By Dr. John O’Connor, PhD
I have heard many athletes blame their ego for a bad performance. As a psychologist, it always makes me smile. Most people don’t really know what an ego is, and they certainly don’t realize that an ego is not responsible for their performance that day.
Commonly, an ego is thought to be someone’s idea of himself. “He has a really big ego” is often used to describe someone who is overly confident, has a big head, or is cocky. When athletes say, “My ego got in the way of my performance today,” it usually means that the athlete felt overconfident, too self-assured, or too cocky.
Because of my years of experience in psychoanalysis, ego has a completely different meaning for me. Step into my office for a bit, and I’ll tell you what ego really means, why it’s not responsible for your performance, and what is truly responsible for a less than stellar race performance.
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