How mentally tough you are is an important question whose answer largely defines how successful you’ll be in competition. No matter how tough you are, or how hard you try; there are weaknesses in your competitive armor that may range from excess anxiety to decreased confidence and they will play a role in your ability to perform to your full potential. How well you can control your mind and those weaknesses determines how calm and focused you can become. Overcoming them is the toughest hole to get out of but once you learn how to, you can harness that energy to make you an even better competitor.
Turing your weaknesses into harnessed energy begins by cataloging your weaknesses and learning how to control it so that you can use it, changing it into energy that gives you competitive zeal. It will allow you to develop mental toughness that will improve your physical performance. To become mentally tough a competitor must make a distinction between their self-image and winning or losing, accepting competition as part of the journey and understanding that win or loss there is always another tournament. It is important to relish the victory, grow from the loss and allow a match to simply be a measure of improvement.
To mentally prepare for a fight you must train your mind as you train your technique by mentally processing every technique, measuring yourself against your own knowledge and improvements as well as comparing yourself with other fighters. Once you have decided to compete acknowledge that you want to win, visualize that win and do what is necessary for that win. There is a general principle that as you prepare for a fight or upcoming competition you experience fear, remember that your opponent also has fear. Learn to harness your fear and the adrenalin so that you can correctly channel your fear into focus and aggression. Control your aggression so that you can focus on what you are doing and going to do and maintain control. Competitions provide the best way of measuring yourself and all the lessons learned build your mental strength. As you begin to know yourself more on a competitive level, the stronger you will become because you are able to develop confidence in your abilities.