The Art of Mental Training - a Guide to Performance Excellence (Classic Edition) (9 page)

While setting your own, private
goals, be sure that they are both challenging and realistic. Slightly
out-of-reach goals are best: inspiring hard work, yet still attainable with
dedicated effort.  Goals need to be set neither too high, nor too easy and
low—which would defeat their very purpose.  Goals should be written down and
reviewed frequently.  Goals should come in the forms of daily goals, monthly
goals and annual goals, and remember that what you are striving for is progress
rather than perfection.  Believe me, as you begin to focus on meaningful, specific
goals, the power of your hidden reserves will be unleashed and good things
begin to happen.

I well remember when I came to
meet Leo-tai with “Goals 1 to 25” neatly transcribed, which I proudly showed
him.

Leo-tai stroked his chin.

“Hmmm,” is all he said and I
was instantly on the defensive.  (Hmmm with Leo-tai never meant, “Well done.”)

“What do you mean,” I
demanded.  “Aren’t those good goals?  If I achieve those rankings, I’d be one
of the top kick-boxers on the scene.”

Leo-tai walked into his tiny,
immaculate little kitchen, and returned with two green teas.  “My friend,” he
asked, “Are these your goals or did you have help in deciding upon them?”

I wondered how that might be
bad.

“Listen, Danielsan.  Goals are
most meaningful when they are what you truly want for yourself, not what others
want for you.”

“OK, but I do want these
goals.” I objected, a little annoyed.

“Secondly,” he said, paying no
attention at all.  “What’s this you have written here, ‘Don’t lose in the early
rounds at nationals.’”

“What’s wrong with that?”

Leo-tai shook his head.

“How many times must I remind
you that you must make sure to state your goals in a way that emphasizes what
you want to happen, not what you want to avoid.  This ‘Don’t lose in the early
rounds’ is not a goal at all, it’s fearful.”

I looked at the 25 things I’d
written down more carefully now.  Around a quarter of them were
negative-orientated.  I scrunched the paper into a ball and having let the
paper fly, I made a perfect goal, straight into the waste-basket.

“So what am I supposed to do
then?”

Leo-tai beamed.

“There is nothing wrong with
your goals, but you must lay them out thoughtfully.  Ask yourself what you want
to accomplish over the next two or three years.  Make these your long-term
goals.  Give them a completion date.”

“Right.  And then?”

“Then think of at least three
things that you want to achieve within the next year.  Make these your
short-term goals.  Give them a completion date.” he told me.

“And then what?” I asked him.

“Then decide what it is that
you can do every month to help you accomplish your short-term goals.” he said. 
“Write these down.  These are your monthly goals.  Give them a completion date
too.”

“Set daily goals, that help you
achieve monthly goals, that help you achieve your short-term goals, that in
turn help you achieve your long-term goals.  When your goals fit together this
way and you set off to accomplish them, you make progress.  But first you must
make sure it’s your dream and not anybody else’s dream—this is the way forward. 
Any more tea?” he asked.

“No, thanks.”  I said.  I was
busy thinking about what he had given me.  With this framework it all seemed
comparatively simple.  I found myself consumed with the desire to start listing
my goals over again, more patiently, more logical, more perfectly.

“Do it now,” Leo-tai urged me. 
“Use the guidelines and the system of goal setting I just described for you.  I
challenge you to create your plan.  Start right now and point yourself in the
right direction by taking the steps necessary to begin to accomplish your goals
and dreams.”

Leo-tai poured himself more
tea.

“Think deeply.  Everything you
need is inside of you, inside your very dreams.  Goals represent your dreams
along a timeline, showing you the steps needed to achieve your success. 
Remember that every journey is taken step by step.  So start thinking.  Be
creative, take risks, try things, and most importantly, set your goals before
you—and believe in your ability to accomplish them.  If I were you, I would
start right now.”

For the next few days, I was
busy thinking and dreaming.  I took his lesson seriously.  I have never
regretted having done so.

Remember:  Setting goals is
critical because they help you achieve.  They represent your dreams along a
timeline and help you to progress.

The
Art of Mental Training

Once, after having knocked out
his opponent during a professional Mixed Martial Arts event, Renzo Gracie was
interviewed by a commentator who suggested that Renzo had only won because he’d
been lucky.  Without missing a beat, and with a shrewd smile on his face, Renzo
famously replied, “The harder I work, the luckier I get!”

What a champion—and what a true
champion’s response!

With very few exceptions, the
truth is that the best athletes usually turn out to be the ones who work the
hardest.  While most athletes will tell you that they want to win, very few of
those talented enough to make it to the top are willing to put in the hard work
and dedication that becoming a champion demands.  As a coach it’s easy for me
to spot the athlete determined enough to be willing to pay the price.  For a
start, it shows in the effort and consistency put forth during practice. 
Secondly, the best athletes love the process of doing what it takes to become the
best they can be.  There’s a measurable difference in their level of commitment
and confidence over most athletes because they actually enjoy working hard at
getting better.

Listen to what legendary
football coach Vince Lombardi once wrote about this type of commitment.  “A man
can be as great as he wants to be,” he said.  “If you believe in yourself and
have the courage, the determination, the dedication, the competitive drive, and
if you are willing to sacrifice the little things in life and pay the price for
the things that are worthwhile, anything can be done.  Once a man has made a
commitment he puts the greatest strength in the world behind him, this thing we
call heart power.  Once a man has made this commitment, nothing will stop him
short of success.  The harder you work the harder it is to surrender.”

