The Neuroscience of Journaling - Bill Porter

I want you to imagine you’re in your competitive environment. You might be a tennis player, weightlifter, or football player. Imagine you’re in the game point, on your final lift or kicking a field goal to win the match. When you’re here, where do you normally allow your brain to wander? Are you focused on the task at hand, or does stress, pressure, and performance anxiety take over, leaving most of your focus directed toward “What if I screw this up?” If this is you, you’re not alone. You may think this is a significant athletic flaw; however, in reality, it really just means you’re human. We all have these thoughts and feelings.

Throughout this article, I will unpack some of the neuroscience behind why this occurs and offer practical advice on how we can use journaling as a means of self-reflection to help shift that internal narrative and start nailing those clutch moments.

First, let’s get into the nitty-gritty neuroscience of why we experience these thoughts.

Stress, defined as a perceived inability to meet an external demand, is a common experience in sport. If you constantly feel stressed around training and competition, you may be stuck in a negative feedback loop. Poor training decisions lead to poor training consistency, which likely leads to negative training or competition experiences and, importantly, potentially negative expectations. This perpetuates something we call negativity bias.

Negativity bias occurs when our brains hyper-focus on negative things. This is often a highly emotional experience, driven by our amygdala in the limbic system. I like to call this “amygdala overload.” Our amygdala is responsible for emotion processing, memory, and decision making. That is a dangerous combination if I’ve ever seen one!

This can perpetuate our innate negativity bias by invoking feelings of stress and anxiety around performance, fueling negative self-talk — that internal dialogue that says, “maybe not today, buddy.” Importantly, this process is often ongoing and occurs before a match or training session even begins. This can shift our focus away from the task at hand, affecting our abilities during play.

So, if past experiences can lead to poor training expectations and consequently a negativity bias in our thinking, how can we create an internal environment where the inverse is true? Can we create a positive training experience, and hence a positive expectation pregame or pre-training, allowing us to better maintain attentive focus and prevent our pesky amygdala from sending us into overdrive? The answer is yes. I would like to introduce you to our good friend: the frontal cortex!

Our frontal cortex is responsible for executive functioning. This includes problem solving, reasoning, planning, and decision making. It also plays a role in impulse control, emotional regulation, attention, and focus. Great! Our frontal cortex is like that rational best friend who always gives really good, proactive, and pragmatic advice. There seems no better ally to lean on when we are stuck in amygdala overload, right?

So, how can we strategically alter our thought processes around our sporting performance? Allow me to introduce you to the world of journaling and reflective thinking. Journaling simply refers to the process of writing out your thoughts, feelings, and actions. This can be structured and guided, or free-flowing and intuitive. It can be long or short — that’s the beauty of it; you can adapt it to whatever works best for you.

Journaling has been shown to boost resilience, reduce stress and burnout symptoms, and reduce rumination on past events. It is also effective in mood regulation and behavioral change. All of these benefits are instrumental in combating amygdala overload and helping you become the calm, cool, collected, and growth-oriented athlete you’ve always wanted to be.

So, how do we apply this practically? I would suggest starting with a few simple, guided prompts. Let’s break some down and discuss how they relate to our neuropsychology.

Prompt 1: How did you feel about this game/session?This prompt is a great place to start, as it promotes meta-cognition — thinking about how we think. It brings awareness to our thoughts and feelings, validating how we may feel about our performance. Emotional awareness and self-validation are an important step in understanding how the training session or game may have affected us. This is important for emotional regulation, which in turn affects the way we plan and journal.

Prompt 2: What went well today?Remember that negativity bias we discussed earlier? That tiny voice that tells you you didn’t do well enough, or that you might not reach your goal. You wouldn’t talk to a friend like that, so we shouldn’t allow our brains to talk to ourselves that way! This prompt is designed to break that negativity bias, allowing us to see what areas we are doing well in. It helps plant the seed for optimism in future performances.

Prompt 3: What are the key areas to work on next time?Making things actionable gives you a clear plan and a source of accountability. Make this section clear, achievable, and practical. Focusing on being process-oriented will help promote longevity and enjoyment in sport.

Next time you find yourself stressed about your performance, ask yourself, “Am I in amygdala overload?” Try starting a brief journal with a few selective guided prompts after each session. Don’t be afraid to alter things and try something new. As long as it’s actionable and you’re aiming to break that negativity bias, find what works best for you.