Reframing Emotions in Sport

PSA: Emotions are normal! 

You are allowed to feel what you need to feel. 

I often see in athletes that when unhelpful/negative/unwanted emotions arise, they create a story about what feeling that emotion means. 

For example: you may feel nervous before a game. Which leads to creating the story that feeling nervous means you aren't prepared. 

This story takes away your confidence. You’ll begin to question everything. You’ll compare yourself to your opponent. And go into the competition believing that you aren’t prepared. 

The reality is that nerves are normal! There is nothing wrong with you if you feel nervous. It means you’re human. 

And the same goes for all emotions! 

Feeling scared? Normal! It doesn’t mean you don’t deserve to be playing at this level. 

Feeling anxious? Normal! It doesn’t mean you are going to let people down. 

Feeling frustrated? Normal! It doesn’t mean you aren’t good. 

When we feel these uncomfortable emotions, we think it means that something has gone wrong. 

It hasn’t. All it means is that you are having a human experience. 

The one thing we can do is reframe how we interpret these emotions. Instead of telling yourself the negative story, reframe it. 

Going back to the past examples: 

• Feeling nervous before a game, interpret this as meaning you are excited to play. 

• Feeling scared, interpret this as meaning you care about the outcome. 

• Feeling anxious, interpret this as meaning you want to succeed. 

• Feeling frustrated, interpret this as meaning you know you can do better. 

• Feeling (blank), interpret this as meaning you’re human! 

You get to choose how you interpret the emotions you feel. You get to choose what you will make them mean about you (if anything). 

It feels so much better when we accept that 1) feelings and emotions are normal, 2) we don’t have to interpret them as a bad thing, 3) we can choose what feeling a specific emotion means. 

When you can reframe your emotions in this way, it will keep you from judging yourself for feeling a certain way. It will keep you out of the negative thought loops. And it will prevent you from sabotaging your performance because you are experiencing a certain emotion. 

The result is managing emotions effectively, going into competitions with confidence regardless of how you feel, staying positive with yourself, and performing how you know you can. 

We go through this process in the Mindset Mastery Program. We manage your emotions and reframe them to serve you rather than hurt you. Want to manage your emotions effectively? Schedule a consultation today!