Psychological Resilience

  What does it take to get to the top? In the world of sport millions of people across the world wish to become the best at their given sport. They dream of fame, money, possessions and glory. But how does one attain this? How does one get to be a household name such as Michael Jordan, Tom Brady or Tony Hawk. There must be certain characteristics and psychological aspects that all of these professional athletes share to have been able to do what they have done in their sport. Muhammad Ali once said, “I don’t count my sit-ups. I only start counting once it starts hurting” – Muhammad Ali [3] This helps to understand the kind of man he was, always pushing forward, never giving up and striving to be the best. This could also be said of others of a similar level across all sports. The research suggests that a number of factors aid athletes in the fight against negative forms of stress [5]. These factors include motivation, personality, focus, confidence and perceived social suppor...