by Garret Kramer
This past weekend I gave a talk to a group of high school athletes and their parents. The evening was productive and enjoyable, but at the very end, an ex-football coach decided to grill me on the topic of “focus.” He insisted that focus was a vital attribute for success on the field, and he vehemently disagreed with my assertion that the more an athlete tries to focus, the less responsive he actually becomes. I was “up” for the hearty debate.
Indeed, this gentleman is not the only one who has bought into the fantasy of focus. Just about every day I hear commentators, coaches, teachers, parents, and employers speak of this vital attribute. For true engagement in athletic endeavors, however, what we are looking for is an elevated state of consciousness or awareness, not focus. Focus narrows options; consciousness expands them. Focus binds; consciousness frees. Focus repels; consciousness attracts. Believe it or not, the worst thing that a player can ever do is try to focus.
The more an athlete tries to focus, the more his perceptual field will shrink.
All right, you might think that I am just playing with words here. And to a certain extent I agree. Yet, the central point of this article (and the theme of my upcoming book: Why the Grind? The future of athletic mental performance) is that the more an athlete tries to immerse himself into an activity or strives to work hard, the more he will actually thwart his competitive capabilities, not to mention his enjoyment. We’ve been taught that we must grind out success, that we need willpower to succeed. I believe just the opposite is true. When we attempt to focus, work, hustle, or concentrate, our creative instincts become limited, and our freedom is repressed. My point is that an athlete will never be successful when he feels the need to force it.
As an example, I recently worked with a professional hockey player who, like our football coach, innocently believed that if he wasn’t ratcheting up intensity, he wasn’t earning his paycheck. Problem is, last year he spent way too much time in the penalty box, missed numerous wide open nets, often had disagreements with his coach, and lastly, he suffered stomach problems as the season winded down. Trying so hard was actually killing this young man.
Again, there is no trying; there is only doing. And only when this player grasps this freeing perspective will he uncover the inner potential to navigate smoothly and successfully through an 82-game schedule.
Athletes who exist at a high level of consciousness, never feel the need to grind.
You might now ask: But, what am I supposed to do if I show up on game night and I’m not focused, or I don’t feel present? What then? Don’t I need to be mentally ready in order to be at my best?
Well—who says so? Are you certain that this sentiment is true? The fantasy of focus is merely a figment of your imagination; plenty of awe-inspiring performances have been turned in by athletes whose minds seemed to be elsewhere. Just reflect for a second about one of your most outstanding games. Did you force it? Did you will yourself to concentrate? Be honest, did you grind? My guess is no to all of these questions, because if you did—success would have been short lived at best.
Sadly, in trying so hard, we are steering away from the fluent states of mind necessary for enduring achievement. If allowed, the compulsion to focus will only be temporary—it solely originates from an athlete’s passing low mood and anxious thinking in the moment. When a player is feeling secure and clear, the last thing he would ever conjure up is the need to be “locked in.”
Remember, there is no surefire prescription for success. However, there does exist a one-way ticket toward failure. Stop judging your own state of mind and, in turn, trying to force focus. I am positive you’ll be conscious, confident, and roaring to go, in no time.