You’re standing on the approach. Ball in your hand. And your mind is everywhere but here.
It’s on what the bowler next to you just shot. It’s on the standings. It’s on everything except the one shot in front of you.
That’s what it feels like when your own mind is working against you. Distraction. Chaos. Not clarity.
And here’s the trick it plays. It gets you paying attention to things you can’t control, and then it convinces you that you can. Other people. What so and so just bowled. What place you’re in.
None of that is yours to control. But in the moment, it sure feels like it is.
The only thing you can control is the shot in front of you. That’s the place your mind should be. And that’s exactly where it isn’t.
It shows up at every level
I’d love to tell you I always win this one. I don’t.
There have been many times my inner critic won. It put doubt where I should have been confident. It convinced me I wasn’t prepared, when I should have been relying on all the experience I have.
That’s what the inner critic does. It tries to make you believe in something you’re not.
Someone less ready. Less experienced. Someone who forgot everything they’ve already done to get here.
And it doesn’t matter what level you’re at. It shows up for everyone. It’s something you have to be conscious of. Something you have to battle.
It doesn’t get a vote
So how do you battle it?
Not by pretending it isn’t there. I don’t think the answer is pushing it away.
Pretending it isn’t there doesn’t make it quiet. Pushing it away still gives it your attention. And attention is exactly what it wants.
You acknowledge it. You let it know you see it. And then you redirect. Into positive energy. Helpful energy. Energy focused on the process.
You say to it: Oh, I see you. I hear you. But you’re not going to get a vote this time.
The inner critic can sit in the room. It just doesn’t get a vote.
That’s the shift. Not silence. A redirect. The critic speaks, and you point your energy back at the process, back at the one thing in front of you.
Remember who you are
When the noise gets loud, my reset is simple. I remember who I am.
Confidence comes from evidence. And I have a lot of evidence that backs up how I should feel about myself. Sometimes we just need to remember it.
Every frame you’ve already bowled is evidence. Every time you showed up and did the work. Every tough moment you got through. When the critic tells you that you aren’t ready, the evidence says otherwise.
Then meditation. And being around the right people and the right energy.
That last one matters more than people think. In bowling, it’s easy to end up around people who come from a really complainy place. Spend enough time where your energy is getting drained, and you start to adopt what other people feel about themselves. Their doubt becomes yours.
So protect your peace.
Your mind will try to become your opponent. Let it talk. Just don’t let it vote.
What evidence about yourself have you been forgetting?
If your inner critic keeps winning the vote, that’s exactly the kind of thing we work on in 12 Frames to a Stronger Mental Game. One-on-one, built around you.