Get the mindset of a pro athlete

What does it take to become a professional sports star? Talent, definitely. Opportunity, undoubtedly. Luck, probably a bit.

One trait that is potentially more important than any, however, is the right mentality. And this isn’t just a dedication to training and a willingness to push yourself to your limits.

In a world where you’d expect muscles to take precedent over emotions, former England rugby international James Haskell is putting his mind at the fore of his training. And apps are playing a key role.

“Technology and training in sport have evolved so much over the years but what hasn’t advanced is the mental side; how powerful the mind is and how much more we can get out of ourselves,” the England international tells us.

“Everybody is obsessed with gym work, but one of the hardest things to address is the mental side of the sport. It’s something that’s under appreciated but which is more valuable than anything.”

“I’ve been seeing a sports psychologist for years, a lady called Dr Jill Owen. I’ve also started doing some hypnotherapy with a guy called Elliot Roe, and he’s worked on an app called Primed Mind that I find really useful.”

By combining elements of meditation, hypnotherapy and life coaching, Primed Mind helps you centre your thoughts, address negative thought-patterns and focus more on your self-appointed targets. And it’s not just for athletes, it can help in all walks of life.

“Primed Mind helps me work towards goals I want to achieve,” Haskell says.

“You can do things with developing better habits or choosing traits you want to work on such as confidence, getting better sleep, feeling good about yourself, working or socialising.”

“Each of these areas has different modules that you can listen to. You basically sit there, headphones on, visualising the process or goals to address those thoughts. Each module only takes seven or eight minutes and you come out of it feeling fantastic.”

As well as listening through these modules in bed, Haskell uses Primed Mind as a way of getting ready for a big game with both club and country.

“I actually do it on the bus heading to a match,” he explains. “Everyone has their headphones on now so you could be sat there doing anything.”

“I put my Beats on, recline my seat and spend 10 minutes on Primed Mind before arriving at the game. I will do that before every game. I know some of the other guys speak with psychologists, but I don’t think any of the other players are looking at this side of things.”

“I also use the Breathe feature on my Apple Watch and I use Notes for putting down little thoughts pre-game. I’ll write out my focuses for those games and what I intend to do.”

While Haskell primarily focuses on mindfulness as a way of improving his on-pitch performances, it’s not just in a sporting environment where he sees its benefits.

“It’s something that I’d recommend to anybody,” he says. “Self improvement through mental elements, not necessarily reading self-help books but actually addressing stuff, talking to people, getting a process that works for you is incredibly important.”

“You can quickly look at addressing this side of things and if you’ve got seven minutes free it’s far better doing this than most other things.”

“I don’t think I’d be here unless I got the mental side of the game right.”

Primed Mind: #1 Mindset App

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