Which do you focus on more: the process or the outcome of your game?
Many athletes will say they focus purely on the outcome or the result. That’s all that matters to them. While others will say they focus more on the process, since the process is what leads to the result.
Both can be helpful, but one can be very hurtful if thought about in the wrong way.
What I’ve done below is explained what outcome and process focus look like, how they can help you, and how one can hold you back within your game.
Outcome Focus Explained
Outcome focus occurs when you think more about the outcome than anything else. Your attention is consumed with what the result will be.
This can involve the result of a play, a game, or even a season.
Outcomes are everywhere within sports, so it makes sense that as athletes, we will focus on the outcome. It’s a natural type of focus to have.
Here are some of the most common outcomes athletes focus on:
- The score
- Stats
- Winning or losing
- Making a team
- What coach thinks
- Playing time
- Making a mistake
Outcomes involve what will happen. They are all about the future.
The Benefits of Outcome Focus
Knowing the result you want provides you with motivation and direction.
As an athlete, when you set a target for yourself, such as achieving a certain stat line, that will give you motivation to do what it takes to reach that target.
You may also be the type of player who thrives under pressure. Focusing on an outcome such as needing to win the game can serve as an asset to you.
I’ve worked with players who did their best when they felt like they had to because the result of the game mattered more. Due to this feeling of the outcome being important, they strived to perform their best and they ended up putting out their best performances in such situations.
Process Focus Explained
Process focus involves thinking about the steps that lead to the outcome. This includes everything that goes into you getting the result you want (or avoiding the result you don’t want).
When an athlete is process focused, their attention is on what they can control. That’s what makes process focus so effective. The athlete is thinking about what they can control right now that will lead to the result they want.
Some common elements to the process athletes focus on include:
- Giving effort
- Aspects of mechanics
- Training and preparation
- Thinking
- Bouncing back from mistakes
- Nutrition and rest
The process of your game is controllable. And it is the process that leads to the result you want.
The Benefits of Process Focus
Results are only achieved through action. The action is what comprises the process of your game.
By focusing on the process, you greatly increase your chances of success. Since you are giving attention to what will lead to the result you want.
Process focus also works to calm nerves and let go of fears within your game.
Sports anxiety is driven by thoughts about what may or may not happen. These future-focused thoughts are reduced when an athlete is process focused. Since the mind is now centered in the present moment.
Process focus also helps fight against distractions. Because you know what you need to be focused on in the moment, it makes it easier to let go of distractions and recenter your attention when you do become distracted.
The Dangers of Outcome Focus
Thinking too much about the outcome can lead to worry and fear.
Let’s say you really want to win the game. That feeling of really wanting to win the game can quickly turn into worry about what will happen if you don’t win.
Worry such as this results in tense play, leading to underperforming.
Sometimes focusing on the outcome can actually keep you from reaching the outcome you want. When the outcome focus you’re playing with results in fear and anxiety in the moment, you will see yourself continually underperform.
When the outcome is the most important thing to you, it also makes it more difficult to move on from mistakes.
This is something I see in many athletes.
Since the outcome is so important to them, they get overly upset at the first mistake they make. This loss of composure then snowballs into many more mistakes.
When the outcome is your main focus, it’s easy to grow fearful and anxious and have a difficult time moving on from mistakes.
So while the outcome can be a great motivator, it can also serve as an inhibitor to you reaching peak performance.
The Perfect Balance
There is benefit in focusing on the outcome, just as there is benefit in focusing on the process. Though, there is also a great danger in becoming so focused on the outcome that the outcome is your main priority.
If that’s the case, you may find yourself playing stiff, scared, or with too much pressure.
We must strike a balance. But what does that balance look like?
Well, we want to see it like a system. The system that will result in consistently good games.
What you want to do first is set yourself a couple outcome goals. These may be goals for the season or a goal for an upcoming game.
For example, I may say I want to score fifteen points in my next game.
That’s my outcome target. That gives me motivation. But what does it motivate me to do?
To now turn my attention into the process.
Once I know that I want to score fifteen points, I need to ask myself how that’s accomplished.
What do I need to do from now until the game to put myself in a position to score fifteen points?
Then, during the game, what do I need to focus on that’s part of the process that will give me the best chance of scoring fifteen points?
Once you answer those questions, you will have a clear idea of what you need to focus on that’s part of the process.
This is how we strike a balance between outcome focus and process focus. We use the outcome to provide us with direction and motivation, then we turn our attention onto the process that will get us there.
Final Thoughts
There are two main types of focus you can have as an athlete: process focus and outcome focus.
Outcome focus involves the results of your game…what will happen in the future.
Process focus involves what you do in the moment, that’s in your control, that leads to the result.
Both have their benefits, but we must be careful not to become too focused on the outcome. That is where fear and anxiety develop.
What we want is a nice balance. A balance where we use outcomes as motivation and then focus most of our attention onto the process of our game that will get us there.
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Thank you for reading and I wish you the best of success in all that you do.
