Mental Toughness books learnings

“Whatever is going on inside your head, has everything to do with how well you end up performing.”

‘The warrior/champion understands that a bad attitude can cost him everything. It affects not only how you feel, but also how you perform’

Control your mind and you will control your life!
“Mental control starts with a decision“

After a certain point, you don’t need to develop your skills anymore, but your mental competence to use them.

“A champion teaches himself the skill of turning things around inside his head… He learns how to look at a negative setback both as temporary, and even as an opportunity for positive change”.

“Never beat yourself up after a loss — there’s always something positive to be gained, even from a negative situation.”

Why is this so important? Visualization creates confidence and confidence allows you to perform in your peak mental state, maximizing your chances for success.

Are you playing to win in life? Or are you playing just NOT TO LOSE??? Most people play not to lose, the time has come to play to WIN in life!

So how can we manage fear? “Fear happens inside your head, and thus it can be managed.” This is encouraging. A degree of fear is normal, but it is important to stop it from getting out of control and taking over. The way to control this fear is to come back into the present moment and the easiest way to do that is again routed in mindfulness, in focusing on the inflow and outflow of breath and to be aware of your thoughts. Then drown out the emotion with positive self-talk and images. See in your minds eye little wins you have had in the past. Tell yourself “I can do this.”

“Pinpoint your weakness and set out to work extra hard on them.”

First is self-talk. Ask yourself what would be the self-talk of a champion before a competition?
Second, is the the way you carry your body. How would a champions body and posture be like as he is preparing for battle
The third element is breathing. How would the champion be breathing now? Maintain the self talk and posture as you focus on breathing like a champion would breath.

“Be totally in the Present… that is the key.”

“A true champion… learns how to feel no pressure, because pressure is created by anxiety, and anxiety can only exist if one allows one’s thoughts to wander away from the Present to some uncertainty in the future or to some remembered failure of the past…”

No matter what your game is, or what the challenge is, the difference between great performances and average performances is mostly mental. Once you reach a certain level of skill, it’s your mental skills that start making all the difference. The better they are, the better you become — and the better your results will be.

Pelé two keys to winning — Enthusiasm and a Mental Edge.

What does that mean in practice?

In three words: mental highlight tapes.

First of all, Pelé, to quote a teammate of his, was “always smiling and upbeat. You never see him bad-tempered.” He had a real enthusiasm for football. He seemed like a guy who’d get up, grab the ball and play a bit even if woken from a deep sleep.

But there was more to it.

You see, Pelé had a routine. Before every game he played, he would go into the locker room about an hour early, reserve a private corner there and lie down using a towel and cover his eyes.

And then, he would start playing his film in his mind’s eye. It was a film about his beginnings, on the sandy beaches of Brazil, the feelings of sheer joy in his heart every time he’d touch the ball. It was also a film about his greatest moment: the dribbles, the assists, the goals. Finally, it was a film about what was going to happen during the game that followed.

“He imagined everything before it ever happened. The crowd, the atmosphere, the field, his own team, his opponents, he saw himself playing irresistibly like a champion — as a force that could not be stopped. But most important, he told Gary, was to remember that it was not just about vision and imagery, but also about feeling the emotions associated with success. He pointed out that he vividly imagined how good it all felt.”

Enthusiasm and Mental Edge. These two had already prepared Pelé for greatness long before the physical stretching. You may call it arrogance, but it is not — it is confidence. And there is a big difference. Confidence is one of the keys to performing well; arrogance — the opposite.

Interrupt negative self-talk and images the moment they arise, shut them down on the spot. Replace them with positive self-talk and positive images. Concentrate on showing your brain exactly what it is that you want to achieve, never dwell on what you do not want to happen.

‘you have to believe that you can win, then that self-belief puts you in a position to win’

mental warriors make it a point to be ready. They’ve learned to manage pressure; they never fail to keep moving forward. They refuse to lose, they’ll never quit, and they will patiently work to find a solution and to find a way to win. Mental warriors cannot accept not trying.

You must choose to control anger through a decision. For if you lose control to anger — then the anger will surely control you’

Breathing

The first of these Critical Three is something you constantly do, but also something you must do properly if you want to prepare for greatness: breathing.

Of course, we’re not talking about just any kind of breathing: we’re talking about focused breathing, aka the technique most often associated with meditation.

It starts with drawing the air in deeply and slowly to the bottom of your lungs through your nose while expanding the diaphragm. Then, after holding it momentarily, you need to slowly push the air out of your lungs by drawing the diaphragm in.

It is important to let the air out through “a relaxed and slightly opened mouth while keeping the tip of the tongue pressed lightly against the ridge behind the front teeth, with the tongue touching the roof of the mouth.”

It is just as important to not think about anything during the process. Just observe your breathing and pay no attention to anything else. That’s the only way to relax.

Relaxation

We’re talking about both mental and physical relaxation. And we’re also talking about deep relaxation.

It is only in the state of deep relaxation that the conscious mind stops controlling everything and makes way for your subconscious mind to take matters in its own hands.

Imagery

Now, in the state of deep relaxation, you’ve opened “a direct channel to your subconscious mind,” and you’re ready to “feed it images and feelings of success.”

In other words, you’re ready to write, star in, direct and edit your “movie,” the one that describes how you’ve accomplished what you have so far and shows how you’ll accomplish even greater things very soon.

Just 20 minutes of deep relaxation is enough to prepare you for the final step of your journey to mental preparedness. Imagineering has to come from within you because only then it actually affects motivation and volition.

That’s how the Mental Warrior uses breathing, relaxation, and success imagery. He doesn’t do it once. Instead, he incorporates them into his training routine using repetition over several weeks and months, so that the success conditioning has a chance to actually be absorbed by the subconscious mind and to take root, thus helping to improve self-belief, self-confidence, and performance. Through practice like this, the Mental Warrior is able to engage and use the power of his subconscious mind in order to help him achieve his goals.

“Thoughts create the emotions and feelings that are the cause of your state,” “Whatever state that may be, your own thoughts put you there. “

“So, whenever you find yourself in a disempowered state remember this — you can alter your thoughts and your state by focusing on three different critical elements:”

Self-talk: Ask yourself, “What would the self-talk of a champion sound like as he prepared for competition?” If you need some inspiration, here’s what Gonzalez told Jeremy to use as the basis for his pep-talk: “I’m strong, I’m fast, and I dominate. I control the match, I never give in, and I never give up. I’m powerful, I’m a force of fury, I’m a force of dominance, and I am a champion.”

• The way you carry your body: Ask yourself, “How would a champion’s body be moving as he prepared for battle?” Even if your body language doesn’t shape who you are, it certainly shapes how your opponent sees you, right?

• Breathing: Ask yourself, “And how would that champion be breathing as he prepared to enter the competition and face his opponent?” You have the answer above.

“Especially when things are at their worst, your self-talk must be positive, encouraging, and empowering. Shut down the Internal Critic.”