Sports psychology provides many concepts that people can use in other areas of life. Here is one that provides food for thought. If you are a football manager, for example, you can play a match using the positive, percentage or paralysis approach. Sometimes you might pursue all three approaches in one game. Let’s explore how these themes can apply to other areas of life.
1) The positive approach.
People often do their best work when they adopt this attitude. So the advice of one football manager to his players is:
“Be positive, take the initiative and impose yourself on the game. Believe in yourself, win the ball and play the game in the opposition’s half of the field.”
Sport – and life – is to be enjoyed. Being positive must be coupled with being professional, however, rather than being reckless. People who embrace this attitude are more likely to flow, focus and finish.
Looking at your own life, can you think of a time when you have adopted such an approach? For example, you may be positive by nature. Or you may have adopted this attitude after a setback. If so, what were the consequences? How did you build on the pluses? How did you minimise any potential minuses?
Try tackling the exercise on this theme. First, describe a specific situation in the future where you may choose to take a positive approach. Second, describe how you can translate this attitude into action. Try completing the following sentences.
2) The percentage approach.
Playing safe is absolutely the right approach in many situations. It is particularly appropriate when managing your money, climbing a mountain or taking care of your health. Sometimes it will only enable you to reach 7/10, however, when it is important to be positive to reach 10/10.
“Sometimes playing the percentage game means you lose momentum,” said the football manager. “You begin looking at the clock and hoping you can hang on for a draw. Adopting this approach can be risky, because it is easy to fall into the paralysis game.”
Looking at your own life, can you think of a time when you have adopted the percentage approach? What were the consequences? How did you build on the pluses? How did you minimise any potential minuses?
Try tackling the exercise on this theme. First, describe a specific situation in the future where it may be appropriate to take a percentage approach. Second, describe how you can translate this attitude into action. Try completing the following sentences.
3) The paralysis approach.
People sit back and wait for things to happen. Sometimes this can be okay, because they need time to reflect. After suffering a setback, for example, we must spend time in a sanctuary. We can then begin shaping our future and working to achieve success. Spending too long in a sanctuary causes the muscles to whither, however, and makes it difficult to start moving.
“Players who lose confidence often experience paralysis,” explained one sports psychologist. “They achieved success by being able to flow but, consumed by fear, they freeze. My role is to help them to play the positive game and, when appropriate, the percentage game. They are then more able to flow, focus and finish.”
As mentioned earlier, sometimes it can be appropriate to stop doing things completely. It is vital to give your body and soul the chance to recover. But other times this can lead to paralysis.
Try tackling the exercise on this theme. First, describe a specific situation in the future where you may need to ensure that you don’t fall into the paralysis approach. Second, describe the specific things you can do to adopt a more appropriate approach. Try completing the following sentences.
There are many different ways to look at life. One view is that, depending on the particular situation, people adopt the positive, percentage or paralysis approaches. Each approach does, of course, have both pluses and minuses. People will obviously choose the route that they believe is most likely to achieve their picture of success.
Posted on Sunday, August 7th, 2011 at 4:04 pm in Strengths, The Strengths Blog | RSS feed
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