Why competing and how to deal with the stress that comes along with it?
Ask a kid why they join in on a competition and most likely they give you a straightforward answer: to win a medal! Yes there might be pushy parents with unfulfilled dreams, or a kid who just wants to join with a friend. Even then the answer to why they are competing probably still sounds the same: to win a medal, to win! The dictionary describes a competition as follows:
competition
noun /ˌkɑːm.pəˈtɪʃ.ən/
a situation in which someone is trying to win something or be more successful than someone else:
You're asking me why I still compete? Short answer is 'I want to win, and take a medal'. Over a decade I filled up to 3 shoe boxes of (mostly) gold medals. Medals won in 4way skydiving from national level competitions to multiple world championship titles, all kept in those shoe boxes... But hey, wait a minute! If competition was about winning a medal, surely you would not put them in a box to be stashed away right?
Right! Since you're asking: why keep on competing for so long? A question I have been asking myself for a while, I try to come up with an answer. Why would you want these stressful competitions and situations anyway? It is surely more enjoyable to just 'Netflix and chill'. Putting yourself in a stressful or though situation however is key to achieving big things in life. Think back to your own biggest achievements and most likely stress has been part of them.
Without the stress of a marathon training block we wouldn't be able to run a new personal best.
Without going through the stress of learning to play a music instrument we wouldn't be able to play it.
The stress of a deadline can motivate us to work harder.
Preparing a sales pitch might be stressful, but without putting in the work we wouldn't close the deal.
Feeling the stress response in our body before competing, can help us to focus.
Framing these kinds of stresses in a positive way can give us the motivation we need. The mindset and how we view the stress here is key. 'You could view stress as negative, harmful and debilitating, or positive and enhancing' says Dr Alia Crum. She talks about 2 kinds of mindset to look at stress:
Stress is enhancing (SIE)
Stress is debilitating (SID)
'The body’s stress response was not designed to kill us; it was designed to boost our body and mind into enhanced functioning, strengthen our immunity, and promote growth at the physiological level.' Dr Crum
Now when stress is boosting body and mind, thats a great thing for competition. A situation where we want to be at our best for sure! Time to use the stress to our advantage and see what it can do for us.
How to Change from a “Stress is Debilitating” to a “Stress is Enhancing” Mindset?
Dr Crum outlines 3 steps to go from SID to SIE:
Acknowledge you feel stress.
Say to yourself 'I feel the pressure and the symptoms of stress'.
Welcome it.
The stress you feel means you care about what you are about to do.
Feeling that pit in your stomach? Great! That means blood is being drawn away from your digestion and used for the upcoming performance.
Dry mouth? Well, no saliva for digestion necessary now says your body. It wants to be ready and keep it's recourses for either fight or flight. (a bottle of water can be handy if you are getting ready for public speaking)
Feeling your heart racing? Perfect! I want my blood to be flowing to my muscles.
The stress response can boost your energy and focus.
Use it.
Now this is where the magic can happen. If we are able to utilize and harness the energy from the stress for positive, thats how we can truly excel! Personally after I have acknowledged the stress right before a competition round I visualize it to be extra energy that can run all though my body. Letting it flood my body from my stomach all the way to my fingertips. I lean into the experience and use the extra energy and focus to my advantage. The additional stress leading to that focus might even be a trigger to get yourself into a state of Flow. A state where we feel our best and perform at our best.
So again to the question why do you keep competing if not for the medals? To me the answer lies into the feeling I get during those intense moments of competition. Not only during, but also the stress that builds up to get there. Stress is simply part of it, necessary even to be at my best. Harness the energy stress can give you and you could become better then ever before!
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