Yet in spite of this, quite
often an athlete with astonishing levels of God-given talent chooses to cruise
along without putting much effort into improving himself.  He gets comfortable
and rather than working hard to take his talent onto another level, he doesn’t
put in the work required.  Eventually, many harder-working athletes will
surpass such athletes.  So don’t be discouraged if you’re not exactly what a
coach would consider a huge talent.  Hard work, effort and enthusiasm will
still bring you good results as long as you stay the course.   And if you
happen to be extremely talented, just remember that such talent can be either a
blessing or a curse. Talent is no blessing if you let yourself stagnate because
playing well comes relatively easily to you.  The mental athlete knows that in
order to excel one can’t just do enough to get by.

After one of my young students
won a national championship I asked him if it felt good to see all his hard
work finally pay off.  He admitted that it felt pretty good, that he was really
happy.

“So what are your plans now Mr.
National Champ?” I teased him.  “Are you going to take a break?”

“No way,” he said.  “Now every
kid wants to beat me, I have to work even harder now if I’m going to stay
champion.”

Smart ten-year-old.  He’d
already realized that he was going to have to work harder than ever in order to
maintain his high level of success.  Yet I could tell by the gleam in his eye
that he was excited about the prospect.

The truth is that real
champions want to do the work.  They are willing to do not only whatever it
takes to get to the top, but also whatever it takes to stay at the top.  True
champions are willing to pay the price in order to improve.

Think about what Renzo Gracie
told that commentator, “The harder I work, the luckier I get!”

So how determined are you to
make your own luck happen?

Remember:  Once you really
make the commitment to work hard at becoming a champion, something powerful is
set in motion—heart power.

The
Art of Mental Training

Many times, after working with
a professional fighter or an advanced grappler, they thank me for having shown
them something they claim never to have been taught before.  That makes me feel
great, and one reason for my gratification is because they trust me enough to
admit that (even as great competitors) they don’t know it all.  That’s a true
champion, in a nutshell.  A true champion always recognizes that, if you’re
open to learning something today, it can make you an even greater champion
tomorrow.

There’s never a stage in our
careers when we’ve learned so much that there’s nothing left to learn.  And
this is even truer once you realize that, in almost every case, champions are
made, not born.

A true champion accepts that
(as great as he or she may currently be) it’s not what they know that’s
important; it’s what they can still learn that makes the biggest difference. 
They know that in order to reach their highest possible level they have to
strive for constant and daily improvement.  And they know that the fastest way
to improve is to work, not on their strengths, but on their weaknesses.

Therefore, in order to improve,
the mental athlete must be resolutely clear on exactly what his strengths and
weaknesses are.  Then (and this is the important part) he or she must determine
to change weaknesses into strengths.

Take the true example of a
young and gifted tennis player with a devastating serve and a wonderful
forehand, but a rather weak backhand, always slicing it back to her opponent. 
Once while she was working with her coach, belting back excellent forehand
after forehand, she overheard someone say that her forehand was so reliable
already that she was crazy not to concentrate on her backhand.  For the next
couple of weeks she told her coach she wanted to concentrate entirely upon
upgrading her backhand.  Shortly thereafter she achieved one of her biggest
career wins ever, toppling the world’s top-ranked player in the second round of
an international tournament!  She had changed a weakness into one of her
strengths.

Your game plan ought to be the
same: pinpoint your weaknesses and set out to work extra hard on them.  While
it’s true that it’s important to work on all aspects of your game, a champion
knows that a good opponent will find and exploit any weaknesses; therefore he
develops an action plan to target and improve on all the things that he knows
are not his strongest points.

So . . . what don’t you do
quite so well?  And do you have an action plan to change it?  Look at your game
like a champion.  Set out to make yourself better than ever by pinpointing what
to improve!  And don’t put it off because some parts of your game are already
working.  Adapting to good advice that comes your way, and working hard to
change your weaknesses into strengths will help take your entire game to
another level.

So commit yourself, get an
action plan in place and make it a point to improve by setting out to transform
your weaknesses into strengths.

Remember:  Successful people
have the self-discipline to do the things that have to be done, whether they
enjoy them or not.

The
Art of Mental Training

Changing your state.  What’s
that mean, exactly?

Remember my unbeliever from
Chapter One?  What kind of state was he in before he turned it around?  If you
recall, he was in a very disempowered state when he sought me out.  He was
nervous, fearful, anxious, tense, and entirely lacking self-confidence.  In
short, there was no way that he could do well in competition unless he changed
his state.

So what did he do in those few
minutes that made all the difference?

Recall that, with little
coaching, he changed his state from being totally fearful and disempowered, to
being totally confident and prepared for competition.  He literally became an
unchained force of dominance. And he did it so quickly!

I promised that I would teach
you how to do what he did, so here we go.  With everything you've learned so
far, I know you are ready.  Here’s what you need to understand; and here’s
exactly how to go about doing it for yourself.

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.

The First Critical Element: 
Self-Talk.  Ask yourself:  What would the self-talk of a champion sound like as
he prepared for competition?

I took my unbeliever aside and
I asked him a simple question.  “If you were a great champion with tons of
experience at this level, and if you had an incredible record, and if you were
at the top of your game where no one could touch you, what would your self-talk
sound like as you prepared to go into this match?”

My unbeliever looked at me.  “I
don’t know, coach.”

"Well how about things
like:  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.  I conquer . . . Or how about these?  I can
have it, I can do it, I take charge, I win, I keep going, I’m tougher, I stop
my opponent, I’m ready.  Get the idea?” I asked.