Nothing negatively affects a person’s sporting performance as much as a lack of confidence and / or fear of failure. You can likely think of at least one well known sports star who was clearly affected, at some point in their career, by a lack of confidence. It happens to golfers and footballers all the time (strikers especially, once they’ve gone a few games without scoring). But it can also have a detrimental effect on your performance at HYROX…
If you are excessively nervous prior to racing in HYROX, you’ll likely have bad sleep leading up to the race, use up valuable energy stores, and can more easily make mistakes in the heat of the moment. This is the last thing you need, especially as a HYROX race can take a lot out of you physically. If you aren’t in the best possible condition for it, then it will show in your finishing time.
In life, the irony is that many of the things we worry about never come true. Yet when it comes to sport, our fears and lack of confidence can be self-fulfilling prophecies. Those who worry about missing the shot are much more likely to do so. Of course, it’s easy to say “well, just don’t worry about it” but that’s easier said than done. Basketball legend Michael Jordan once said, “Why would I think about missing a shot that I haven’t taken yet?“. It’s a great point, but getting to that place, for many, requires work. However, it can be done.
Here’s some ways to help ensure fear / lack of confidence doesn’t affect your HYROX race day performance…
Expectations
Of course, having high standards for yourself shouldn’t be seen as a bad thing. But you mustn’t expect perfection. You need to accept there will be mistakes.
Maybe you got some no reps on the wall balls? Ran an extra lap? Accidentally performed the functional stations in the wrong order? In the cold light of day, when you are relaxed, away from training and competition, you know that expecting perfection from your performance is not possible. You know that even the elite of the elite don’t do that. Hunter McIntyre doesn’t get a PB every race. Lauren Weeks likely doesn’t crush every training session. Outside of HYROX, Cristiano Ronaldo certainly doesn’t score every shot he takes. Very far from it in fact. Yet you almost seem to have higher expectations of yourself than the best of the best!
Therefore, your high standards should be focused on your processes, not the outcomes…
Process vs. Outcome Focused
Someone who is focused on the outcome in HYROX cares only about their finishing time, overall position, or getting on the podium. It’s a fixation on the end result. Of course, we want to have this type of goal, to some extent, to help us determine our actions. However, the achievement of outcome goals is not 100% within your control. There are many external (uncontrollable) factors that stand in the way; at HYROX this may be a judge’s decision, the quality of the other athletes on the day, the floorplan layout, the behaviour of the sleds that day, an issue in your personal life, an injury, an illness, accidentally being tripped by another athlete, the temperature in the room, just plain bad luck and much more.
Because of this, most of our focus should be more process orientated. Remember, many people might have the same goals – what separates them is their preparation, and day in, day out, hard work, smart work and consistency. This means we should have goals / standards around how we act, as opposed to specifically what happens. For example, how well did you prepare for the race, mentally and physically? Did you eat well before the event? Did you use your pre-race routine? Did you act in a way, during the race, which you are proud of? Did you perform to your best in the training sessions leading up to the event? Did you prioritise the importance of sleep in the days beforehand, or did you find yourself watching rubbish on TV, or scrolling through your phone, late at night?
In appreciation of this, athletes at the elite level of sport will often talk about “The Process”. By focusing on “The Process” they are directing their energy towards what needs to be done in any one moment, minute by minute, hour by hour, day by day, to move them closer to their goal. They are not obsessed with the ultimate goal (sub 70 mins HYROX, for example) as much as being present in each moment whilst they take the steps on the path to achieving that goal. They focus on training as well as they possibly can each day. They focus on each meal they eat, each rep of training, every night of sleep, and so on. They focus on doing the right thing, day in, day out, trusting “The Process” and then have faith that, to use the words of NFL great Bill Walsh, “The score will take care of itself”.
