You watch your best friend from a distance as she nervously bounces around on the track, shaking as she bends over to touch her toes. She stands back up and takes a deep breath. “Relax, you’re going to do great!” you think, trying to will her to think positively and believe in herself. Her face and body language are full of self-doubt, anxiety, intimidation and fear.

During the race, she is doing well, running even splits and sticking with the pack. As the race progresses and gets more difficult, you watch as your friend drops a little bit from the person in front of her. “Don’t give up! You’re almost done and you’re doing so good!” you yell at her, “You’ve worked so hard, finish strong!” But in her mind, she’s thinking, “I just don’t have it today and these other girls are better than me.”

Why is it that we are so hard on ourselves but so easy on the people we love? Is it because we love them so much? What about ourselves? Don’t you want to succeed, just like you want your friend to succeed? It is important that you use positive self-talk when preparing for a competition. Talk to YOURSELF as you would talk to your BEST FRIEND.

Instead of “My legs don’t have it today,” think “I can hold on just a little bit longer.”

Instead of “My technique is off today,” think “I just need to re-focus and try again.”

Instead of “I’m so tired,” think “I’ve worked hard and prepared for this.”

Instead of “The other competitors are better than me,” think “I belong here and am going to give it my best shot.”

Instead of “If I do poorly today, I’ll be so embarrassed,” think “Today is going to be a good day, I can feel it!”

Instead of “What if I mess up?” think “I’m gonna go for it!”

Instead of “I don’t want to be here,” think “I love competing! It is my passion!”

Track and field is a very mental sport because you are competing all alone, against the other competitors and the clock or measurement. You have to work on having a positive attitude throughout your warm up and the entire competition. Negative thoughts will creep into your head, but you have to push back stronger with positive self talk in order to get the most out of yourself.