PERFORMANCE & WELLBEING SHORT COURSE
WORKBOOK | MODULE 5 ACTIVITIES
Building your wellbeing foundations for sustained high level coaching and management performance.
REFLECTION: WHAT IS RESILIENCE?
What us resilience and why is it important to develop resilience as a person who is managing a team?
What Resilience is and is Not
Resilience = ability to maintain functioning when under pressure
1. Resilience is a dynamic process, not a fixed trait
2. Resilience is cultivated by design, not by default
3. Resilience is about how you recharge, not how you endure
4. Resilience is relational and environmental, not solely individual
5. Resilience is about emotional awareness, not absence/suppression
Discussion: Ensuring Clarity about Resilience
Has this changed your views and understanding about what resilience is? If so, how?
As a manager, how would you ensure clarity about what resilience is (and is not) for yourself and others in your team?
AN EVIDENCE-BASED RESILIENCE TRAINING FRAMEWORK.
Fletcher, D., & Sarkar, M. (2016). Mental fortitude training: An evidence-based approach to developing psychological resilience for sustained success. Journal of Sport Psychology in Action, 7, 135-157.
DEVELOP A POSITIVE (PROACTIVE) PERSONALITY.
RATE YOURSELF HONESTLY AGAINST THE FOLLOWING 10 STATEMENTS ON A 7-POINT SCALE (WITH 1 = STRONGLY DISAGREE AND 7 = STRONGLY AGREE)..
1. I am constantly on the lookout for new ways to improve my life
2. Wherever I have been, I have been a powerful force for constructive change
3. Nothing is more exciting than seeing my ideas turn into reality
4. If I see something I don’t like, I fix it
5. No matter what the odds, if I believe in something, I will make it happen
6. I love being a champion for my ideas, even against others’ opposition
7. I excel at identifying opportunities
8. I am always looking for better ways to do things
9. If I believe an idea, no obstacle will prevent me from making it happen
10. I can spot a good opportunity long before others can
OPTIMISE MOTIVATION.
Identify/recognise where your motivation lies on this continuum
Based on self-determination theory (Deci & Ryan)
To optimize motivation, reflect on if/how you satisfy these three basic psychological needs:
• Autonomy (sense of control)
• Competence (sense of mastery)
• Relatedness (sense of belonging)
STRENGTHEN CONFIDENCE.
Four main areas to strengthen confidence based on self-efficacy theory (Bandura):
• Performance accomplishments
• Focus on recent mastery experiences (“if I’ve done it before, I can do it again…”)
• Vicarious experiences
• Draw on own and others’ experiences (“If others can do it, so can I…”)
• Verbal persuasion
• Manage your self-talk (“I can do this…”)
• Physiological states
• Interpret your readiness to perform in a positive way (“I’m anxious and this shows I care…”)
MAINTAIN FOCUS.
Accept and recognise the existence of distractions
Ask yourself “Am I focusing on what really matters?”
• Controllables
• On processes
• The present/staying in the moment
• Positives
Re-energising your focus
• Pressing the focus on-off (dimmer) switch
• Reflecting on work-life harmony
• Proactively planning physical and mental rest (detachment from work)
RECOGNISE THE AVAILABILITY OF SOCIAL SUPPORT.
Perceived vs. received support
Perceived support: Identify the specific person/people (in and outside of football) who best provide you with the different types of support:
• Emotional support (expressions of empathy, love, trust, and/or caring e.g., venting frustrations)
• Esteem support (information that is useful for self-evaluation to bolster a person’s sense of competence or self-esteem e.g., affirmation)
• Informational support (support relating to advice, suggestions, and information e.g., gaining ideas)
• Tangible support (physical aid e.g., someone covering a coaching session)
TASK: ENHANCE & REFINE PERSONAL QUALITIES.
As a manager, what can you do to enhance and refine personal (psychological) qualities that underpin resilience in Olympic champions?
Group 1: Optimize motivation
Group 2: Strengthen confidence
Group 3: Maintain focus
Group 4: Recognize the availability of social support
Additional Resource:
Sarkar, M., & Hilton, N. K. (2020). Psychological resilience in Olympic medal-winning coaches: A longitudinal qualitative study. International Sport Coaching Journal, 7, 209-219.
EVOKE & MAINTAIN A CHALLENGE MINDSET.
