Summary: You work extremely hard to prepare for high-pressure or competitive situations, and it’s incredibly frustrating when results do not measure up to your effort. There is one thing you can do to help boost confidence and encourage your best when it matters: Set Intentions. Here’s how: Intentions are things that you can or will do empower you to focus (that’s a bonus!) and believe in yourself. This increases your self-efficacy (your belief about your capability to produce designated levels of performance that exercise influence over events that affect your life.) For example, “At 4:00-4:30 p.m. today I will spend 30 minutes compiling research for a presentation.” So, the outcome of the presentation is uncertain, but there is certainty surrounding your preparation and execution. Why it works. Setting Intentions gives you control over what’s important to being able to do your best. It’s also an internal accountability system. World-class athletes typically perform their best when they are calm, carefree (of the outcome) and focused (on what’s most important). Setting Intentions will help you have a world-class mindset and champion results. If you can consistently set intentions for what’s important to you, you will be able to guide your thoughts and emotions in a way that they will help you do your best! Intentions help you to dream big, take control and focus on the small wins for big results! You got this!
