Focus…..
one night I was driving down a country lane near home, something darted out of the darkness onto the road in front of me. My heart pounded as I lurched for the brakes, a large rust coloured cat was in pursuit of a little grey field mouse.
The cat focused on that mouse as if nothing else in the world existed, as if some kind of energy beam connected the cat to the mouse. If I had not hit the brakes I would have run over the cat-but she pursued that mouse as if I did’t exist.
only after she had the mouse firmly clenched in her teeth did she acknowledge my existence before sauntering off into the trees.
This is an example of focusing-the uninterrupted connection between two things a cat and a mouse, a performer and his performance an athlete and his goal…
have you ever observed a young child play?? I’m sometimes amazed at children’s ability to focus. When I watched my 3 year old grandchild playing, I swear that while he plays, the only thing that exist in the whole world is the movement of his little red truck. He is oblivious to the chaos around him. His connection is very similar to the connection of the cat and the mouse on the road
if a little child and a cat can focus so completely, why can’t we?????????
Let’s suppose that the cat had to worry about being judged on her form as she stalked the mouse; do you think the complete connection would remain?? If while my 3 year old grandchild were playing, he began to worry about being assessed on his truck manoeuvring abiltiy by the people around him. Do you think the flow would be broken??????
When you can free yourself from the dwelling on outside pressures or expectations, when you know you will continue to be a valuable human being regardless of numerical outcomes, worry is less likely to intrude and disrupt your performance or your life……
this is when focus is free to flow naturally…..
worry is one of the greatest inhibitors of skills performance. If you can learn to view competition in a less worried way, or if you can find a way of focusing that is more absorbing than the worry, you will be well on the way to consistent performance at your optimum level……………

Roy garner Nat powerlifting coach Australia