In the modern era, sports have become a lot more then a recreational past-time. The pressure to perform can be very intense. The stakes have gotten so high in specific arena’s that individuals will do almost anything to get an edge. A side effect that often comes from individuals dealing with large amounts of stress is high anxiety. Yet, it is not hard to find young phenom’s, as we like to call them, dealing with this stress with aplomb.

How do these “phenom’s” manage to keep there attention where it needs to be in order to perform at such high levels. Lets take a look at major league baseballs Jason Heyward. Jason has soared through the minor league system to make the major leagues at a very young age. Here are some comments made by Jason and some of his teammates.

“I think he’s always going to be like this,” “He’s got that head on his shoulders and he’s very mature. He knows what he has to do on the field, and he’s always going to stay calm. He doesn’t want to get out of his zone.”

Further when asked if he shared some of the assumptions being drawn by the many who expect great things from him, he calmly said, “My only assumption is that I’m hitting seventh and playing right field today.”

“The fact that he doesn’t want to think about it just shows his maturity,” outfielder Matt Diaz said. “He just wants to think about today. I think that’s one of the reasons he is able to walk around so calmly, because he’s really only worried about things he can control.”

I have seen this pattern in numerous high performing individuals. They refuse to worry about variables outside of their immediate control, namely the future or more specifically outcomes (winning or losing). Because they maintain a focus on taking life one day at a time it enables them to stay more attuned to the reality of what is really happening. Hence, they are able to channel their energy more effectively to do what they need, what they can do.

Jason’s last comment was “it’s just fun, that’ really all it’s ever been.”