Peak Performance Corporate Coach

Do Superstitions Get In The Way?

Athletes by nature are very superstitious. They can tell you about their lucky socks, special shorts or shirt. The items they have are countless. The other things are what they do. It might be how they tie their sneakers, get ready before competition, or they things they say before competing. It seems that athletes dabble in the mystical arts, doesn’t it? Shakespeare wrote: “Nothing is good or bad lest we make it so.” The same applies to our lucky charms and rituals. We create our own meaning out of the most significant and insignificant things. Our tendency is to generalize, distort or delete information in a way that will serve us or not serve us.

There is a technical term for these things. One is called the placebo effect. We may have some idea what this is. The term is translated roughly meaning, to placate or appease. The placebo effect is commonly known in regards to medicine and their trials. One group is given some type of medicine while the other group, the control group, receives a placebo (sugar pill). It has been found in some studies that the placebo group ended up equal if not better than people in the testing group. Now why is that? Good question grasshopper. The reason is that we give it meaning, our subconscious takes it in, and our bodies are transformed. It is essentially a belief pattern. The same is true for athletes and their lucky charms. Athletes place the belief in the item and things begin to happen. It’s not really that mysterious.

I remember in the movie, “Practical Magic” the lead, Aidan Quinn is shot in the heart but does not die. The reason he doesn’t die or even get hurt is that he has his policeman’s badge there. He believed that the badge gave him power; it also seemed to give him life. Do you know any athlete that feels invincible because of their lucky charm?

Another facet of this is the ritual. They will chant, tie their shoes, say a prayer, warm up a certain way. All athletes will have certain rituals that they must follow. Why you might ask…because they say so. They claim that if they don’t do it that all will be lost. Many times they are correct, but why?At one end of the scope is the nocebo effect (Latin nocebo = “I will harm”). This is the opposite of the placebo effect. The body fights itself. In a study with clinically depressed people, they found that their cells attacked one another. The results of the nocebo effect can be devastating, even resulting in death. I remember a story of two women. One woman was given the diagnosis of a heart murmur, which is not a serious heart condition. Another woman was given the diagnosis of a galloping rhythm, which is a serious heart condition. The one woman who was given the diagnosis of a heart murmur subsequently panicked and died from a massive heart attack. The other woman, on the other hand, lived well into her eighties. When this woman was asked why she able to live so long she replied, “Because the doctors told me my heart was as healthy as a horse.” She interpreted that a galloping rythym was something good and she reaped the rewards.The key is the interpretation of information given. We create the meaning no matter what it is.

Our filters are geared to see the good or the bad, the beautiful or the ugly, the opportunities or limitations. Again, this life is our story. Let’s create the story in our favor. Can you imagine the placebo effect on our lives? How would your life look if your life story were told in your favor rather than the critiques point of view? If you are facing a challenge, what good meaning can you take from the experience? We are a culmination of our experiences. Perhaps we struggle to find the meaning, but life has a beautiful way of coming full circle. We become the supporters of someone in the future who face the same things we did years earlier.

We have what I call “X-Ray vision” because we have the ability to see right through them and help them as human beings. These moments connect us to the people and the events around us. The moment becomes richer and in turn, we become richer.

Until then…

Kick butt and be a champion!

Coach Guerci

www.gcmethod.com

www.champmethod.com