What separates the good from the great when it comes to performance?

The reality of any performance is that it's going to be emotional. As the stakes rise, so do the emotions in every competitive sport we see, from tennis, rugby, football, and athletics. The list is endless.

When it comes to big performances on the world stage, the crowds and global platform the athletes and players are thrown into are only one of the challenges they face that day.

We recently saw Nick Kyrgios, during his tennis tournament at Wimbledon, with outbursts and allegations, a cascade of emotion.

On the flip side of these things, dealing with and utilising emotion can separate the great from the good.

Goodness knows the emotions the England rugby team felt in their recent Autumn fixture with the All Blacks when they were a decent margin down, only to claw back in the final stages and nail down an unbelievable draw.

How every athlete performs always involves huge commitments and sacrifices. Many of the elite strive to get to the pinnacle of winning an Olympics or World Championships.

However, the number that reaches that level is tiny. So what separates the good from the great is their psychological attitude. To get to the point steering your moods is paramount, and having the ability to recognise and manage moods can make the difference between winning and losing.

In our future articles, we'll look at the individual factors that can underlie a person's mood and the impact of that, and how it can be facilitated in influencing behaviour.