4 Irrefutable Truths of Mental Toughness

Elite performers understand there are 4 irrefutable truths to mental toughness.

1) We play at our best when we are loose, focused, and confident. Conversely, we play at our worst when we are tight, unfocused, and full of anxiety and doubt. For some of you, playing loose and confident is easy, but for most of us, it is not. We can, however, learn how to get our minds in that optimal state of performance through breathing techniques, positive self-talk, and visualization and imagery exercises - all of which I teach at Top Mental Game.

2) The best athletes have clearly defined goals and an understanding of how to get there. I'm shocked at how many elite athletes I work with at the high school and collegiate level that don't have a clear understanding of their goals. If you don't know where you're going, then it's tough to know how to get there. How can you maximize your time at practice? Where should you be devoting your energy?

3) Speaking of energy, elite performers understand that where their focus goes, the energy flows. When I flew helicopters in the military, our instructor pilots would tell us to be careful on what we fixate on outside the helicopter because the aircraft will have a tendency to drift towards where you're staring at. Same thing happens when you're driving a vehicle on the highway. A colleague of mine, Jenifer Larsen, recently went mountain biking for the first time. Her instructor told her the key to getting down the mountain safely was to get your head snapped around when she was approaching switchbacks. If she looked and focused on where she wanted to go, her body and the bike would naturally follow. What a great analogy for life and sports! Too often, I think we go through life as like it is happening TO us instead of focusing on what we want life to do FOR us. Focus on where you're going, and your energy, and eventually results, will naturally follow.

4) Elite performers know that self-talk operates like compound interest - it can either help you or hurt you. If you feed your subconsciousness negative self-talk, it is analogous to compound interest in credit card debt. It will grow, like plaque, over time without you realizing it, and your debt will grow exponentially. When it is crunch time, you won't have any funds to withdraw and you’ll have no credit left. Conversely, if you feed your subconsciousness positive self-talk, it's like compound interest in your investments and in savings accounts. Just like the compound interest in credit cards, it grows over time without you even thinking about it. The more you feed your subconsciousness positive self-talk, the more you have to withdraw when the game is on the line. 

How can you learn to abide by these irrefutable truths of mental toughness?

Contact me at www.topmentalgame.com 

Mindset matters!

Bryan