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Mental Skills
Why is it that in some situations, our personal performance
is so good while in others we struggle and cannot seem to
get into the groove where we do our best work? Is it
because we forget, from one day to the next, the important
details of our profession or what it takes to excel? Of
course we all know that this is not the reason we sometimes
follow up a great personal performance with one that leaves
something to be desired. The answer to these questions lies
more in the inconsistent application of basic mental skills
that underlie our ability to perform - whether the
performance is in the boardroom, on the sales floor, or on
the golf course!
In order to provide a simple frame of reference to help our
high-performance clients understand how the human mind
works and how it can be made to work for us (as opposed to
against us) in high-stress, competitive situations, I have
created a set of simple Rules that I have called "The Rules
of the Mental Road". These key Rules serve as the backbone
of the educational process that ultimately yields the
development of a mental training process we call the A.C.T.
Model © - a practical set of mental 'tools' that you can
utilize to shape your thinking so that you can perform to
the best of your ability when called upon to toe the line.
RULE #1 STATES: If you want to climb out of a hole, the
very first thing you must do is stop digging.
Sometimes we dig ourselves into a mental 'hole' by thinking
negative thoughts, constantly reviewing and repackaging
them in our mind and sharing them with others who are only
too happy to reinforce those negative thoughts. If you want
to shift your mindset from negative thoughts to positive
and productive thinking, you first must choose to process
only positive and productive thoughts. If you do not stop
digging, you will not be able to shift your dominant
thought to the kind of positive and productive thinking you
need to turn yourself around and climb out of the hole. It
does not matter what the nature of the negative thoughts
might be, the first Rule of the Mental Road applies. Some
examples:
- Increased responsibilities that seem to deny you the
opportunity to focus effectively on anything
- Deadlines you feel are unrealistic
- Expectations you feel are unfair
- Sales quotas you worry about
- Monthly numbers you are told you must reach in order to
guarantee bonus compensation or worse yet, maintain your job
- Problems at home
If you allow yourself to be caught in a negative loop,
worrying about things that are not relevant to the act of
performing 'in the moment' your performance will not be
optimal. Rule #2 helps us to understand why.
RULE #2 AFFIRMS: The Mind Can Only Process One Thought at a
Time...
The human brain is capable of millions of computations each
second but our mind can only process this information one
piece at a time. The mind is not capable of processing two
thoughts at the same time! Try the following simple test as
a way to demonstrate to yourself the truth of this basic
tenet.
The task I would like you to undertake involves counting
backwards by 3s out loud, starting from the number 100.
While you are doing this, have a friend ask you to solve a
simple mathematical question (2x3 for example). Ready
begin: 100, 97, 94.
Interesting isn't it? If you actually tried to complete
this little exercise, you will likely already have realized
that the only way you can solve the mathematical problem is
if you shift your focus of attention from the task of
counting backwards, process what you heard - the equation -
compute and give the answer, and only then shift back to
the first task, once the mathematical question has been
resolved. This shift does not take long but undeniably, it
does occur.
If you truly could process two mental tasks at the same
time, you should be able to continue to process the task of
counting backwards without interruption while
simultaneously processing and computing the solution to the
math question. Would it surprise you to find out that
nobody can? Many people believe that they can process two
thoughts at the same time, but in practical terms they
cannot. What happens is that we switch back-and-forth
between different thoughts, albeit very quickly indeed
sometimes, but still it is a process of shifting one's
focus of attention from one thought to another. But what is
the impact of Rule #2 on personal performance?
Simply put, if your mind is only able to process one
thought at a time, it cannot process a different thought at
the same time. The implications of this Rule on performance
are significant.
If you take a moment to think back to the performances in
your life that you would categorize as being amongst your
'best ever', it is likely that you would report having
possessed a single-minded focus directed specifically to
the task in which you were involved.where your mind was
fully absorbed in the process of what you were doing. This
process-focused, undistracted, 'here-and-now' mindset is a
common theme reported by many high-performers at the moment
of their most brilliant performances, whether it is in the
arts, in sport, in business, or whatever. Some people call
it "Being in the Zone".
With Rule #2 in mind, what would the consequence of
focusing on something other than what is required at that
very moment, to perform to the best of your ability? For
example:
- Worrying about how you are being perceived by others or
perhaps fearing that you are not performing up to someone
else's expectations;
- Being focused on the results or the outcome of the
activity (the negotiation, the sales pitch, the
presentation).which may perhaps even be hours away;
- Distracted by some unrelated thought that is not directly
beneficial or relevant to your performance at that very
moment; and so on.
The consequence is that, if your mind is occupied
processing thoughts that are not related to your
performance, it cannot be focused on the process of
performing at the same time - in the moment - and it is
likely that your performance will not be as good as it
could be. Rule #2 serves as the foundation on which the
next 3 Rules of the Mental Road are built.
RULE #3 STATES: You Cannot NOT Think About What is On Your
Mind...
So often, we pre-program ourselves for failure by
expressing things negatively and thinking about them in the
negative.
- "Don't get nervous. There is nothing to be nervous about"
- "When you are up on stage Billy, don't focus on the crowd"
- "Whatever you do, don't slice the ball into that rough on
the right side of the fairway"
Because the mind cannot act positively in response to a
negative thought, by expressing things in the negative
(whether you state them out loud or simply process them in
your mind) you make it easier for your mind to focus on
exactly what you did not want to do. exactly the way you
pictured it in your mind! The second Rule of the Mental
Road affirms that you cannot NOT think about what is on
your mind.
Here is another little exercise to help drive the point
home. Take a moment to understand clearly the following
instruction: I DO NOT want you to think about the thing
that I will describe for you now. I do not want you to
picture in your mind's eye:
A BIG PINK ELEPHANT.
Wearing. PURPLE BOXER SHORTS.
With. BIG YELLOW DOTS on them.
It's tough to do isn't it? The only way you would not see
the image of the Pink Elephant in your mind's eye is if you
had relied on Rule #2, that is to say that you set your
mind intently on processing something else, another image
that grabbed your attention fully while you read through
the boldfaced lines above. The vast majority of people
picture that strange Pink Elephant in all its glory.even
though they understand the explicit instruction I gave not
to do so. What is the impact of Rule #3 on your personal
performance?
Rule #3 affirms that the harder you try NOT to think about
something, the more strength that thought and its
associated images gain.to become firmly entrenched in your
mind. You must learn to 'phrase' things (and picture them)
in your mind in positive terms, describing to yourself how
you want to think and feel while you successfully
accomplish the task that you are focused on, rather than
what you do not want to do.
Since you cannot NOT think about what is on your mind and
because you can process only one thought at a time, you
must ensure that the thoughts you choose to process while
performing are associated with the act and process of
performing, picturing in your mind's eye what you want to
do, how you want to do it and how it feels when you do it
that way.
[Stay tuned: Part 2 of this article will be featured in
December's Performance File.]
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