Lebron James, one of the greatest ever Basketball players, says: “I focus on The Process, not the outcome. A champions mindset means total focus in the present. It means if I keep my head down right now, then the future takes care of itself. I concentrate on what’s below my feet as I take this step, not what’s a mile down the highway. While I’m training, and practising, and recovering, I’m not daydreaming about what it’s like to hold a trophy. When I’m running sprints across the football field, I’m fully present. I don’t like to look at the ending, I like to live in the moment. Yeah, I hold on to a vision of where I’m heading, but I try to stay locked into the moment and I trust that the work is going to take me there. “
When you approach any event with process orientated goals, as opposed to outcome orientated goals, it can significantly help to improve your confidence. This is because you aren’t focused on elements outside of your control. You know what needs to be done to perform well by your standards, and that’s all down to you. You can, therefore, have much greater confidence in yourself.
Following “The Process” requires presence, long-term thinking, trust and planning. But it gives you a distinct advantage over those who live in the future rather than the here and now.
This more present, in the moment, approach is also much better for your happiness. Goals which aren’t completely within our control come with an implicit assumption that you’ll only be happy once the goal is achieved. Instead, you should aim to be happy with the process and let the results of that (if they come) be the icing on the cake.
Reframe
Reframing a situation that you find nerve wracking can be a huge help for your confidence. For example, if you are feeling nervous about an upcoming race, you could tell yourself “I am not nervous, I am excited”. This can work well because the sensations in your body when you are nervous or excited can feel very much the same. Your mind is, therefore, more likely to accept the reframe.
HYROX events don’t come around every single weekend, so when you do take part in one it can feel like a big, important occasion. I think in the past I probably have misinterpreted my excitement for these events as nerves. Learning to reframe that as excitement has certainly helped.
Another good way of reframing a situation – especially if you are worried about how hard you’ll find the race – is to remind yourself that you take part in HYROX because you want to be tested, and to improve. It’s why you’re there! If it was easy, would you be bothering?! Richie McCaw, the All-Blacks rugby legend, says he used this reframing all the time in tough situations in a match, and it made a huge difference to his, and his team’s, success.
Expect the Unexpected
As coach of the England World Cup winning rugby team, Clive Woodward was known for his meticulous planning. He would think through numerous possible scenarios and prepare the team to be able to appropriately deal with those. If a certain player gets injured, what do we do? If it is particularly sunny that day, what changes? How about rain? How about a streaker runs on to the pitch and the game gets delayed? How about we concede two tries in the opening 5 minutes? And so on.
“There shouldn’t be anything you come across in sport or business where you haven’t at least thought about.” says Woodward.
A well-known Stoic practice “Premeditatio Malorum” essentially means the “pre-meditation of evils”. It involves imagining future difficulties in any situation and a) learning to be ok with the outcome of those, and b) put in place contingencies to minimise the chance of them happening (whilst limiting any negative effects if they do).
This exercise alone cannot only help prepare you for numerous eventualities but also helps to remove fear (thus increasing confidence). If you can imagine the worst possible case scenario, and then are able to reconcile and accept it – in advance – you’ve removed a large element of surprise and some of the fear of it happening for real.
How will you react at HYROX if the sleds feel tonnes heavier than you’d expected?
What will your response be if you get tripped up on the first run?
Will you lose your mind if your judge no reps your first 5 wall balls?
Will you remain calm if the traffic on the way to the venue is ten times busier than you expected?
What will you do if you prepare your food for the big race, and your fridge packs up overnight?
What if your watch runs out of battery, and it messes with your pacing?
What do you do? How do you deal with all of this? Are you going to let it ruin your race, or just crack on the best you can? Disruptions happen all the time in sport, yet we rarely plan for them, and it can ruin all the hard work put into training. Don’t let the unexpected slap you in the face. Be prepared for anything.
Spend some time thinking through all the possible situations that could disrupt your event / training / life and consider how you would act in those scenarios. Is there anything you could do, in advance, to minimise the chances of them happening, and their effects if they do? What steps would you take to ensure they didn’t disrupt your performance? If you know you’ve done this work, you can be confident that you can deal with whatever comes your way.
