Medscape spoke to sports psychologists who work with Olympic athletes and other experts to find nine mental techniques physicians can use to perform like Olympians in their work.
- Try “control” exercises: Using a pen and paper, draw a small circle and write the things you can control, for example attitude, effort and preparation. Then draw a bigger circles around the first and fill it with what you can influence. In a third circle that encompasses the first two, write down the things you cannot control. For physicians, this can be a patient’s medical history and insurance. Using the diagram as a visual reference, experts recommend focusing on controlling what you can, forgiving yourself when influences go wrong and forgetting about the things you cannot control.
- Argue with yourself on behalf of yourself: High achievers tend to be hard on themselves. When doubts arise, creating a log of evidence to the contrary can help overcome fears and negative self-talk.
- Engage in visualizations: Many athletes do visualizations where they smell the court, hear the crowd and rehearse their performance on the field. Brain studies suggest imagining a task can strengthen motor neural connection and help the brain build a plan to produce certain actions. Visualization can help the brain improve and learn new skills, and be useful before complex or challenging treatments.
- Try cue utilization: This is a method of simplifying more complex tasks to refocus and redirect during challenging moments. Focus on the cues that filter out distractions.
- Protect energy: Taking some time alone before a demanding endeavor can better prepare physicians for a busy day. No one else will necessarily protect a physician’s time or space other than themselves.
- Live in the moment: Focusing on the past or future can be distracting and increase the pressure. Using a word like “goldfish” — made famous by Ted Lasso’s “be a goldfish” rule — can remind the brain to keep moving forward.
- Focus on what is important in the moment after a setback: After an unexpected problem or mistake, physicians can focus on “what’s important now?” Concentrate on fixing the problem.
- Review performance: Athletes watch postgame tapes to identify opportunities for improvement, and physicians can do the same with video-based coaching. This requires sitting down with an experienced colleague to review footage of the physician’s work to provide feedback. This is a recommended practice for surgeons, though other specialties may benefit from it as well.
- Align with the environment: Environmental factors can affect a physician’s work. Doing a value alignment check by listing the physician’s five core values and comparing that to the work environment can be a strong indicator of when changes to the environment may be needed.
