Alexander Fehling, the German actor who plays Claire Danes' boyfriend Jonas Hollander on TV's "Homeland," recently told the New York Times how he learned an important lesson while auditioning for the prestigious Ernst Busch Academy of Dramatic Arts.
"Imagine ... they only take 20-25 students from as many as 1,000 people auditioning. I didn't get in, and felt terrible. Later I realized that when I was on the stage, I was concentrating on showing (everthing that) I can do. And this is not interesting. It took me a year to change my perspective on the purpose of an actor. Then it worked out."
In my opinion, the exact same thing holds true for athletes. If you are looking to show what you can do, you will be making it about yourself and NOT about the moment of the competition.
One of my first sport psychology involvements was with members of an elite boys' gymnastics team. I used to tell them "If you are out on the floor routine or on the high bar and you are trying to prove something, it is as if you were wearing a 40 pound weight around your neck."
Trying to show how good you are (as in the case of Fehling) is probably going to work against you - in part because you are busy focusing on someone else (whether it is the person deciding which students pass the audition or your coach or the people in the stands).
Any self-judgement will only get in the way of this process. Any fear of failing to prove something will similarly keep you from your best performance. But when the LOVE of competition is your main focus you are likely to have a performance you will be happy with.
More recently, Constance Wu, one of the stars of "Crazy Rich Asians" and TV's "Fresh Off the Boat," had this to say:
"I've always found that if you stop thinking about the results, or the product and just think about your love for what you do, and you re-connect to your creativity, you feel such a wealth of meaning in your life that keeps you going when there is adversity."
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