(Photo Creds: We Heart It)
Fall is filled with games… soccer, football, volleyball, etc. Whether little league or professional sports, I have always loved being a sports spectator, and my boys brought that side of me to life even more. To be a part of a crowd, unified in support of a team and the energy that environment produces is life-filling to me. I can only imagine what it must be like for a top athlete or performer to feel that influence and channel it to bring out their best.
One of my boys and I were at a recent NFL game in another city, and to be honest, the crowd was just not that into it. Despite the attempts by the team to engage the fans via the cheerleaders and digital video boards, they just didn’t seem to want to get out of their seat and be active participants. As an avid Kansas City Chiefs fan, my son noticed as well and said, “Mom, I don’t think they realize the impact of the crowd.” He is so right. Good or bad, the crowd we surround ourselves with has a major influence on our performance.
I love that, because whether you are a musician, an athlete, a student, a mom or an office dweller, most of us need the “CROWD” to be positive and energized to achieve our best.
I wasn’t surprised to find out that for sports, there are experts in crowd psychology and how to impact the players in this category. Clearly, if you are a professional performer it is critical that you are able to play beyond the noise and stay focused. Perhaps it’s important for all of us to consider this as well. (We might just have to address that in another post.)
For today, the focus is on the impact of the crowd, and specifically, the POSITIVE POWER THE CROWD can have on us in the game of life. Is your crowd distracting you or cheering you on? Be mindful that just like fans can influence the outcome of the game, they can impact the outcome of our days and potentially success. Also be mindful that they cannot change your skill or ability, but only your emotional ability to perform despite or in spite of their noise.
My thought is that the crowd will always have some naysayers, haters or whatever your term is, and only we have the power to ensure we are in a crowd that CHEERS US ON so that we can MAKE the IMPACT we were designed for.
Find a GREAT CROWD OF FANS and if you happen to be from KC, there are no great GREATER FANS THAN IN CHIEFS KINGDOM! Stop by and we can show you what real fans look like.