Mastering Your Mindset: Silencing Your Inner Critic in Hockey
I remember the process of writing my first book where impostor syndrome kicked in at a massive level. I was 29 years old and I was commissioned by Wiley, one of the largest book publishing companies in the world, to put together a business book on presentations. Exciting, right?
Nope.
I was given just a few months to write and submit my manuscript. The short timeline and the enormity of the project created the perfect entry point for my inner critic. Every thought. Every idea. Every angle. All of it felt wrong. My inner critic was fighting every step of the way.
The inner critic is that voice in your head telling you are not good enough. It will also tell you are going to fail, or you will make mistakes and people will laugh at you. It can be a powerful and overwhelming force that can damage your self-confidence and motivation.
It paralyzed me but I learned to battle through the self-doubt and silence my inner critic. It was not an overnight process but with some proactiveness, taking massive action, and learning to control my mindset, I was able to make headway, submit my manuscript, and get my book published.
The sport of hockey offers the same challenges. You question your skills. You question your talent. You question the health of your mindset. The inner critic can be a formidable obstacle that can hold you back from achieving your full potential on the ice. But, here is the good news. It does not have to be this way. You can have control.
So, how did I do it? Here are some tips for mastering your mindset and silencing your inner critic in hockey:
Identify Your Inner Critic
The first step to silencing your inner critic is to recognize when the speaking is happening. You may not notice it at first but if you pause and pay attention you can begin to hear your self-talk. It may emerge when you miss a 1-on-1 opportunity or sitting on the bench after a bad shift. Once you identify your inner critic, you can start to challenge its negative messages.
Challenge Negative Thoughts
Negative thoughts are the hallmark of your inner critic. It will be your responsiblity to challenge those negative emotions and ideas and replace them with positive affirmations. Instead of focusing on what is going wrong, focus on what you are doing correct. Be intentional about celebrating small victories, great shifts, nice passes, solid shots on goals, and acknowledge the effort you are putting into the game. You get more of what you think of so think positively.
Reprogram Your Self-Image
Your thoughts and beliefs dicate how you view yourself and how others perceive you. In other words, what you believe informs your self-image. You are what you think. If you think you are a great goal scorer, you will act and play like a great scorer. If you think you are a failure, you will perform and act like a failure. It is imperative to control the mental blueprint in your head. If your thoughts and beliefs are negative, reprogram yourself with positive language and imagery. You are the boss. You control the programming. Tell yourself you are strong, capable, and confident. If you do this in abundance, your brain will believe it and you will act and play accordingly.
Visualize Success
You not only need to tell yourself that you are winner - you need to visualize it. Imagine what it would be like succeeding on the ice. Think about scoring the winning the goal or making a great save. Dream about the roaring crowd. Ponder how it would feel to make that amazing pass. Once you can imagine yourself being successful, the inner critic has no reason to make an appearance.
Final Thoughts
Mastering your mindset is essential to silencing your inner critic and achieving success in hockey. It starts with identifying the critic and then challenging the critic. As soon as that groundwork has been done, you can begin to reprogram your self-image and visualize your success. You should then be able to take control of your mindset and become a more confident and successful hockey player. This is all easier said than done, but with a proactive spirit you can make it happen.