Control the Controllables
As a manager, make a list of what is in your control and what is not in your control. The areas that you identify that are not in your control will be useful to use for a subsequent task
THOUGHT REGULATION (LEARNING YOUR
ABCS).
MODULE FIVE
EIGHT COMMON THINKING TRAPS.
• Jumping to Conclusions
• Tunnel Vision
• Magnifying and Minimizing
• Personalizing
• Externalizing
• Overgeneralizing
• Mind reading
• Emotional Reasoning
PUTTING IT INTO PERSPECTIVE.
Resilience is about emotional awareness, not absence/suppression
1. What is/are the A, B, and Cs from the area(s) that you identified not in your control (see ‘Control the Controllables’)?
2. In relation to the B(elief)s, what are the possible thinking trips?
3. What questions can you/others ask to avoid these thinking traps?
Reminder about application of this from Module 4
In the last 2 weeks, when has this played out for you?
Sarkar, M. (2018). Developing resilience in elite sport: The role of the environment. The Sport and Exercise Scientist, 20-21.
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o08CF5p8ck4&t=1s)
DISCUSSION: THE ROLE OF THE ENVIRONMENT.
How does the football environment contribute to pressure you experience?
What does a facilitative environment ‘look like’ for you in your team/club context?
What can you do to create a facilitative environment for others?
CAPTURE THE LEARNINGS.
1. Ensure clarity about what resilience is and is not
• Resilience is a dynamic process, not a fixed trait
• Resilience is cultivated by design, not by default
• Resilience is about how you recharge, not how you endure
• Resilience is relational and environmental, not solely individual
• Resilience is about emotional awareness, not absence/suppression
2. Enhance and refine personal (psychological) qualities
• Develop a positive (proactive) personality
• Optimize motivation
• Strengthen confidence
• Maintain focus
• Recognise the availability of social support
3. Evoke and maintain a challenge mindset
• Reflect on what you can control and what you cannot control
• For the situations you cannot control, develop self-awareness of, and reframe, how you view pressure
• Regulate your thoughts by telling someone about your thinking
4. Create a facilitative environment
• Develop self-awareness of how the football environment contributes to pressure you experience
• To foster resilience in others, carefully provide an appropriate balance of challenge and support
READING.
Practical Resilience References/Reading
• Kegelaers, J., & Sarkar, M. (2021). Psychological resilience in high-performance athletes: Elucidating some common myths and misconceptions. In A. E. Whitehead & J. Coady (Eds.), Myths of Sports Coaching (pp. 234-246). Sequoia Books.
• Sarkar, M., & Page, A. E. (2022). Developing individual and team resilience in elite sport: Research to practice. Journal of Sport Psychology in Action, 13, 40-53.
• Sarkar, M. (2018). Developing resilience in elite sport: The role of the environment. The Sport and Exercise Scientist, 20-21. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o08CF5p8ck4&t=1s)
Academic Resilience References/Reading
• Ashdown, B., Sarkar, M., Saward, C., & Johnston, J. (2025). Exploring the behavioural indicators of resilience in professional academy youth soccer. Journal of Applied Sport Psychology, 37, 96-120.
• Fletcher, D., & Sarkar, M. (2012). A grounded theory of psychological resilience in Olympic champions. Psychology of Sport and Exercise, 13, 669-678.
• Sarkar, M., & Fletcher, D. (2016). Developing resilience through coaching. In Thelwell, R., Harwood, C., & Greenlees, I., (Eds.), The psychology of sports coaching: Research and practice (pp. 235-248). London, UK: Routledge.
• Sarkar, M., & Hilton, N. K. (2020). Psychological resilience in Olympic medal-winning coaches: A longitudinal qualitative study. International Sport Coaching Journal, 7, 209-219.
Resilience-Related Videos and Podcasts
• Myths and misconceptions of resilience (in high performance sport) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-WjkST2ijuc&t=11s
• What leaders get wrong about resilience
https://www.higherechelon.com/podcasts/what-leaders-get-wrong-about-resilience-mustafasarkar/
• Supporting Champions podcast on resilience https://www.supportingchampions.co.uk/127-mustafa-sarkar-on-resilience/
• Video animation on the role of the environment in developing resilience https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o08CF5p8ck4&t=1s