How to get to the top: 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 support. The element of social support was evident around Ross Edgley as he prepared to be the first person to swim around the UK. He mentioned in his book, the art of resilience, that on the day he started the swim his dad gave him words of wisdom, his mum gave him a slice of homemade cheesecake and his girlfriend brought a sense of normality to the venture, saying “this is an odd way to spend a summer” and asking him “why they couldn’t just go on holiday like a normal couple?” [4]

Throughout history individuals have shown great levels of resilience to complete ventures that were thought impossible. Michael Jordan once said,

“One day, you might look up and see me playing the game at 50. Don’t laugh. Never say never, because limits, like fears, are often just an illusion.” – Michael Jordan [13]

Sport is perceived as a great platform to show off athletes that will, in some cases, put their life on the line to shift the thought process and boundaries of what is possible. Great adventurers can be placed into the same category, as if it wasn’t for these types of people the world would not be where it is today. Even people such as Elon Musk are paving the way forward with electric car technology and Space X, with plans on colonising a certain crater on Mars [15]. Along with these types of people come the masses of doubters who constantly challenge and disregard any claims of how to move forward. Nelson Mandela once said,

“It always seems impossible until it’s done.” – Nelson Mandela [10]

Research [6] suggested that psychological resilience is an important tool athletes, soldiers and anyone wishing to progress in their endeavours must use to tolerate the pressure that is bestowed onto them. This pressure can arise at home, during training and within competitive environments. Athletes who utilise psychological resilience provide themselves with the mindset where success can occur. It was said at the top level of sport 10% is physical and 90% is mental therefore, if an athlete has a very good level of psychological resilience then they have a large part of what is deemed to make it to the top [2]. However, various other things such as opportunities, athletic agents and physical skill base also have their influence on whether an individual is able to do this. In some cultures anything less than a gold medal at the Olympics can be viewed as a failing. But, there are 7.8 billion people in the world and only 307 gold medals available at the Olympics. Therefore, in most cases just being invited to the Olympics could be perceived as an achievement. In some cases however, characteristics such as narcissism amongst top level athletes mean that anything less than gold is a failure. Another characteristic of some top level sports-performers is that they can be perfectionists. Jonny Wilkinson was known for this, in the documentary building Jerusalem, he spoke about remembering situations in a game where he made a tiny mistake and he could recall it months later, long after his teammates had forgot. [8] To most the aim for stardom is their perceived path however; there is a dark side to sport at the highest level. Research [14] suggested that initially, like any other sports-person, sport was their release, a chance to get away from worries or issues and to feel better afterwards. But, as an athlete rises up the ranks the pressure on them to perform can initialise a fear of failure of it all crashing down. An example of this was Jonny Wilkinson, in his autobiography he said that his obsessive perfectionist personality drove him to be the best player in the world and it worked however, after the fact it drove him down a spiral of despair [17]. But, to make it to the top these are the hard truths to get there. The pathways are not all psychologically or physically healthy. On the other hand the psychological tools that in this case Jonny previously used allowed him to ‘bounce back’ and athletes who are able to do this will have an informed grasp of psychological resilience allowing them to do so [11]. Additionally, their home life and ability to retain flourishing relationships would improve aiding their mental health and well-being.

Another situation where higher resilience levels can be prominent in making it to the top is through childhood adversity. A surprising amount of elite sports athletes have experienced some sort of trauma which has lead to higher levels of resilience against the pressures in those individuals [16]. Andy Murray, aged 8, survived the 1996 massacre at Dunblane primary school in Scotland by hiding under a desk. However, this is not just restricted to sport, Jim Carrey was homeless at age 15, Charlize Theron at age 15 witnessed her mother shoot her father and although what occurred in their early life was tragic they were resilient and made it to the top in their respected fields [9] [1].

There are similar examples in the world of science fiction, superheroes that have come from childhoods where something tragic has occurred. Examples are stories such as, Spiderman being brought up by his auntie and uncle because his parents were killed, or batman witnessing the murder of his parents. Both of these characters will have gained greater levels of resilience than they would have had through their experience of trauma. Following on from this they used their negative childhood experience in a positive way to take on the villains of the fictitious world they exist in, so in a sense they used an element of resilience to make it to the top.