Reset
Even with all the mental preparation in the world, there can still be times in sport where we are thrown off and our mindset is negatively impacted. In these instances, we need to bring ourselves back, as quickly as possible, to a more optimal state.
One great way to do this is to just simply pause (as far as you are able) and take a few deep breaths. Our breathing rate is often aligned with our feelings. We breath much faster and shallower when stressed, for example, and much slower when relaxed. This means just a few controlled breaths can have a significant physiological effect. It’s as if the deep breaths send a message to your body and brain, telling it to calm down.
Of course, it doesn’t need to stop at a few breaths. Depending on the situation you may want to close your eyes for a few moments, take a short break (“time out”), go for a short walk, etc. Even in the middle of a HYROX race – if you feel you are losing your head a little – then simply stopping / pausing (somewhere safe to do so!), closing your eyes, and taking a deep breath for 5 / 10 seconds will likely be worth it, and save you time overall, compared to just letting your mental state ruin the rest of your race.
Adjust Definition of Failure
A lack of confidence is often related to a fear of failure. But what does “failure” mean to you? How about if you redefined what failure meant? In reality, you could see failure as being something that is not even possible. After all, anything could be defined as a learning experience which will only make you better in the long term.
If you went into a situation with a mindset of knowing that, whatever happens, you can learn and improve from it, then there is nothing to fear.
Impressing Others
Caring what other people think is a large problem for many sportspeople. Without consciously realising it, we’re often trying to impress others – followers on social media, people down the gym, the crowd, the spouse, a potential partner, etc.
Sadly, in the process of doing so, we forget about ourselves. If our happiness depends on others, then it will end with others. Do what you do, for you, and no one else. Make yourself happy by living up to your standards. Be driven by the process, not the outcome. Be motivated by knowing that how you act, prepare, behave, manage your emotions etc is putting you in the best possible situation for a positive result.
We can’t control what others think of us – so it isn’t worthy of our concerns. I have a friend who is convinced Lionel Messi isn’t a very good footballer. If Messi can’t please everyone, then why are you even trying?!
Remember Your Progress
Sometimes, when we lack confidence in sport, it’s because we are spending too much time thinking of ways in which we need to improve our abilities, and / or comparing ourselves to others. The problem with this is that this will NEVER end. There will ALWAYS be ways in which you can improve. There will almost ALWAYS be someone more talented than you. That is true for the elite too, not just everyday sportspeople.
How about instead you think about how much you have improved? How about, when suffering with confidence, you think back to when you first started the sport, and how much you’ve improved since then?
Or think about all the people who you are better than, not just the ones who are better than you? It can work wonders for your confidence. If you were in, say, the top 25% of HYROX competitors, would you find yourself fixated on 25% being better than you, as opposed to being proud of the 75% of people you’re faster than? Even if you are the single slowest person at HYROX, you are still probably fitter than 90% of the population! You should be proud that you’ve even turned up – most people don’t have the energy to do that!
Fix Your Environment
The people you surround yourself with can all, unknowingly, be affecting your mindset. Parents, teammates, friends, and coaches, and the way they speak to you, the language they use, how they train you, encourage you, and feed you will all have an impact on how you think, function and perform.
In particular, these people can be outcome focused as opposed to process focused. They are much more likely to ask, “how fast did you go?” as opposed to “did you prepare and perform for the race in the way you had hoped?” Of course, that’s reasonably natural, but it’s something to be aware of so that it doesn’t change what’s important to you, and adversely affect your confidence as you go into a race.
Pregame Routine
Your pre-race routine is a critical component for ensuring optimal mindset and confidence. We discuss this more in this article but for now consider if the routine you have in the 24 hours prior to your race is designed to set you up for success as effectively as it could. Is it helping to fill you with confidence? Or is it leaving you with anxiety, panic, concerns, and more? What could you change to help improve those vital few hours?
Summary
Your mental state can have a huge effect on your performance during the training for, and participation in, a tough event such as HYROX. Hopefully these tips will help you moving forward in your preparation for a future event! To find out how I use Stoicism to further help my mindset in sport, check out this article.
