Even though we want to improve ourselves every day and try to invest maximum effort in our game, the reality is that we all have ‘good’ and ‘bad’ days. The main point of improvement and feeling satisfied with your results is to have more good days than bad days. Sadly, the truth is that a lot of players are unaware of the reasons how ‘a good day’ suddenly turns into ‘a bad one’ sometimes in a matter of few rounds. Here is a brief introduction of three major ‘mental killers’ of your performance.
Fear of making mistakes
Similar to traditional sports, the topic about fear of making mistakes is probably the most frequent reason why players and teams fail to achieve their goals in game. While this mental killer is more common amongst less experienced players, it is also relevant to top level professionals. The true reasons behind this mental barrier could be different, requiring different solutions. What is certain is that being afraid to make a mistake often leads to passive or inadequate play which cripples your performance and robs you from the opportunity to reveal your full potential and develop further as a player.
Self-doubt
Self-doubt is another potential major ‘mental killer’ of your performance. Doubting yourself often correlates with fear of making mistakes but it’s described as a more general lack of confidence in oneself and one’s abilities. Self-doubt is hard to deal with. It could be related to low self-esteem or low self-confidence and would require different solutions in different scenarios. However, self-doubt could also be triggered by certain events including making mistakes but also criticism and negative in-game events such as losing a round or being killed by the enemy players etc. One of the worst things about self-doubt is that it often leads to a closed circle of negative experiences (thoughts and actions) which could discourage you from further play or will to improve.
Overconfidence
Overconfidence is a controversial phenomenon as it could be also used in your advantage. The only important condition for this to happen is to be aware that you are an overconfident person or player. In most cases though, similar to the previous two mental barriers, overconfidence often goes under our radar and leads to many negative effects such as underestimating your opponent and their skills and exaggerating your own. Being overconfident in yourself results to sloppy plays, underperformance and even choking.
Have you experienced some of these ‘mental killers’ of your game? How do you cope with them?
If you are struggling with these or other mental barriers that cripple your performance, feel free to contact me at contact@goendgame.com and we will figure out a solution designed for you.
