“I’m Just a Nervous Athlete.” But What If That’s Not Actually Fixed?

Athletes often describe themselves with labels:

“I’ve always been anxious.”

“I just get angry easily.”

“I’m not naturally confident.”

“I’ve never been good under pressure.”

The problem? Repeat a label often enough and you can start treating it like a permanent part of who you are.

But your mental game isn’t set in concrete.

Confidence, emotional regulation, focus, self-talk and responses to pressure are skills that can be developed and strengthened.

Olympic champion Eileen Gu recently described how deliberately she works on her thinking:

“I journal a lot. I break down all of my thought processes.”

She also explained that she approaches her own brain much like her sporting craft — continually asking how she can improve. (Fortune)

For athletes, that might mean:

• Replacing limiting identity labels

• Learning to regulate nerves and frustration

• Practising more useful self-talk

• Using visualisation and mental rehearsal

• Building confidence through repeated evidence

• Becoming curious about thoughts rather than automatically believing them

At HB Athlete Mindset, I help athletes work on confidence, limiting beliefs, nerves, emotional regulation, self-talk, performance anxiety and the mental habits that influence performance.

You’re allowed to become a different athlete mentally, too.