Photo: IBJJF
Oh great, the one event that I shape my entire year around has been postponed, if not cancelled altogether.
With no Jiu-Jitsu World Championships to guide my thoughts and actions, I find myself lost to indecision, procrastination, and a good amount of complaining.
If only I could make myself see things differently…
What’s Reframing?
Without the IBJJF World Championships to work towards, I’m having all sorts of internal crises.
- My identity is temporarily called into question (so I’m a fighter who doesn’t fight?).
- I lack discipline without an end-goal in mind (why shouldn’t I eat this entire bag of candy?)
- The annual build-up of energy and momentum I’ve grown used to is now making me feel like a retired NFL player on a Sunday morning.
These thoughts are coming from how I perceive this less than ideal situation that life has thrown my way.
But it’s important to note that the negative notions about my “unfortunate situation” are only subjective truths, not objective ones. This is something for which I need constant reminding.
When you think about a situation, a frame focuses your thoughts and perceptions in the same way a frame outlines a photograph. Some things are included in the frame of your vision, and others are left out.
Change the frame, change what you see.
Cognitive Reframing allows you to focus on specific elements of a situation in an attempt to turn something bad into something good (or at least into something that isn’t as bad).
Developing the ability to reframe problematic situations, as well as knowing how to deal with obstacles like negative-self talk, are must-have psychological skills.
(Read more about the 4 basic sports psychology tools that everyone should be familiar with.)
Keep reading to learn about the two different types of reframing you can use when things go wrong: context reframing and content reframing.
Context Reframing
Definition
Change the meaning by changing the context.
In other words, you remove the problem from the environment where it was originally found. By shifting the problem into a different context, we can often make light of the current situation, thanks to comparison.
Another way of thinking about this is by asking yourself “why isn’t this so bad?”
Example
“This is my first time in 4 years not going to the World Championships – now my entire annual routine is thrown off!”
Reframe
Legendary jiu-jitsu black belt Wellington ‘Megaton’ Dias has competed at every single edition of the world championships since its inception in 1996. That’s 24 World Championships in a row!
When I compare my one missed year to the entirety of Megaton’s career, it’s a nice reminder that I have plenty of time and potentially dozens of future World Championships to compete in.
By placing my problem in a different context (i.e. a different person’s life), I can see how missing one tournament is not that big of a deal when I consider the bigger picture of life and a competitive career.
Read more about Context Reframing and the world of Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP).
Content Reframing
Definition
Meaning is determined by what you choose to focus on.
Questions to help you think about content framing include:
- “What else could this mean?”
- “In what ways is this positive?”
Rather than looking at why things aren’t so bad like we do when we use context reframing, content reframing forces you to ask yourself “how is this good?”
Example
“This time last year, I was in California, my favourite place in the world, getting ready to compete in the biggest tournament in my sport. Now, instead, I’m at home doing nothing.”
Reframe
1. Although I do get some help from sponsors and coaches when it comes to travelling expenses, staying at home means I get to save a bit of money to put towards future competitions and training trips abroad.
2. Likewise, not competing in the World Championships means no gruelling training camp. That means my body isn’t being held together by a bit of athletic tape and hope like it normally would at this time of the year.
Instead, I get an opportunity to go for long walks and runs and spend time doing yoga and mobility work every single day. I would not have this much time to take care of my body had I been getting ready to fly to California to compete while trying to manage the rest of my life.
3. And lastly, being at home means I get to spend more quality time with my family. Sure, I would love to be driving along the Pacific Coast Highway while listening to Going Back to Cali, but instead I get to spend time with people I care about before moving away for graduate school in the fall.
By changing what I focus on, the meaning of the situation changes, and all of a sudden things don’t seem so bad.
Read more about Content Reframing and the world of Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP).
Just Readjust
Reframing affords us the opportunity to reset when our minds are making the worst of a situation.
There is the objective truth of a situation, and then there are the many ways our minds can choose to interpret and shape reality for our own understanding.
What do you want your frame of mind to show you?
When life takes you twists and turns unexpectedly, or leads you down a road where you didn’t anticipate finding yourself, just readjust.
Take a step back and consider how else you could be viewing, or framing, the situation – you decide how you see the world.
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