What is the Key to Performing at your Peak?
Of course, you need to be confident. Confidence helps you accomplish a lot in your sport. However, for some athletes, crushing it at a high level can increase the pressure to stay on top or perform consistently at a high level.
High expectations from the outside world and within themselves can cause athletes to feel they are supposed to win or achieve a personal best every time they compete.
When you have excessively high expectations before competing, distracting thoughts swirl in your mind that detract from your preparation, focus, and performance.
While you need to be confident in your ability to win, you must also temper your expectations. Confidence fuels performance while excessive pressure interferes with it.
Managing your expectations allows you to focus on executing your skills rather than obsessing over outcomes. One thing necessary to understand is that outcomes are not entirely under your control.
Therefore, managing expectations is essential for peak performance. You can temper expectations by focusing on controllable factors such as effort, execution, and mindset.
Certain thoughts can alert you that your expectations are excessively high. For example, “I need to win since I’m seeded first,” “What will others think of me if I lose,” or “My team expects me to be the best player on the field.”
These early warning signs can inform you that it’s time to switch your focus.
You can switch your focus away from outcomes by focusing on pre-competition routines, reminding yourself that outcomes are not fully under your control, or telling yourself, “I’ve prepared my best, let ‘s just see what happens.”
The key is to prepare your best, which helps you be confident in your abilities. The next step is to get out of your own way by letting go of your expectations, trusting your training, and putting forth your best effort.
Prepare Like an Olympian
Olympic gold medalist Masai Russell ran the second-fastest 100m hurdles time in history to open the 2025 Grand Slam Track Miami meet on Friday. Russell won in 12.17 seconds, five hundredths shy of the world record. Russell was highly confident heading into the track meet.
RUSSELL: “I continue to say I’m one of the best hurdlers ever. I’m going to always stand by that.” However, Russell understood that excessively high expectations can hold you back from competing freely and performing at your highest level.
RUSSELL: “I didn’t expect that, but I just went out there and competed. It shows when you turn your brain off and compete, you don’t know what you’re capable of.”
Performing at your peak requires confidence and tempered expectations. While confidence lays the groundwork for peak performance, managing expectations keeps you steady, calm, and focused during challenging competitions, allowing your talents and training to show forth.
Before every competition, examine your thoughts and determine if your expectations are problematic. If your expectations are too high, refocus on what you can control: your effort, your focus, and your attitude.
Related Sports Psychology Article
- Annoying Sports Parents Who Yell from the Sideline
- How to Focus When Coach is Yelling – Video
- How Top Coaches Help Athletes Succeed
The Focused Athlete (Digital Download)
“The Focused Athlete” audio and workbook program helps you or your athletes overcome distractions and sharpen your concentration during competition. You learn how to get locked in during practice and competition so you can improve and perform better.
“First, I would like to thank you for the help given to me through your programs, ‘The Confident Athlete’ and ‘The Focused Athlete.’ I have made tremendous sacrifices though all these years to become a top Olympic Trap shooter but something was missing. This missing part was with my mental game. My scores increased tremendously in record time and others said that I was a different shooter.“
~Marios Kapodistria