Motel to Mansion Mindset—4 Mindset Strategies for Success
by: Josh Bryant
Fred Hatfield, the master of mindset.
The most worn-out cliché in sport is that 90 percent of performance is mental. The reality is over 90 percent of coaches and athletes spend 100 percent of their time working on sport fundamentals and physical aspects.
Neglecting the mental aspect can be the difference, in sport, between victory and pulling splinters out of your ass from riding the pine; in business, the difference between being broke and riding around in a big Cadillac and smoking $50 cigars.
Today, we are going to look at four strategies to develop your mansion mindset, no matter how bleak the motel looks.
Myth of Multi-Tasking
Simultaneously, it is impossible for your conscious mind to have a positive and a negative thought. This is a big win for your mental game!
What you picture either helps your efforts or hurts them.
As a kid, in a basketball game, as I was approaching the free-throw line to score two crucial points, a timeout was called and I remember a well-intentioned team member said to me, “Whatever you do, don’t miss.” At this point, I was jumpier than a virgin at a prison rodeo! I pictured missing the free throw. Thankfully, in the huddle, post remark, my coach said to me, “You shoot 100 free throws a day for reason. Do what you do, you’re ready.” Immediately, a switch flipped and execution became my focus and I hit both free throws.
Bottom line is, if you concentrate on the outcome (not missing a free throw/lift, whatever) you can’t concentrate on executing the process. In sport or any goal-oriented activity, you need to detach yourself from the outcome and focus on the process of execution!
Picture < Words
The words you say are a means to an end! What really matters is what those words cause you to picture. This is self-talk 101 and why we included an entire section on it in Grounded in Gratitude. Tell yourself not to squat high and you will be thinking about squatting high, it would have had the same effect to just say to yourself , “Squat high.” Conversely, had depth been as issue, you can tell yourself, “Execute proper depth” and that will be your focus.
If I tell you not to focus on the pink elephant in the room, where does your focus go?
Your self-talk, the meaning of the words you convey, builds or tears down your self-image which is simply a summation of your habits and attitudes.
Subconscious Mind = Power Source
The veer option play in football requires the quarterback to makes reads on defensive players and he then distributes the ball according to the defensive reaction to the offense; he can keep the ball, hand it off to the fullback or pitch it to the tailback. This requires making multiple reads and a decision instantaneously. Greatness in about anything, be it sport or dismembering multiple inebriated attackers in some mobile home turned trailer park in a West By God Virginia dive bar, requires you to do many things at once albeit the conscious mind can only concentrate on one thing at a time.
Enter the unlimited power of your subconscious mind . All great performances are accomplished subconsciously. The way to get to Carnegie Hall is practice, practice, practice; meaning you develop skills consciously and then subconsciously can automatically execute the imbedded program(s). The best performances happen when you allow your well-trained subconscious mind to do the work, it is your built-in personal assistant. Elite-level athletes make complex tasks look effortless because a well-trained assistant outside of themselves is taking over and operates in a blissful state where problems don’t exist, just possibilities and solutions.
Be warned, your conscious mind can override your subconscious mind. If this happens, you will quickly go from the outhouse to the penthouse! If you try thinking about exact footing in a boxing match, you will become acquainted with the canvas. Do the right things consciously in practice is how to train your subconscious to work for you.
Reinforcement Principle
Thoughts are things. The more you think about something, talk about it or write it down, the more likely it is to come to pass. Every time you think positive thoughts of victory the more likely these positive thoughts will manifest; unfortunately, the same is true for negative ones. This happens because you are creating imprints on your self-image that determine what is like you and what is not like you; your subconscious mind will do everything in its power to align with what’s like you! Your personal assistant does not want to make its boss a liar.
Every time you picture a problem, your self-image shrinks and when you picture a solution, it grows . Set your thoughts and words on what you need to do to be your best.
Final Thoughts
“Watch your thoughts for they become words.
Watch your words for they become actions.
Watch your actions for they become habits.
Watch your habits for they become your character.
And watch your character for it becomes your destiny.
What we think, we become.
-Margaret Thatcher
Develop the successful mindset HERE!
