Written by: Marika Ylilahti, personal trainer and mental coach
Mental coaching is a familiar term in sports circles, but it may be new to the average fitness enthusiast. Mental coaching has been on the rise in recent years, and more and more people are taking advantage of it. You, too, can achieve top results with the help of mental coaching!
What is mental coaching, and who does it benefit?
You may already know that physical training guides your body toward optimal physical performance, but to ensure that we function seamlessly even when competition nerves or a new lifestyle change are on the horizon, we use mental training as a supplement or as our primary form of training.
Mental coaching brings your mind into alignment with your physical actions. It motivates, engages, and guides your actions toward your individual goals so that your mind stays focused on the task at hand. You maintain a clear thread of focus, and your mind doesn’t wander to the fridge or your hands start shaking when it really counts. It can involve anchoring your mind or focusing on your own actions when you really want to achieve results.
Mental health coaching can also support work communities. It can motivate employees to take better care of their well-being and work capacity, improve the work atmosphere together, identify ways to increase resilience at work, and foster psychological safety in the workplace—that is, create a community where people feel comfortable speaking openly about challenges and their own needs in a constructive manner.
Sports teams also make extensive use of mental coaching. Its purpose is to develop the team’s spirit and skills toward shared and/or individual goals, thereby strengthening the team both physically and mentally—for example, to withstand pressure and maintain performance even in high-pressure game situations.
Mental coaching teaches self-awareness, an understanding of your own needs and desires, and self-acceptance. It gradually develops your mental skills, such as
- strengthens a sense of competence and guides actions in the right direction
- the ability to focus on what's important and stay motivated
- self-control
- mental toughness
- psychological resilience to face challenges and get back up when we've fallen
- how to manage your energy and state of mind
- handle pressure
- learn to express our needs constructively
- How do you ultimately reach that peak performance state, whatever the goal may be? How do you cross the finish line as winners—if not for others, then at least for yourselves!
Clients for mental coaching can include workplaces, sports teams, competitive athletes, people managing their weight, those who get nervous easily, or just an ordinary person who wants to adopt a new lifestyle and is looking for support and a more reliable way to succeed. The biggest changes always happen inside our heads!
Why should I consider mental coaching?
If you’re about to embark on a major lifestyle change or want to push yourself to peak performance—whether it’s a marathon or some other competitive event—you’ll need to give it your all. It’s not worth going into battle half-heartedly, because we won’t reach those goals with a light step—the road to the top is rarely straight.
It takes an average of 18 months to fully adopt a lifestyle change. Well planned is half done! When you’ve set specific short- and long-term goals and measure your results in a pre-agreed way, the path forward is clear. You’ll know when you’re succeeding and when it’s time to make adjustments together—without resorting to negative self-criticism—and you’ll be able to face challenges with a positive mindset. We learn to reflect on our behavior and to understand ourselves. Mental coaching could be the key to your success this time—so you won’t get discouraged!
How does mental training work?
Schedule an appointment for a fitness assessment with a mental coach and let them know that you’d like mental coaching—either on its own or as part of your physical training—to support your goals. We’ll start by laying the groundwork for your coaching during an initial consultation, for which we’ll set aside plenty of time.
Mental coaching is always a confidential relationship between the coach and the client. Mental coaching is not therapy. We define the goals and tasks that will set us on the path toward achieving your goals.
Mental coaching is a journey of self-discovery that allows us to define who we are and why we want certain things, so that we can set the right goals for the right reasons—goals that are meaningful to us personally.
Goals should be personalized, measurable, specific, action-oriented, realistic, and time-bound. Your own goals play a major role in determining where your journey takes you and how it unfolds. Mental coaching is always a personalized process that requires commitment from both sides. So stop just thinking about it—make your dreams come true today!