Get Rid of Negative and Unproductive Thoughts Now

When unproductive thoughts come into your mind, do you know what to do to recover from them?

The “official” definition of an unproductive thought is any thought that not only doesn’t help you play better but also thoughts that are destructive and will sabotage your play.

Here is how you can deal with these thoughts and you must deal with them immediately. Please don’t wait until the game is over. You may need to wait until you are in the dugout waiting to bat, but if there is time while you are playing, you need to change these thoughts.

The moment you are aware that you had an unproductive thought you say to yourself “Cancel Cancel”, or yell internally to yourself as loud as you can “Stop!” and then take a sighing exhale. Then make a statement that is productive.

The kinds of statements that I am talking about are as follows: “OK, body, I don’t know how to hit the ball. You will have to do it. I will stay out of your way and I will just focus on the ball and breathe properly when I swing.” Or, “I am going to just let my body play and let the outcome be what it will be.”

Please don’t use a negative like “I am not going to try to hit the ball” as they say in NLP circles your subconscious mind does not hear the “not.” It just hears “I am going to try …” and hopefully you know trying doesn’t work very well.