The Benefits of Self-Reflection for Athletes

We understand sports to be a physical activity that involves a lot of physical exertion, a lot of skill building, and a lot of competition. However, athletes are still individual people. Self-reflection is one of the most important things that athletes can do not only for themselves but also for the success of their teams. Sports have always been talked about because of the physical toll it takes on athletes. There is an emotional toll that is taken as well. Emotional and mental stress is very prevalent in the athletic world because of the stiff competition and the constant pushing for better. Understanding how to manage fear, anxiety, and disappointment is going to help you to destress. Learning how to self-reflect is going to push you forward and make you more athletic than ever before.

Reading articles featuring Jonathan Martin, NFL player, is going to help with that self-reflection. Understanding how he transitioned and how he sets his goals is going to set the tone for some athletes. Several people from the older athletic generations would state that they were having a bad day if something was wrong. Self-reflection is being able to dig deeper and understand better how you are feeling emotionally. Through the process of self-reflection, you’re able to understand the reasons behind any issues that are upsetting you. So let’s take a look at the benefits of self-reflection for athletes.

Benefits of Self-Reflection

• You can connect better to your strengths. Every single athlete has their strengths, but very few spend time assessing what these are and what that means. Some strengths surround physical skills like hand-eye coordination. Through self-reflection athletes are able to understand not only the physical strength they have, but where it comes from and how they use it. They can then learn to harness those strengths and push forward. It becomes far easier to call on those strengths when things aren’t going your way.
• You can understand your weaknesses and embrace them. People often believe that their weaknesses are something that they cannot embrace, but that’s just not the case here. If tennis players know that they have a good forehand shot that will break down in a moment of tension, then they know that that’s a weakness. When you understand what your weaknesses are and you own them and take accountability for them, you’re able to overcome them. And that’s the key here.
• You are better equipped to make good choices and snap decisions as a human. You’re not a robot, which means that the decisions that you make can be tied to your emotional state. It’s not easy to have a decision-making brain when you are emotionally charged. But when you reflect regularly on yourself, you’re able to understand your thought process in those stressful moments.
• Learning philosophies. If you are self-reflecting on a regular basis, you’ll be able to speak to coaches who have learned their philosophies from those who have worked closely with them and mentored them. If you have a mentor yourself, you’ll be able to learn their philosophies and how they plan to work on the goals that they have and help you to work on yours. Continuous self-evaluation is going to ensure that you uphold your beliefs and live to them.
• Have a better method and process. Once you understand the importance of self-reflection, you’ll be able to do it as easily as meditation. When you understand your method and your processing of what you do, you’ll be able to reflect on this and determine whether it’s the right thing that you are doing.
• You’ll be able to write down how you feel. Many athletes don’t believe in journaling as a way to unwind. It doesn’t seem adult enough or manly enough or however you want to word it, but journaling can be an excellent way to self-reflect. One of the simplest approaches is to journal down your thoughts. Because the writing process is both therapeutic and reflective, you’re forced to recollect your thoughts in a way that’s logical to you. And most athletes are reserved and don’t like the idea of speaking out openly to a therapist or to somebody in their space. Instead, you can journal and speak to a captivated audience of yourself and all the pages of your book.

Reflection is important for anybody. But for those who are engaging in a physical sport, it’s one of the easiest ways to quiet the mind.

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