Overcoming a Fear of Making Mistakes in Sports

Many athletes seek answers on how to overcome a fear of making mistakes in sports. Performance anxiety is not uncommon. Sometimes that fear, however, can be immobilizing causing the individual to freeze up or retreat from his or her sport all together.

Begin With Self-Awareness

Overcoming a fear of imperfection calls for self-awareness in understanding why you have the fear the first place. Self-awareness involves asking and observing. Maybe something happened during your life—significant or seemingly insignificant—that caused you to adopt a perfectionist mindset. If, for example, you’re afraid of trying out for a team because you don’t want to make a mistake, ask yourself when a tryout—the preparation, the process, or the result—had a negative emotional impact. Furthermore, keep in mind that sometimes the events that caused your fear to develop aren’t as obvious. In this example, maybe you never experienced anything negative in a tryout, but the fear originated from something else that spread into other areas of your life. This discovery process can be really helpful in recognizing and letting go of your fear knowing that the past is in the past and you can change.

Additionally—spoiler alert, here’s my spiritual soul perspective for this article—if you can’t pinpoint where your fear originated, that’s okay. I bring this up because sometimes it can be frustrating in traditional therapy to try to figure out the source of an issue that occurred in this lifetime only for your symptoms not to improve. If you feel the issue is the source of something much deeper, I encourage you to be open to looking for a spiritual solution with a mental health professional. Regression, hypnosis, meditation, and spiritual counseling can all lead you to heightened self-awareness. Maybe “Bo Knows” multiple sports but I can assure you that your “Soul Knows” all truth. (Check out “Many Lives, Many Masters” by Dr. Brian Weiss for more on this topic.)

Examples of Reasons for Having a Fear of Making Mistakes in Sports

Here are some common examples of why a person might have a fear of imperfection. Keep in mind that this is not all encompassing list and there could be many other reasons.

• Shy, sensitive people often fear being wrong or feeling stupid

• Immense pressure from a parent, teacher, coach, or mentor caused insecurities to develop

• Something happened to cause the individual to feel ashamed (could be an event or something someone said)

• Fear of losing footing, grounding, or stability by making a mistake and missing opportunities

• Expectations of perfection are impossibly high because the person is too hard on themselves

• The individual is afraid people won’t like them or they’ll let people down if they make a mistake

• The individual was previously in, or is currently living in, a chaotic environment where they had no control so now they compensate by trying to control everything around them because control means comfort and safety

• They don’t trust themselves

• Anxiety sufferers may strive for perfection to control the negative outcomes that they fear

Overcoming Fear with a Mindset Shift

The second step in overcoming a fear of making mistakes in sports is to reframe your mindset. Here are some thought habits and ideas you can begin with. You can use these, edit them, or create your own. I encourage you to make them as personal as possible so that you connect with them strongly in a positive way that hits home.

Don’t take my word for it:

• “What other people think of me is none of my business. One of the highest places you can get to is being independent of the good opinions of other people.” – Dr. Wayne Dyer
• “I’ve missed more than 9,000 shots in my career. I’ve lost almost 300 games. Twenty-six times, I’ve been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed. I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed.” – Michael Jordan

Perception:

• When someone puts pressure on me to be perfect or is overly critical of my mistakes, it originates from their insecurities and has nothing to do with me. I don’t own anyone else’s insecurities or failures.
• Think of the person you most admire. Do they make mistakes? Yes.
• You can make mistakes, shake it off, and keep going all in an instant.
• Practice being here in the moment, not the past or the future. Be here now, feeling secure, clear, and calm.
• Would you rather not make a mistake or spend your life wondering what would have happened if you tried?

Affirmations:

• Every single person makes mistakes. I’m human, not a robot.
• Mistakes are proof that I’m trying.
• Perfection doesn’t guarantee success. Mistakes don’t guarantee failure.
• The ground underneath me is safe for me to walk on.
• I can laugh at my mistakes and roll with them.

Overcoming a Fear of Making Mistakes with Visualization

The third tool I’ll share with you is visualization. For starters, visualize yourself living your goal using sight, sound, smell, vision, etc. to make that vision come to life right now. Feel it being real in this moment. Imagine how amazing it will feel when you achieve your goal.

For athletes who are afraid of tryouts, practices, or games, imagine yourself in the situation in which you have to perform. You’re completely and clearly focused. You’re in the zone. It’s as if there is no one watching you. You perform at your best. Even if you make a mistake, it doesn’t interrupt your flow. You glide right through it performing at your best completely clear and undistracted. And when it’s over, you feel wholly accomplished.

One of the reasons that visualization is so powerful is that you realistically experience the situation so that when you are actually there, it feels more like deja vu making it easier for you to live it. On top of building belief in yourself, it’s also like you’re building a positive been there, done that type of confidence.

If you’re struggling to overcome a fear of imperfection and it’s holding you back from daily activities or from your goals, I encourage you to work with a licensed mental health professional. If you feel like you can’t do it on your own, know that you don’t have to.

Contact me to learn if mental health and wellness coaching is right for you. Coaching is not therapy, but it can be a wonderful complement.