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* Please leave this thread in the open forum for a duration sufficient to allow members to become aware of the type of info available in the COUNSELING FORUM* Thank you!
Contest Preparation can be a monster for the competitor, his/her friends, family and co-workers. When one considers the sheer magnitude of the factors involved: Diet, supplements, cost, training, sex, performance anxiety, meal preparation, work/workout scheduling, tanning, and posing practice it is easy to understand how the would be competitor might have a few confused moments that could lead to the breakdown of important relationships in his/her life.
Let's start with some simple tasks to get started avoiding some of the stress involved. Who MAKES you feel stressed, angry, annoyed? Answer: No one MAKES you do anything, you choose the behavior. The good news is that thoughts are something we have control of, it will take some time to realize what we are thinking and ACTIVELY DISPUTE irrational, self-defeating thoughts! Yes, you can do it!
Once you beging thinking in terms such as: "I MUST perform well at this contest/ and or win the approval of important people or else I am an inadequate person!" The problems begin. You are setting yourself up for misery/unhappiness. Dispute these thoughts. Stick with your preferences. Practice telling yourself something along these lines-"I would very much like to win this contest, impress Phil Hernon, and have everyone who knows me think I am a great bodybuilder, but, it won't be the end of the world if I don't!" Much, much better for you and those around you if you think thoughts like those. Without realizing it, you have just taken a mountain of stress off your shoulders! Who wanted that extra load anyway? You didn't, you've got to squat today anyway, and enough is enough. The problem is people don't think rationally, we take catastophize, awfulize, and horribleize. We tell ourselves (with our bogus thinking) things like- "It will be awful if I don't win this show" or "I must place in the top two in my weight class or everyone will think I suck" or "it will be horrible if John Doe beats me, I can't stand to lose!" Again, irrational thinking that leads to despair, frustration, and anger that we sometimes feel and share with those we love the most! This is crazy (my clinincal opinion, lol) because although it might be INCONVENIENT for you to be to fail or UNFORTUNATE for you to be rejected by those people you wanted to impress, it could always be worse! You see many of us OVERGENERALIZE to the point of despair! Stay with your preferences of doing well and never escalate them into a DIRE NECESSITY, or a MUST! If you can reign your thoughts under control you will hardly ever AWFULIZE or stress out, or become an unbearable ass to those around you!
These are the type of things we can develop, discus, and make plans for together in the COUNSELING FORUM. Let's get together and have some fun! Please comment on this thread or add in expiriences you may have had in this area. I have done all of the above ad nauseum! It will help other board members become more aware and maybe help some relationships.
Sigmund Roid
Contest Preparation can be a monster for the competitor, his/her friends, family and co-workers. When one considers the sheer magnitude of the factors involved: Diet, supplements, cost, training, sex, performance anxiety, meal preparation, work/workout scheduling, tanning, and posing practice it is easy to understand how the would be competitor might have a few confused moments that could lead to the breakdown of important relationships in his/her life.
Let's start with some simple tasks to get started avoiding some of the stress involved. Who MAKES you feel stressed, angry, annoyed? Answer: No one MAKES you do anything, you choose the behavior. The good news is that thoughts are something we have control of, it will take some time to realize what we are thinking and ACTIVELY DISPUTE irrational, self-defeating thoughts! Yes, you can do it!
Once you beging thinking in terms such as: "I MUST perform well at this contest/ and or win the approval of important people or else I am an inadequate person!" The problems begin. You are setting yourself up for misery/unhappiness. Dispute these thoughts. Stick with your preferences. Practice telling yourself something along these lines-"I would very much like to win this contest, impress Phil Hernon, and have everyone who knows me think I am a great bodybuilder, but, it won't be the end of the world if I don't!" Much, much better for you and those around you if you think thoughts like those. Without realizing it, you have just taken a mountain of stress off your shoulders! Who wanted that extra load anyway? You didn't, you've got to squat today anyway, and enough is enough. The problem is people don't think rationally, we take catastophize, awfulize, and horribleize. We tell ourselves (with our bogus thinking) things like- "It will be awful if I don't win this show" or "I must place in the top two in my weight class or everyone will think I suck" or "it will be horrible if John Doe beats me, I can't stand to lose!" Again, irrational thinking that leads to despair, frustration, and anger that we sometimes feel and share with those we love the most! This is crazy (my clinincal opinion, lol) because although it might be INCONVENIENT for you to be to fail or UNFORTUNATE for you to be rejected by those people you wanted to impress, it could always be worse! You see many of us OVERGENERALIZE to the point of despair! Stay with your preferences of doing well and never escalate them into a DIRE NECESSITY, or a MUST! If you can reign your thoughts under control you will hardly ever AWFULIZE or stress out, or become an unbearable ass to those around you!
These are the type of things we can develop, discus, and make plans for together in the COUNSELING FORUM. Let's get together and have some fun! Please comment on this thread or add in expiriences you may have had in this area. I have done all of the above ad nauseum! It will help other board members become more aware and maybe help some relationships.
Sigmund Roid
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