Overcome Mistakes Like an Elite Athlete

As a perfectionist, I can think of absolutely nothing more stressful than making mistakes. My anxiety tricks me into thinking that making an error is the worst thing in the entire world. That making a mistake spells catastrophe. Elite athletes think differently. To play at peak level, you have to play aggressively. You have to take risks, and you are going to make mistakes. It’s unavoidable. Elite athletes understand that errors are part of high performance and a necessary way to learn new skills and strategies. Instead of spending time and energy trying to avoid mistakes, elite athletes learn how to bounce back quickly from errors. <h1>The “4Fs” Strategy</h1> Years ago I went to a conference and heard an insightful presentation by Dr. Nicole Detling, a renowned mental performance consultant. She discussed a strategy called the “4Fs” for bouncing back to high performance after making a mistake (originally described in Owens and Kirschenbaum, 1998). I forgot about this technique for years but was reminded of it when I was helping a team quickly recover from mistakes. The 4Fs framework involves four steps after making a mistake: Fudge, Fix, Forget, and Focus. When I teach this framework, I use five steps: Frick, Finish, Fix, Focus, and Forgive. <a href="https://medium.com/@marinaharris20/overcome-mistakes-like-an-elite-athlete-781536806ec3">Click Here</a>