Mental Health & Top Performers

"Ignoring it is the worst thing we can do, because then it festers." - Kobe Bryant

Acknowledging that mental health is a major player in the long-term sustainability of athletic prowess has been long overdue. In sports, various athletes are tapping into courageous vulnerability as they honor the maintenance of their internal well-being by going to therapy or picking up emotional wellness practices. Other artists and entertainers have joined them. I imagine it is because they also intimately understand how much courage it takes to remind people that you are human despite being a top performer. Externally, the expectation of an athlete or any entertainer is that they perform at a high level all the time; day after day, event after event.

I have also learned that being a top performer doesn’t only apply to individuals that perform for a living. Some of my clients are top performers when it comes to how they participate in life and they have jobs and life roles that require them to consistently deliver, no matter what. Being the person that everyone calls on or looks to requires a sustainability of energetic prowess. Maintaining the momentum to show up and impress takes deep internal work, it requires focus and determination. It is tiring, it is exhausting, it is draining and also did I mention it’s tiring?

The audience desires a stellar performance no matter what. Whoever the audience is, they desire the individual to be great at all times. Usually, they are less interested in what was emotionally occurring for the person the night before the show or the day before the game or deadline. When you are at the top of your sport or field, the desire for a “no dropped balls,” performance eventually starts to feel like a requirement. Passion wanes and the mind becomes consumed by thoughts of pressure to perform better and better every time. This is when pressure starts to seep into the perception of self. This is also when judgment and criticism start to overflow our minds with unpleasantness.

Reminding yourself that you can trust yourself is crucial. Trusting your instincts is how you became so great at what you do. If your instincts are saying that your emotions and thoughts need your attention. Pay attention to your feelings, tend to yourself. Show yourself some gentleness, even if that means taking a break or taking space. 

When life feels misaligned, trust yourself.

Paying attention to your mental health is you being in the business of keeping your mind right. Your mind is the instrument that plays the tune of your heart. Top performers usually put a lot of heart into what they do.

If your heart hurts, your mind will too.

Repetition is how the brain learns which also means what lurks may linger. Sometimes the repetition our brain receives is not positive. If you are having lurking thoughts of pressure about your performance you can grow anxious, depressed, angry or irritable towards something you used to feel incredibly positive and passionate about. In turn, you can feel disconnected from yourself and what you once loved to do.

How do you return to yourself? How do you get back to the you that you used to know? How do you maintain your emotional well-being? Where do you start? You start right here, you start in this very moment. Keep reading below for tips on how to reconnect with your best version of yourself, as a top performer.

Reconnecting Tips for Top Performers

Get it Out Find a space, a place or a person that can hold space for the validation of ALL of your unpleasant emotion coming up right now. Get physical and give the angry, hurt, frustrated emotion permission to leave your body. Cry it out if it feels like sadness.

Get Grounded Now find your secure space, internally. Find your breath and return to your breathing. Breathwork, meditation, swimming, running, breathing practices. Get your heartbeat moving (check in with your doctor first). Use mindfulness as a way to soothe your nervous system after exerting all that energy on releasing and getting it out.

Get Grace Yes it's true, not everyone is willing or able to do what you are able to do. Return to your gratitude for being who you are and where you are in your career/life. Remember how hard you have worked, the hours of practice, the years of dedication and commitment. It is your passion that got you here, be passionate about the grace you give yourself right now.

Get Present You are yourself and it is a beautiful thing. Get present and allow yourself to be in flow with being you. You are deeply familiar with this flow. Be one with your sport, your voice, your instrument and your heart; experience the connection to self that you get lost in.