In summary, psychological resilience is a key part of high level sport, as well as any psychologically demanding environment. Some research also shows that childhood adversity can improve an individual’s resilience, but not always. The take away from this is that children should not be forced through some type of trauma when young so that they can become more successful in later life. Additionally, talent scouts should not necessarily only focus on those athletes who have sadly gone through some sort of trauma as a child. The be all and end all is that it is a very hard path to get to the top of any given career pathway or sporting venture. Resilience will definitely help anyone to get there however; there are a multitude of factors that need to be in place also [7]. The individual must have levels of intrinsic or extrinsic motivation available to them. Some of the athletes mentioned within this blog would possibly be motivated by forever placing in the history books as the first person to do something, such as Eddie Hall becoming the first man to dead-lift 500kg, or Rodger Banister being the first man to run a sub 4 minute mile. The take home message from this is that resilience can help you to get there but, you need to put the work in as well and in some cases generate your own promotional opportunities. Two final quotes are as follows…

“Everything negative – pressure – challenges – are all an opportunity for me to rise.” – Kobe Bryant [12]

“Obstacles don’t have to stop you. If you run into a wall, don’t turn around and give up. Figure out how to climb it, go through it, or work around it.” – Michael Jordan [12]

Reference List

1)     Allan, V. (2018, December 8). The surprising role of childhood trauma in athletic success. The conversation. https://theconversation.com/the-surprising-role-of-childhood-trauma-in-athletic-success-107404

2)     Andersson, R. & Barker-Ruchti, N. (2019). Career paths of Swedish top-level women soccer players. Soccer & society. 20(6). 857-871. https://doi.org/10.1080/14660970.2018.1431775

3)     Cashman, J. (2020). 25 all-time best inspirational sports quotes to get you going. Lifehack. https://www.lifehack.org/294074/15-inspirational-sports-quotes-get-you-going

4)     Edgley, R. (2020). The art of resilience: Strategies for an unbreakable mind. Harper Collins Publishers.

5)     Fletcher, D., & Sarkar, M. (2012). A grounded theory of psychological resilience in Olympic champions. Psychology of Sport and Exercise. 13(5). 669–678. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psychsport.2012.04.007

6)     Fletcher, D., & Sarkar, M. (2014). Psychological resilience in sport performers: A review of stressors and protective factors. Journal of sports sciences. 32(15). 1419-1434. DOI: 10.1080/02640414.2014.901551

7)     Galli, N. & Vealey, R, S. (2008). “Bouncing back” from adversity: Athletes’ experiences of resilience. The sport psychologist. 22(3). 316-335. https://doi.org/10.1123/tsp.22.3.316

8)     Gregory, V., (Producer). & Erskine, J., (Director). (2015). Building Jerusalem. [Video file]. Retrieved from: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Building-Jerusalem-Jonny-Wilkinson/dp/B013FES3BU

9)     Jacques, R. (2017, December 7). 16 wildly successful people who overcame huge obstacles to get there. Huffpost. https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/successful-people-obstacles_n_3964459?guccounter=1&guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly9jb25zZW50LnlhaG9vLmNvbS8&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAALL-35_muzMeC9TPFrU8de_0Nt5C9uh2KjxWwZHwV3aBLn06AqO-bk71iK0yEwDba7D1dv3HPbSMNuGAJy3qYRAKup32iKuM67vJYB-3yUtbyDh-dBY8Gi553mJsuyMWVq3iwK2WuBvFt8YWXiLEl8bXx3uTN-Tz7pEsIMhLYua8

10)  Mandela, N. (2020). Nelson Mandela quotes. Brainy quote. https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/nelson_mandela_378967

11)  Martin, G, N., Carlson, N, R. & Buskist, W. (2013). Psychology. (5^th ed.). Pearson Education Limited.

12)  Medrut, F. (2018, May 18). 20 basketball quotes on self-motivation and team work. Goalcast. https://www.goalcast.com/2018/05/18/20-basketball-quotes/

13)  Medrut, F. (2020, Febuary 11). 25 michael jordan quotes that are ingredients for guaranteed success. Goalcast. https://www.goalcast.com/2020/02/11/michael-jordan-quotes/

14)  Newman, H, J, H., Howells, K, L. & Fletcher, D. (2016). The dark side of top level sport: An autobiographic study of depressive experiences in elite sport performers. Frontiers in psychology. 7(868). 1-12. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2016.00868

15)  Rogan, J. (2018, September, 6). Joe rogan experience #1169 – elon musk. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ycPr5-27vSI

16)  Thomson, P. & Jaque, V, S. (2019). History of childhood adversity and coping stratergies: Positive flow and creative experiences. The international journal of child abuse & neglect. 90. 185-192. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chiabu.2018.12.019

17)  Wilkinson, J. (2011). Jonny my autobiography. Headline Publishing Group.