“Be Elite” Series: How To Be Intentional On The Field

Some of the most successful people have mastered skills and strategies that have helped propel them to their peak performance. Whether they perform as an athlete, business leader, or in another type of field, this set of skills spans across professions.

In this series of articles, I'll break down the most-used mental performance skills of the elite. If you missed the first article in this series, read through "Be Elite" Series: How To Be Present On The Softball Field and learn how the best performers master the art of mindfulness. In this article, I'll share how the elite-level strategy of being intentional can help you perform at your best.

To be intentional means you do something on purpose. There is a reason or meaning behind your thought, action, or behaviors.

Think about the last time you remember doing something on purpose. For example, maybe you bought a specific gift for a specific person recently, and you gave them that specific gift because there was a special reason behind it. You put thought into what that gift would mean to that person and the reason you wanted to give them that particular gift. You probably spent a little bit of time thinking about the person (their personality, likes, dislikes), researching gifts you thought they'd like or could use, and time planning how you would give it to them. You were intentional with your giving, and whether they liked the gift or not, the fact that you put that much thought and effort into giving them a gift was surely noticed and appreciated.

What other examples can you think of when you did something on purpose? With intent? Think about this. How successful was the outcome when you were intentional compared to if you had no purpose behind your action?

As we discussed above, being intentional means doing something on purpose or with meaning. A good way to start practicing being intentional is to start by defining what's important to you (your values) and what guides how you function and live (your morals).

Another good exercise is to think about what motivates you to play softball (your purpose). Thinking through these things first (before any action) can truly help you understand why you're engaging in an activity or interaction. After you figure out these things, articulate your goals. What is it you want to see happen by doing the action or engaging in the interaction? You can then proceed with a full goal-setting process, if needed.

Next, give yourself a plan. Plan what you'll do and how you'll do it (when possible). Even if you end up not following your plan, you are more likely to be successful than if you don't plan at all (Experimental Psychology, 2021; Miyamoto et al., 2021). You can read more about why this is true in Pressure Points: Facing Your Fear Of Failure In Softball.

As you go to do the action, prioritize doing the things that will serve your purpose. Let go of or omit doing things that don't serve your purpose. Do your best to minimize distractions during this time. And finally, be present while you're doing the action. This step aligns with the first article in this series that discusses how the most successful people know how to be present in the moment.

Being intentional really is just slowing down and thinking through why you're doing what you're doing. How are your actions, thoughts, behaviors, and emotions helping you reach the goals you've set? If you find yourself scrambling to figure out the purpose, then maybe rethink what you're doing. This is the key. Do the things that have a purpose to you and you'll see your goals move closer and closer into your view.

Experimental Psychology. (2021, March 16). The brain is a prediction machine: It knows how well we are doing something before we even try. Research. Retrieved from https://www.psy.ox.ac.uk/news/the-brain-is-a-prediction-machine-it-knows-how-good-we-are-doing-something-before-we-even-try

Miyamoto, K., et al. (2021). Identification and disruption of a neural mechanism for accumulating prospective metacognitive information prior to decision-making. Neuron, 109(8), 1396-1408.