Overcoming Stress – From the Foul Line
Sports are funny – so funny that I used to cry when my team lost -, hundreds of statistic thrown around the Inter-Web, airwaves and local broadcasts daily, all hopeful to predict or validate a certain outcome. But many times it’s the non-measurable metrics that hold the most weight. A key one being the “Big Game” stat, or the ability for a team, athlete or coach to preform on the biggest stage. With that same question being asked by analysts, Hall of Fame voters, and your friends at the local watering hole, “Can they Win the Big Game” ? That Finals, Game 7, hard drive to the right, pinpoint crossover, top of the key jumper draining “Big Game”. Some would argue that you can’t be comfortable in that scenario unless you’ve done it before, yet we see individuals, teams, and coaches excel in these high pressure ‘uncomfortable‘ situations all the time. Is it possible to train yourself to be comfortable with the uncomfortable? To practice being uncomfortable to the point where you invite it in your mental quarters with a smile? To put yourself in a mindset where you can’t be rattled? Staying calm, cool and collective in the midst of theoretical shit hitting the theoretical fan?
Have you ever really watched basketball players take a free throw? I’m not taking about acknowledging if the shot goes in or not, I’m taking about everything before that. I know I know, that’s typically when you glance over at your buddy to tell them that call was bullshit, BUT if you actually watch the shooter, you’ll see them step to the line, receive the ball from the official, take a few dribble and shoot. You may be thinking “Yeah, it’s just a foul shot dumbass!”, well that my friend(s) is where your wrong…. dumbass! It’s actually a predefined mechanism to alleviate the stresses of their current environment, a routine to cancel out the noise, to breath, and bring focus to the task at hand. You may not realize that every movement, dribble and pause is carefully choreographed and unique to each player. Some are more noticeable than others (i.e – Nate Robinson circling the ball around his waist, or Jason Kidd kissing his hand up to the sky), but each player has one. It’s their way to make an uncomfortable environment comfortable again, because whether it’s one-of-a-thousand they shoot after practice, or one-of-two in Game 7 of the finals, their routine is the same. Overthinking, emotion, fatigue can all be defeated by a few dribbles and a spin of a ball.
Cool! But I Don’t Play Basketball?
Guess What? Even if you don’t ball, you’ll still find yourself at a free throw line. No, not a literal free throw line, instead, common places and situations that happen with predictable occurrence. Many of us find these places being our day jobs, managing the craziness of a family, navigating your commute, etc… – typically it’s a combination of those three and more. Even though each situation may be slightly different, the underlying physiological and psychological response is a whole-lot of the same. Do you ever cringe when you see an email from your boss come in, yell in the emptiness of your car after that A-hole in the minivan cuts you off, scowl when you see the deans office calling for the fifth time in as many days. Did you know, depending on the way your brain processes all these daily occurrences, you could very-well be triggering a stress response throughout your body. Hormones that induce our natural Fight-or-Flight response (evolved to fend off danger) may become more prevalent in your day-to-day life, to the point that it turns into an issue of chronic fashion. And this unnatural balance of chemicals have influence on quite a bit:
- Blood sugar (glucose) levels
- Fat, protein and carbohydrate metabolism
- Immune responses
- Anti-inflammatory actions
- Blood pressure
- Heart and blood vessel tone and contraction
- Central nervous system activation
As a reaction to this chemical unbalance many of us look for something that will provide instant joy, a vice to offset the stressful situation, aka “Sugar Time”! A journey to the break room, vending machine or mini-mart ensues, the mission – get our fix of the good ‘processed‘ stuff. The thing is, this sugar-high only provides comfort during the brief time of consumption, after that, the excess glucose gets stored as fat and we crash. It’s quite an inefficient method of stress management that we seem to keep leaning on. An ongoing cycle driven by our western ways, buttering us up for disease later in life (if-not now). Just like basketball players who’ve trained themselves to rely on a routine when faced with the pressures of their day job, why not adopt a routine of our own?
Creating A Free-Throw Routine
It’s a slippery slope when you unconsciously cover-up a stressful situation with emotion-driven vices ( i.e – eating or lashing-out). It really is a lose-lose scenario, you temporarily cover-up the underlying stress with health-adverse foods and relationship-harming actions. Your Not You When Your Stressed, that is, unless your always stressed…And who wants to be a moody, tense, worrisome subset of themselves? You shouldn’t let chronic stress be your norm, so build yourself a personalized free-throw routine, a way to cancel-out the stressful situations that arise, particularly the ones that become a daily battle.
- Identify your Stress Triggers – What is the daily occurrence that is kicking-off this response?
- Pinpoint the Underlying Cause – Why is this Trigger making you feel this way?
- Justify Validity – Is your stress response valid? If it’s not a life threatening situation than it’s probably not.
- Is it Worth it? – Is Stressing over this going to provide any benefits? Is it a a good use of your time and Brain CPU? Usually No!
- Detach/ Remediate – For Five Minutes – Remove yourself from the situation:
- Go for a Walk
- Meditate
- Run through a quick breathing exercise
- Listen to some Music
Sure, it’s not always going to be smooth sailing, sometimes you’ll feel like you’re playing in an opposing city, fans waving “thunder sticks” relentlessly behind the basket as you shoot. That’s life, just get in your routine and cancel that shit out. The stronger your routine the more unshakable you become. Ninety-Nine percent of the time you’re not dealing with a life or death situation, making your stress a response to an emotional situation. The bad news (as listed above) – this can become a chronic condition. The good news – the fact that you essentially have control of how you react. You only get stressed if you allow yourself to get stressed. In the big picture, the majority of the daily situations you waste brain CPU stressing about really don’t matter. When you’re old and wise, you won’t be reflecting on how you answered that email from your boss forty years prior. Put shit in perspective, why risk your longevity and quality-of-life over senseless worrying and self-doubt. You can still preform at an optimal level with minimum stress.
Start shooting some free throws… You’ll see what I Mean….
