Write your search in the input below and press enter.
Esc to close.

The Sports Doc Chalk Talk with Dr. Chris Stankovich

Peak Performance:
Not Just for Sports, for Life

  • Products
    • Toolkits
    • Audio
    • Videos
    • Books
    • Apps
  • Services
  • Chalk Talk
    • Recent
    • Athletes
    • Coaching
    • Sports Parenting
    • Sports Administrators
    • Life
    • Administrators
  • About Dr. Stankovich
  • Testimonials
  • Contact
  • Products
    • Toolkits
    • Audio
    • Books
    • Videos
    • Apps
  • Services
  • Chalk Talk
  • About Dr. Stankovich
  • Testimonials
  • Contact

Hello. Sign In

My Account
  • Login
  • Register
0
The Sports Doc Chalk Talk
Subscribe
The Sports Doc Chalk Talk with Dr. Chris Stankovich
  • Recent
  • Athletes
  • Coaching
  • Sports Parenting
  • Life
  • Administrators
Home / Blog / Learn the #1 Reason Why People Fail to Reach Their FULL Potential

Learn the #1 Reason Why People Fail to Reach Their FULL Potential

By: Dr. Chris Stankovich | @DrStankovich | Aug 03, 2016

No Comments

There are many hurdles in our pursuit of happiness, good health, and peak productivity, but there is one obstacle that stands out more than the others when I think about the clients I have worked with these last 25 years.  More specifically, I am referring to denial and how it serves as a resistance to our future success.

Denial is a common defense mechanism, but it is also an unhealthy one.  When we experience denial, we also experience stress, and if we are unable to properly cope with stress our problems become even bigger.  Denial in sports is witnessed in many different ways, including:

  • Being unwilling to acknowledge that you haven’t put in the work
  • Fighting back good, sound feedback and instead immediately dismissing the help as unnecessary or, worse yet, just “politics.”
  • Believing your are more talented than what the facts show.

While denial seems to work in the sense that it temporarily protects the human ego, it actually leads to bigger problems down the road.  Of course, nobody wants to hear valid feedback that prompts us to look at our shortcomings, but it is in these very moments where we have great opportunity to grow, develop, and ultimately reach new levels we never thought possible.

There are many unhealthy things that can occur when we camp out in denial — below are three examples to consider:

  1. Directs focus in the wrong direction. For example, if a coach provides an athlete legitimate advice on how to improve and the athlete rejects the advice, it’s likely that focus will shift to other less relevant factors related to future success.  For example, if a coach suggests that conditioning is a problem but the athlete refuses to accept the feedback, she might instead simply “practice more” when in fact her skills are actually fine.
  2. Zaps energy.  Often when we are provided valid feedback and we ignore it, the feedback still hangs around in the background and keeps our attention — similar to having an annoying pebble in your sneaker.  This “drip-drip-drip” way of never truly acknowledging the feedback actually expends more energy compared to if we would have simply accepted the feedback initially and looked for ways to integrate the new information.
  3. Prevents positive future growth.  Denial keeps us in a resistant, closed-minded position when we could instead take the feedback being offered and actually use it to our advantage.  While the initial advice offered might sting at first, the long-term gains could prove to be the missing piece to future success.

We are all capable of achieving great things in life, but denial is a major roadblock that stands in our way.  Being honest with ourselves, while difficult in the moment, almost always pays long-term dividends that off-set the early sting.  Face your fears, acknowledge your shortcomings, and develop future goals to improve in those areas.

www.drstankovich.com

 

coping, denial, health, mental, psychology, sport, Stress

  • Author
  • Comments
  • Details
Get to Know the Author

Dr. Chris Stankovich

Dr. Stankovich has written/co-written five books, including Positive Transitions for Student Athletes, The ParentsPlaybook, Mind of Steel.

Latest Blog Posts

  • March 20, 2023 Morning Sports Practice Before School is Becoming the Norm, but is this Healthy for Kids?
  • March 14, 2023 Understanding Intelligence: Putting Knowledge into ACTION!
  • March 13, 2023 3 Important Tips for Today’s Multi-Sport, Youth Sport Athlete
  • February 26, 2023 The Most Important Sports “Ability” Might Surprise You
  • February 22, 2023 The Importance of Efficiency Applied to Success & Productivity

Comments are closed.

PREVIOUS POST

The Athlete’s Mind: SELF TALK

NEXT POST

The Athlete’s Mind: CUE WORDS

Category

Amateur , Athletes , Athletic Counseling , Coaching , College , Communicating with Coach , Cuts , Emotional Intelligence , Evaluating Talent , Focus , Habit Change , Life , Mental Disorders , Mental Toughness , Off Field Issues , Performance Enhancement , Prep , Pro , Pro and College Sports , Sport Psychology , Sport Sociology , Sports Parenting , Sports Performance Science , Stress , Uncategorized , Youth and Interscholastic Sports , Youth Sports

Tags

coping, denial, health, mental, psychology, sport, Stress

  • Recent Posts
  • Most Read
  • Morning Sports Practice Before School is Becoming the Norm, but is this Healthy for Kids?
  • Understanding Intelligence: Putting Knowledge into ACTION!
  • 3 Important Tips for Today's Multi-Sport, Youth Sport Athlete
  • The Most Important Sports "Ability" Might Surprise You
  • The Importance of Efficiency Applied to Success & Productivity
  • The Psychology Behind Breaking Bad Habits
  • What has Happened to Free Play and Recreational Sports for Kids?
  • The Importance of Efficiency Applied to Success & Productivity
  • The Most Important Sports "Ability" Might Surprise You
  • Accident Prone & Forgetful? Poor Stress Coping May be the Reason
  • The Sports Doc on TV

    Catch Dr. Stankovich’s tv, radio, and print interviews and columns here!

    Dr. Chris Stankovich Watch Videos
  • Sport Performance Assessment

    Dr. Chris Stankovich Quickly and accurately test your level of mental toughness in just a few minutes using the Sport Performance Assessment.

    (SPA), an easy-to-use sport psychology system specially designed to help you REACH YOUR FULL ATHLETIC POTENTIAL.

    learn more
  • SportsSuccess360

    Life strategies for performance and character development for coaches, parents, and student athletes competing in youth and interscholastic sports.

    Life Strategies learn more
  • Contact Dr. Stankovich

    1395 Grandview Avenue Suite 6, Columbus OH 43212

    (614) 561-4482
    Media & General Inquiries
    information@drstankovich.com
    Sales & Product Support
    sales@drstankovich.com
  • About Dr. Stankovich

    • Media
    • Blog
    • Testimonials
  • Products

    • Toolkits
    • Videos
    • Books
    • Audio
    • iPhone Apps
  • Services

    • Athlete Performance Training
    • Parent Community Forum
    • Coach Education & Development
    • Athletic Crisis Response and Intervention
    • Drug & Alcohol Assessment
    • Life Success Programs
    • Counseling & Consulting Services
  • Blog
  • YouTube
  • twitter
  • facebook

All rights reserved © 2023 Advanced Human Performance Systems™

↓ ↓