Before Simone Biles jumped on the balance beam in Paris’ Bercy Arena on Tuesday, she appeared to whisper: “You got this. It’s your time.”
It’s not unusual for Biles, now the most-decorated U.S. Olympic gymnast, to talk to herself before competing: “Most of the time before I take the mat, I just tell myself, ‘Confidence’ and ‘You have this,'” Biles told CNBC in 2016.
Biles and Team USA went on to win gold in the women’s gymnastics team all-around final. Preparing to perform at the highest level takes years of commitment and determination — but winning also requires speaking intentionally to yourself, experts say.
Completing a Yurchenko double pike is hard enough without looping self-criticism. Telling yourself you’re capable can calm your nerves and emulate how you feel in practice. Plus, talking to yourself in the third-person — like Biles telling herself, “You got this” — can actually decrease stress and improve your performance, research shows.
“We’re much better at giving advice to other people than we are to ourselves,” Ethan Kross, a University of Michigan psychology professor and author of “Chatter,” tells CNBC Make It. “If a friend comes to you with a problem, do you tell them, ‘No way, you’re going to suck. You can’t do this?'”
“Anecdotally, some people do report benefitting from [speaking] out loud,” Kross says. Doing so can add an extra level of intentionality, helping you focus.
Positive self-talk is the antidote to chatter, or a ruminating cycle of negative thoughts that can hinder your performance whether on the Olympic stage, at work or in everyday life, says Kross, who holds degrees from the University of Pennsylvania and Columbia University.
Using distanced self-talk is just one way to prepare yourself for a challenge or stop negative thinking, Kross says. His book outlines several strategies anyone can use to improve their internal monologue.
“There’s no magic pill,” he explains, but most people rely on one, or a combination of methods, to combat their own chatter. They can include writing, decreasing screen time and seeking out nature and physical contact.
“You can draw an analogy to physical exercise, right?” Kross says. “I have five or six buddies who exercise regularly. Most of us have different routines that work for us optimally, given our schedules, who we are, how our bodies work. The same is true when it comes to the mind.”
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