what should you be focused on?
‘Focus’ is one of those words used frequently and freely to embrace a multitude of things involved in delivering high level performance. A bit like the term ‘mental toughness’ really; most people have a vague sense of what it is, but few are able to clearly define it. In its simplest form, ‘focus’ is about clear and vivid thoughts and images that occupy your conscious mind, and involves withdrawing thoughts and images from some things to deal effectively with others.
A recurring theme throughout this book has been self-awareness, and so it continues in the context of enhancing your ability to achieve ‘appropriate focus’. Appropriate focus involves directing your thinking towards what you should be thinking about. This all sounds very obvious and merely common sense. But common sense is not always common practice, partic- ularly in the case of focus. I’m sure you know that it is not a particularly good idea to think about the mistakes you might make during the final minutes and moments before an important presentation, negotiation or interview. Instead, you should be focusing on things like how well pre- pared you are, the opportunity (as opposed to threat) that lies ahead, the skills and abilities that you have at your disposal, and so on. But people like myself are in demand because some performers struggle to under- stand what to focus on and/or how to control their focus.
The content of the focus you are trying to achieve is a function of numer- ous factors, which means that an 'appropriate focus' can vary enormously from situation to situation, from individual to individual and from second to second. It is difficult to generalise, therefore, but high achievers from a wide variety of sports consistently report the following as being important.
G Controlling the controllables – this is an often-used phrase and emphasises the futility of devoting any of that valuable, limited-capac- ity focus to things that you just cannot control. Mentally tough performers accept that there are factors in the performance environ- ment they cannot influence, identify what they are and then focus on the things they can control.
G Focusing on process – high level performance is about getting the processes right. The key processes underpinning performance have already been identified earlier in this book as something that mentally tough performers use as an important source of internal motivation to
drive them to practise and prepare thoroughly and meticulously. They also provide a fundamental focus during performance itself – focus on the processes of performing and the outcomes will take care of themselves. G Staying in the moment – during performance, it is very important (in
most circumstances) to focus on what is happening in the moment. I have already described earlier in the chapter how it makes no sense to focus on mistakes; they are history. You can do nothing to change them so why beat yourself up about them? Accept they have happened, ‘bin’ them and move on. Similarly, looking into the future can be a distrac- tion. Some golfers who find themselves five-under-par after seven holes can get carried away by thoughts of a very low score. That’s almost as bad as being five-over and thinking they’re going to score in the 80s, rather than focusing on what they have to do right here and how. G Focusing on positives– if external distractions are not enough to dis-
rupt your focus, then internal ones lurk menacingly in the background. Thoughts of past failures in similar circumstances to those you find yourself in, the consequences of failure or your doubts about being able to achieve your performance goals are all examples of negative thoughts that are unhelpful. Focusing on things such as your past achievements and things you’re particularly good at is much more conducive to a positive state of readiness to perform well. G Fire in the belly, ice in the head– because of the pressure associated
with delivering high performance when it really matters, simply focusing on remaining composed when the adrenaline is pumping can be a very effective strategy. I described in Chapter 4 how a quick relax- ation technique based on focusing on a mantra or keyword, such as ‘relax’ or ‘calm’, as you breathe out is very helpful in achieving a com- posed state. Think about using that technique as a way to help you control your focus when under pressure.
You will need to apply and adapt these key pointers to achieving an appropriate focus to the specific set of conditions and circumstances that exist in your own performance environment. They will serve as useful prompts and reminders of the things you should be focusing on when the pressure is on.
The problem with focus is that there is simply not enough of it to enable you to deal with all of the things demanding its attention. The conscious mind has a limited capacity and is only able to hold a relatively small amount of information at any one time. Read the following string of numbers quickly and once only, and then look away and write them down on a sheet of paper in the same order that they appear below.
How many did you get right? The likelihood is that you got at least one wrong because remembering a string of ten numbers in the correct sequence will overload the conscious minds of the vast majority of people. Even if you did write the numbers down in the correct order, you would not have been able to think about anything else whilst you were recalling them. Given that the capacity of the conscious mind is so lim- ited, then what you put or allow into it is pretty important.
Being able to control the content of the conscious mind so that it is able to achieve optimum focus involves getting rid of inappropriate thoughts and replacing them with appropriate ones, as shown in Figure 7.1. For example, negative thoughts in the form of worry and self-doubt are unlikely to be helpful to performers who, instead, want to think positively
Over to Adrian . . .
One of the key messages in this section is the aspect of ‘control’. All five of the above points have control at the heart of them. The one example I have that sums this up is that moment immediately before the race is about to begin, and I mean the last 30 seconds before the gun goes off. At that point I can only control the next thing that is about to happen to me, and that is the dive into the pool. I have no impact on my rivals. I cannot change my previous races. I can only impact on the way I enter the pool. I get on to the block visualising the best dive I have ever done. I wait, and as the gun goes off, I am thinking about squeezing the block, tipping my body weight forward and launching at about 45 degrees, driving through my legs with all the force I can. Then I do the next thing . . . I’ve started.