Principles First Approach to Mental Resilience (Part 2 of 3)

In this second part of my post, we’ll explore how the principles—Control Your Controllables, Confidence Follows Competence, and Focus Leads Your Performance—translate into practical psychological skills. Coaches and sport psychology practitioners can use experiential activities where participants perform a task under pressure, or reflective exercises where they contrast their best and worst performances. For example, they might ask:

• “How did you maintain your focus? What helped?”
• “How did you lose focus? What distractions did you face?”
• “How did preparation or skill level contribute to your performance?”

Do note that a certain competence in facilitation skills is necessary to help performers expand on their reflections, uncovering deeper insights and connections to their experiences.

Thereafter, the practitioner can ask the performer to consider which of the three principles best aligns with their insights. For example, a performer who recalls being overly concerned with the outcome during their worst performance might resonate with Control Your Controllables, while one who identifies a lack of trust in their abilities might connect more with Confidence Follows Competence.

This process helps performers internalize these principles by linking them to their personal experiences, making them more relatable and actionable as they move forward.

To further enhance this process, it’s valuable to help performers bring into awareness the psychological skills and perspectives they may already be using, albeit unintentionally, when they are performing at their best. Often, performers are unaware of the mental strategies they employ naturally, such as maintaining composure under pressure, focusing on controllable factors, or engaging in positive self-talk, visualization, and goal setting. A skilled practitioner can guide them to identify and articulate these patterns through thoughtful questioning and observation.

For instance, after reflecting on their best performances, the practitioner might ask:

• “What were you saying to yourself in that moment, and how did it help?”
• “Were you visualizing any specific outcomes or actions, and how did that guide your performance?”
• “Did you have any goals, whether consciously or subconsciously, that kept you motivated and focused?”

By drawing attention to their own responses, performers begin to recognize the psychological skills they already possess, which can then be refined and applied more deliberately (Rogers, 1995). For example, they may discover that their self-talk during high-pressure moments was a source of confidence, or that they instinctively set process goals to break down tasks, enabling them to stay focused and grounded.

This process not only fosters a sense of ownership and empowerment but also provides a foundation for integrating these skills more intentionally into their preparation routines. Practitioners can work with performers to strengthen their self-talk, refine their visualization practices, and set clear, actionable goals aligned with the principles of Control Your Controllables, Confidence Follows Competence, and Focus Leads Your Performance. When these skills are consciously applied alongside their existing strengths, performers create a structured mental framework for consistency, resilience, and sustained success.

Stay tuned for the final post in this series, where we will learn how the three superpowers—Self-awareness, Gratitude, and Kindness—amplifies the three principles to enhance your performance and mental well-being.

Here’s part 1 of the blog post.

Coach Hansen

References:

Rogers, C. R. (1995). A way of being. Houghton Mifflin.