It is very difficult for a person to do at his or her finest when depressed. Many specialists, however, differ on the motive that depression occurs. Is it a low level of serotonin? A difficult upbringing? A tragic life event? All of the above? Actually, from my purpose of view, none of those factors will cause a long- or perhaps short-term drop in one’s state of mind. There may well be a correlation between these factors and depression, but there's not a cause-and-effect relationship between them.

As an illustration, my colleague, Dr. George Pransky, employs these model: When it rains heavily, there's a good chance that umbrella usage can increase, and, at the same time, a smart chance that storm drains can overflow. However, nobody could insist that the reason storm drains overflow is as a result of people are using umbrellas, or vice versa.

The relation between depression and the above factors works in a similar way. Often, a person who has experienced a tragedy can become depressed and commonly their level of serotonin will drop. A dreadful event, though, cannot cause depression or a lack of serotonin. Only one’s feelings regarding the tragedy have the power to do this. Simply like rain is the reason for umbrella usage and storm drain overflow, thought is that the missing link between serotonin and moods. If human beings did not consciously assume, they (like other animals) would not be affected by variable levels of serotonin and they would not experience prolonged low moods.

Why is the understanding that our thoughts produce our lows so important? Quite simply, it represents the distinction between growing from our life things or improve your team's performance. The same exact tragedy can befall two people: One moves through it- unhappy however graceful. The opposite struggles-miserable and confused. The distinction: the previous understands the principle of thought; the latter will not. In other words, the degree to that we prevail has nothing to do with our biological makeup or life history; it depends only on whether or not we realize that our thoughts-not our life events-create our perceptions and outlook.

Simply because you think it, doesn’t mean it’s true.

Keep in mind, too, that this understanding does not mean that you have the flexibility to control your thoughts. It suggests that that your thoughts, irrespective of their content, have no authority to manage you. If a coach loses a big game, for example, and thinks that his job would possibly be on the line, odds are that a low mood can follow. However, this doesn't mean that his thoughts are valid and need attention. He ought to not immediately walk into the athletic director’s workplace and explain why the loss occurred, or lay out all the reasons why he should keep his job.

Yes, a drop in mood and a drop in serotonin are most most likely connected- but determining what creates the drop is the only answer to having the ability to feel better and perform more efficiently. The primary order of business is to recognize that the events of the planet outside don't have anything to do with it, and thus, an external fix (including a mental technique, a drink, or venting) will only sink you deeper in the mud of depression.

Regardless of whether you’re a professional athlete, a high school or college athlete, a coach, or a parent of an athlete, you are searching for the possibilities which exist with peak performance. You want to feel the euphoria of victory. You aspire to experience confidence and consistency in action. You want to support positive personal growth. So how do you increase performance and comprehend a few of those amazing opportunities?

When folks explore the possibilities of attaining peak performance, many tend to consider specific situations where physical performance and intelligence command speedy action and instant reaction. This idea of training and preparation is incredibly incorrect. In fact, hyping yourself up for an event and spending years of training by means of drills might essentially impede your possibility to attain the ultimate performance you desire.

When taking into account real opportunities that exist with accomplishing peak performance, it's important to go back to your childhood before elements such as willpower or specific drills were forced upon you. Children can attain incredible athletic feats and have a natural ability to perform at a large variety of different sports. The problem comes when parents or coaches begin to acknowledge the talent that might exist and seek to improve it through an extensive array of several different performance training and motivational tools which they believe are encouraging a child’s growth.

Unfortunately, many of the elements which are utilized in motivation or performance training can often hamper a person's ability by overwhelming the athlete’s mind to make sure that he can no longer obtain the high level performance which might have once existed as a kid. Athletes believe in willpower-that they can force their ability to be able to obtain the levels of performance they yearn for. This will never work in the long run. The actuality is there is a more effective method for attaining greater performance, and it’s called stillpower.

This theory of ‘stillpower’ is usually contradictory to what many individuals have been taught; it is the opposite of willpower. Children naturally practice ‘stillpower’. When you are young, you don't have the pressures related to willpower and performance tips constantly running through your mind. Rather, you rely on your natural ability to perform exceedingly well. You operate from a calm, unencumbered mind-set, which is the heart of ‘stillpower’.

Performance coaching is about delivering opportunities never heard of when approached alone. Garret Kramer does that and more by incorporating what he calls “stillpower,” the topic of his new book Stillpower: The Inner Source of Athletic Performance. Stillpower makes use of the innate principles of mind, consciousness, and thought to enlarge the understanding necessary to make your athletic, business, or life experience more successful, productive, and pleasurable. By making use of this revolutionary approach, he teaches that there is a difference between looking outside for answers and looking within.

A lot of athletes-whether it’s in a small league or the big leagues-have been taught to practice, practice, practice and that getting revved up for the big game will lead to success. Garret proposes something much unusual-he maintains that the secret to athletic excellence lies in returning to a childlike state where “the zone” comes naturally.
Parents looking to enhance the athletic skills of their children, students attempting to outshine in college sports, and even professional athletes eager to determine the next best opportunity to enhance their physical and mental abilities are all searching for the key to what separates the good athletes from the great. While several tools, techniques, and opportunities promise to enhance athletic performance, few of these strategies have proven effective for the long term.

Athletes pursuing what is generally known as the “prime athletic zone” have a tendency to turn towards conventional resources such as motivational speeches, ritualistic habits, or other techniques intended to help enhance their mental energy. Individuals do not consider these resources because they’re effective, but, instead, because these are the strategies instilled in them from their days of youth. The problem with trying to enter the zone, though, is that making use of willpower to get there only takes you farther from it.

When you are young, you participate in sports without restriction and often discover incredible natural athletic ability. This unhindered opportunity for accelerated athletic performance happens as a result of lack of external pressures children feel initially and their ability to naturally reap the benefits of the zone. This possibility is often lost, however, when parents or coaches discover the athletic abilities of some children and then start to utilize performance coaching to further improve that natural ability.

Through drills, lessons, and sports psychology that all press the significance of willpower, the person's ability to naturally ascertain “the zone” becomes lost. While access to this coaching does aid to enhance the capabilities of some individuals, it can usually also place a significant amount of pressure on an individual to the point where he or she stops participating in sports on the whole. Instead of continuing to use the obsolete methods of traditional performance coaching, why not seek the inner journey-a form of psychology which incorporates the mine/body/spirit which has proven highly beneficial to athletes?

Garret Kramer’s idea of embracing a still mental focus aids relieve individuals of the mental pressures of exterior forces and begin to discover the natural tendency for performance they once enjoyed in their youth. By adopting a sports psychology of stillpower, it is possible for you to move beyond the limitations of ineffective willpower and find out a more simplistic approach to accessing the zone during your demands for athletic performance.