Coaching practices for Self Focused Attention Performance

Describe almost anything you are working through and IX Coach finds the practices whose real-world fit is closest. For Self Focused Attention Performance, these are the strongest matches in the current practice library.

Does this sound like the set of challenges you might be facing?

• The moment I’m up there performing, my head fills with "how do I look, am I blowing this, what are they thinking"
• In the middle of performing my mind is so crowded
• My attention feels welded to the inside of my own head
• The instant my mind has nothing to hold onto it floods with instructions and second-guessing
• In any conversation I’m so busy watching myself

Practices that may help

1. Shift to task-focused attention under performance anxiety
   Redirect attention from self-monitoring and outcome worry to the specific process cues of the task at hand.
   Attentional Deployment, Made Practical
2. Use a process goal as an in-performance attention anchor
   Convert your most important process goal into a single attention cue that runs during the performance.
   Process vs. Outcome Goals in Sport and Performance
3. Attention training technique (ATT)
   Practice deliberately shifting attention across sounds — a drill that builds attention flexibility and reduces self-focus.
   Metacognitive Therapy, Made Practical
4. External Focus of Attention, Made Practical
   External focus of attention — directing attention to the intended effect of a movement (where the ball goes, where force is applied) rather than to body mechanics — consistently outperforms internal focus for both skill learning and execution. Gabriele Wulf’s OPTIMAL theory proposes two mechanisms: external focus activates automatic motor control processes, and it enhances competence need satisfaction. Effect sizes in controlled experiments are moderate to large.
5. Give Self 2 a concrete focus anchor
   Occupy Self 1 with a specific sensory observation task so it stops issuing unhelpful instructions.
   The Inner Game: Quieting Self 1
6. Shift attention outward during social situations
   Direct your focus to what the other person is saying and feeling, not to how you appear.
   The Spotlight Effect: Why You Think Everyone Is Watching
7. Direct focus to controllables only, especially under pressure
   When pressure is highest, narrow attention to what you can directly influence — and let everything else go.
   The Clutch State: Performing Under Pressure
8. Use more distal external focus for greater performance benefits
   Focus further from the body (on the target, not the implement) for the largest attention benefit.
   External Focus of Attention, Made Practical
9. Direct attention to the effect of the movement, not the movement itself
   Attend to where the ball goes or where force lands — not to how your arm or leg moves.
   External Focus of Attention, Made Practical
10. Install a focus cue as the final routine step
    End every pre-performance routine with one specific cue that triggers full attentional commitment to the task.
    Pre-Performance Routines, Made Practical

Describe your situation in your own words to search the complete practice library.