Mental Toughness
Yumi is in the volleyball club.// She often gets nervous before a game.// She found a magazine article/that shows how successful athletes/develop the mental toughness/to perform up to their full potential.//
1  Let’s get tough!//
　　Mental toughness is the ability/to use the full power/of your mind and your will.// It will help you in any situation/in which you have to remain calm/in the face of difficulty.// Mental toughness means/focusing all of your attention on the challenge/that you are facing at the moment.//
　　Mental toughness does not come naturally.// It must be learned.// Just as physical toughness requires long, hard training,/mental toughness requires lots of practice.//
　　Athletes are ahead of the crowd/in developing mental toughness,/but almost anyone/—artists, musicians, actors,/scholars, teachers, and students—/can learn the techniques/that athletes use.//
　　If you are facing a difficult tennis match,/an upcoming concert,/or a challenging examination,/mental toughness will increase your chances of success.//
　　Here are your mental toughness key words:/Stay focused.// Relax.// Talk to yourself.// Use imaging.// Practice for failure.//

2  Stay focused.// Relax.//
　　You might be surprised/that even world-class athletes/get nervous and lose confidence.// Roger Federer/is one of the greatest tennis players of all time.// He is the winner/of 20 Grand Slam tournaments.// You might think/that he would have no problems/keeping up his self-confidence.// You would be wrong.//
　　Roger Federer/is sometimes plagued with negative thoughts.// He was playing a match/which he had perfectly prepared for,/yet somehow he was losing.// When asked how he felt,/he said,/“No matter how positive you are,/you just see negativity/flying all around you.”// So what is his advice?// Accept all the difficult thoughts and feelings/and just stay focused on the game.//
　　Usain Bolt, the Jamaican sprinter/who is considered the fastest man in the world,/knows the key to staying focused:/Just relax.// Bolt says,/“I try to be myself,/just be relaxed,/and be a fun person.// I try to find somebody who I know,/try to talk and laugh and just relax/and not think about anything else.”//

3  Talk to yourself.//
　　Stay focused.// Relax.// Great advice.// But how do you do that?// One way is self-talk.//
　　Your mind, emotions, and your muscles/all work together.// If you tell yourself you’ll fail,/your performance will suffer.// Champions use positive self-talk/to stay focused under pressure.//
　　Develop positive cue words/to encourage yourself.// Use these words/whenever you are feeling mad, sad, or scared.// Here are examples/of negative and positive self-talk://
　　It’s just too tough! /// I love new challenges!//
　　We’ re down 20 to nothing ! /// It’s not over till it’s over.//
　　I’ve never done this before! /// Here’s a chance/to learn something new.//
　　Whatever your game is,/switch off the negative/and turn on the positive.// If you’re a basketball player/shooting a free-throw,/tell yourself:/“That basket is as big as Lake Biwa!// I can’t miss!”// If you’re a golfer/trying to make a putt,/talk to yourself:/“It’s all downhill now,/right into the hole!”//
　　One more tip:/Talk to yourself in the second person.// Instead of saying,/“I’m going to make that shot,”/say,/“Chris,/you’re going to make that shot.”// “Sally,/there’s no way in the world you can double-fault!”//
　　It may not work every time,/but in the long run, it will.//

4  Use Imaging.// Practice for failure.//
　　Many champions use imaging.// Imaging means/visualizing the action/you are going to take:/shooting a basket/or passing a football.// Imaging is not just making pictures/in your mind.// It also involves hearing,/feeling,/and thinking.//
　　Emily Cook,/an Olympic skier,/used imaging.// By imagining the smell of the snow,/the wind on her neck,/and the roar of the crowd,/Cook increased her focus and confidence.// She says,/“You have to hear it.// You have to feel it,/everything.”//
　　Nicole W. Forrester,/an Olympian/and eight-time Canadian high jump champion,/spent hours/imaging what she wanted to do.// She would even create bad scenarios that could occur,/and then image a successful response.//
　　Tennis great Serena Williams/also images failure.// She will imagine/she’s down 15 to 30/and hitting her second serve;/she simply can’t double-fault!// Feeling pressure during practice/helps her alleviate nervousness on game day.//
　　Stay focused.// Relax.// Talk to yourself.// Use imaging.// Practice for failure.// These techniques work for world-class athletes.// They can also help you develop the mental toughness you’ll need/to meet new challenges.// Win or lose,/with mental toughness/you will be ready for whatever comes next.//