When challenged do you back yourself?

Rafa Nadal does.

I’m a great believer in mindfulness and living in the moment. I also love Cicero’s 6 mistakes of man – in my view there is so much philosophy and wisdom in those 6 simple statements which is why when I wrote that article I entitled it Cicero’s 6 mistakes of man: Self-Help: Why Cicero’s 6 Mistakes Of Man Is All You Need.

All that being said, I sometimes struggle to live in the moment, like anyone my mind often drifts into the past or into the future.

The good news is, when this happens and we spot it happening then we can bring our thoughts right back to the present moment. We are in control of our own thoughts and though our minds are absolutely incredible, they are still only capable of holding one thought at any given moment. That’s not to say thoughts can’t jump around very quickly so it feels like we’re capable of thinking lots of things – we’re actually just time-slicing and switching our focus between lots of different thoughts very quickly.

It’s actually great news that we can only think of one thing at once, keeping our minds still and focused on one thing isn’t easy, but finding the composure and ability to capitalise on this fact is what mindfulness and meditation are all about.

Being In The Moment at Roland Garros

If you watch Rafa Nadal play tennis, he is only concerned with the next point (i.e. the one he is in the process of playing). Really focused. I recently watched him playing a match at Roland Garros where he was 6-1, 6-2 up and 1-0 up in the 3rd set and he lost a point after a long rally. He looked really, really frustrated and unhappy with himself. This is precisely because his focus was confined to that point alone. He wasn’t looking at the point in the context of the game in which he was hugely ahead and therefore thinking it was no big deal that he lost that point. In the grand scheme of things of course, it didn’t mean much at all, but in that moment it did, because that was his entire focus. Then it was over, gone and he stopped thinking about it, because the next point had begun. The lost point was forgotten. The next point consuming 100% of his focus once more (and he won it easily).

At the same time, another player, Kevin Anderson was playing on another court, with an almost identical scoreline, 6-1, 6-2 up after 2 sets, the difference being that this player seemed to be very conscious of past victories and defeats when faced with a similar situation, also very affected by ‘what-if’ relating to what his opponent was doing – and he choked, losing the 3rd set 7-6. He then also lost the 4th set 7-5 and eventually the match losing the final set 6-2.

Nadal by comparison won his match 6-1, 6-2, 7-6 despite a truly amazing fight and performance from his opponent. Every time his opponent won a game, a great point, got some luck or edged ahead, Nadal just continued to play each point, taking it one point at a time and focusing on each point in turn. Importantly playing this way and doing so optimistically, Nadal was able to play some great shots to get himself out of some very tricky situations against an impressive and stubborn young opponent who wanted to take his chance playing the best tennis of his career and managing to stay in the game with the world #1 (his opponent, Marterer, ranked #70 in the world at the time).

So where does Optimism come in?

I see mindfulness, visualisation (whether in the moment or in the future) and optimism as all being part of the same jigsaw.

What Nadal is doing when he is playing tennis is focusing on what he wants to do – (i.e. the process, not the outcome) and doing so positively and optimistically. There is no doubt at all that not only is he focused on the present moment, but he is also very optimistic about it.

He backs himself 100%.

The Effects of a Positive Outlook on the Future

If you are going to spend time thinking about the future, then do so optimistically.

It’s great to be mindful and to spend as much time as possible in the present as per the fantastic example of Rafa in a tennis game. In the game he is in the moment. One of the commentators described his greatest strength as being able to play every individual point in its own little silo, blocking out everything else – in this commentator’s (Jim Courier’s) opinion, he does this better than any other player.

In a match this is clearly a great advantage.

There are times however, when it is actually a good idea to spend time projecting ourselves into the future and thinking about future situations. We do this when visualising for example and I’d be willing to bet that like a lot of sportspeople, Nadal also uses visualisation from time to time.

When we visualise, particularly before a sporting event, we obviously do so positively. Visualisation can be a very powerful thing as described here: The Power of Visualization.

There have been several studies which show that a positive outlook – i.e. optimism – is good for your health.

These studies show for example that:

• Most pessimistic men have double the risk of heart disease vs most optimistic men
• Pessimistic coronary bypass patients are twice as likely as optimists to require re-hospitalization.
• Optimists have lower blood pressure
• Optimists have lower death rates

I’m not going to cite any particular studies here mainly because there have been so many! If you’re interested in learning more about the psychology of optimism, then a simple Google search will sort you out, in the meantime you can just take my word for it (just search for ‘Optimism studies’ or ‘is Optimism good for your health’ etc).

What interests me is less the effects on our health simply because to me these kind of make sense as a long term benefit. What I find more interesting is how we can immediately impact our performance and also our immediate reality, how we can actually remove barriers, stress, nerves and perform and experience at our optimum by being optimistic, by backing ourselves (like Rafa Nadal).

When can Optimism Backfire?

The one situation I would suggest too much optimism could backfire is in planning – e.g. when constructing a project plan for some business activity. If we are simply very optimistic about the success of a business venture or about our planning, we could become unstuck with scope creep, cost overruns or project slippage.

So in project planning, whilst not necessarily being pessimistic, it is often a good idea to make sure that worst case scenarios are considered, to have a good approach to looking at project risks and issues and to plan some contingency accordingly.

Final Thought – Optimism in Mindfulness & Visualisation

It’s great to be in the moment to confine your focus to that moment and to be positive. This in any sporting endeavour will surely give you your best chance, but perhaps the same can be said for any challenge – it doesn’t necessarily have to be sport.

It’s natural for our minds to wander – into the past or the future. If this happens, know that we can control our thoughts, we can bring our focus gently back to the present. That’s what mindfulness and being fully present in the moment is all about.

Sometimes we actually do want to spend time in the future (e.g. in the case of visualisation) – do so with a positive outlook for better results.