Cerebral Matter

Each week, “Cerebral Matter” highlights articles, anecdotes, and analyses related to the psychological aspects of performance.Mets pitcher Brian Stokes understands the importance of the mental game:As much as last season tested him, Stokes said he never grew discouraged. He returned home to California and spent some of the off-season performing exercises to improve his mental toughness. “It wasn’t physical, I knew, because I had gotten to the major leagues,” Stokes said. “But I learned that you work on your physical side your whole career and neglect the mental side sometimes.” Pay attention to the excuses you make because that may make a difference in performance:Self-handicapping is essentially excuse-making, but that which occurs before a performance begins. By conjuring these barriers to success, we attempt to establish a no-lose situation. After all, how can someone expect you to succeed with all of those obstacles in your way? And if you should succeed, then how amazing is it ...