Perfect Poise, Perfect Life
Bring your body into balance and revolutionise your life
By Noel Kingsley
Publisher Hodder Mobius
AVAILABLE HERE
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Keeping something in reserve
Tom Varndell in action
Melbourne Commonwealth Games action continues with England Sevens staying relaxed and not peaking yet. Matt Majendie reports that Fiji are the form team and a stuttering England will be hard pressed to beat them. But England's Tom Varndell rubbished that as nonsense. He told Matt: "Ok, we're not quite clicking but, look at it this way - at least we're not peaking too early. We've shown this season what we can do against the big sides in the big tournaments. Since our semi-final win over Samoa we've put our feet up and tried to unwind. We're pretty relaxed and still very confident."
Not peaking under such pressure must be enormously difficult, particularly when there are such expectations, anxieties and nerves. Staying cool is a challenge, but if they can, we could be in for some good results.
Knowing when to give it your 'all' and when not to, is very difficult. This can apply to many other things in life too, from social situation to business, musical performance as well as sport. It's so easy, when the pressure is on and we're experiencing stress to give it our 'all' and consequently jeopardizing our chances with further opportunities. When you've blown your top, exhausted your potential, there's nothing left. Timing is all important. It's not about 'holding back' per se, as this almost requires resistance and effort. It's about not emptying the tank and keeping energy, both emotional and physical in reserve. Then we have more to offer should the occasion require it.
It's about knowing exactly when to give it everything we've got. That may be for a concert performance, business meeting, or sport, but in each case, we'll know there's time afterwards for recovery before the next occasion. What trips us up is when we're on a roll of having to perform at peak all the time, then we'll exhaust ourselves and our performance will suffer. It's such a delicate balance and we learn by our mistakes. Let's hope England have timed it right.
