In the sports psychology book The Mental Edge author Kenneth Baum lays out 10 principles, which he calls “perception stretchers,” to help athletes reach their full potential. Among them:
“The more you expect from a situation, the more you will achieve.”
When it comes to an individual sport this concept is especially important, even more so when it’s a combat sport like Jiu-Jitsu or grappling.
A recent example at Paramount Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu is competitor Cathryn Millares. A new purple belt, Cat was invited to compete in a team event in San Diego showcasing some of the best female competitors in the U.S. When she first got the invitation, the discussion was all about purpose. The purpose of the trip would be to WIN. She would not be flying out to California just to participate, to gain experience, or to have fun. Those things would all happen, but they were not the main objective.
Why is making this distinction so important?
Let’s use her first match as an example. She faced a bigger, higher ranked, and more experienced opponent. The type of opponent that makes most people focus on how good they are or how scary they are or how badly their opponent will beat them. But when you are a ‘winning-minded” athlete, your focus is on how you will emerge victorious.
During the toughest of matches, when it takes every ounce of energy to just stay in the fight, the mental foundation that was laid out beforehand is what allows the athlete to push through the adversity. Cathryn fought out of several very submissions holds, two of which would extremely close and would have had the “participation-minded” athlete tapping out.
Cathryn’s mindset (her purpose and her mental toughness) allowed her to fight through and escape those submission holds. That match ended in a draw. But getting a draw was not the goal, so a fired-up Cathryn went out for her second match and finished her opponent with an armlock in under three minutes.
“The more you expect from a situation, the more you will achieve.”
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