The Emotionally Intelligent Athlete: Formula for Success On and Off the Field

The arena is filled to capacity. There is 1 second left on the clock. Your team is 2 points down. You have just gotten fouled while attempting a 3-point shot, which means you now have the opportunity to make three straight free-throws to win the game. The opposing fans are screaming like crazy trying to will you to miss. How confident are you that you could make those free throws?

As a kid growing up I used to wonder what separated the folks who could make those free-throws from the people who couldn’t. After all, most of the players were big and strong. Nearly all of them could jump high and run fast. Each of them had been playing that sport all of his or her life, and had taken thousands of free-throws. It should be automatic that these shots would go in…but they sometimes don’t.

Interestingly, fans get to know who will make those shots on a consistent basis and who will not. There is something that certain sports stars have that make them different, from all of those others who might be just as strong, just as fast, and who could jump just as high. I believe it is emotional intelligence. Here are a few examples of where EI comes into play to produce success on the field:

• Emotional self-awareness - The ability to tune into one’s emotional state, particularly in high stress situations.
• Assertiveness - The ability to act quickly and decisively when need be.
• Self-actualization - The ability to control emotions in such a way to allow one to set and achieve realistic goals.
• Social responsibility - Subscribing to “there is no ‘I’ in team”
• Flexibility - The ability to change course if the situation changes.
• Impulse control - The ability to delay gratification.
• Stress tolerance - The ability to withstand incredible amounts of stress.
• Optimism - Being confident about one’s chances of success.

Aren’t these important qualities to have off of the field as well?

In communities across America, it has become an all too familiar story on the nightly news. Another athlete has been arrested. Whether the crime is sexually assaulting someone, driving while intoxicated, running a dog-fighting circle, or carrying an illegal gun, we frequently watch our heroes reduced to less than average shadows of their on-the-field personas. We often ask ourselves how such a thing could happen given the money these individuals have earned and the celebrity the athletes have attained. Why would they put themselves in such a position? I think the answer is the opposites of the items in the list above.