Sunday Story...No Pain No Gain

Sunday Story….No Pain No Gain

No Guts No Glory
Winners never quit Quitters never win
When the going gets tough The tough get going
And on and on and on.

Mental Toughness is the glue that keeps us on task, especially over a long period of time. Mental toughness is also defined as taking control of your emotions in performance situations especially under pressure. This particular definition comes from Steve Siebold who wrote a book called “177 Mental Toughness Secrets of the World Class”.

Why is this important? I mean really what difference does it make it your emotions are out of control when you need to, oh I don’t know, jump into a lake to save a drowning child, or your boss is yelling at you wondering where the report he wanted yesterday went off to, or maybe as simple as cooking dinner for your spouse on a special occasion; why would having control of your emotions be important? If you are going crazy you won’t jump into the lake to save the person, you will just run around like a chicken with your head cut off. If your boss heaps too much on you might lose your composure and start crying…which is never a good recipe for long term career advancement. And if you spend all your time worrying about the meal you are preparing you will infuse the food with negative emotions and it will be very hard for it to turn out right.

Pressure makes us stupid. The more pressure we have the stupider we get. This is true of everyone. Another way to put this is that stress makes us dumb and we will do dumb things when we are stressed out. Even another way to look at it is that when we worry about things we can’t do anything about we will create negative outcomes for ourselves.

So how can some people handle pressure or stress better than others? How can Michael Jordan take game winning shot after game winning shot? By the way he was trusted to make that shot dozens of times and actually failed dozens of times. Does Michael Jordan’s genetic makeup allow him to handle stress better? Did he receive some double top secret training that allowed him to stay cooler under pressure than any of us could? Is there a book we all missed along the way? Is there s special college course that is only taught occasionally?

So, really, how is it that some people handle these things so well and others don’t? And even more importantly how can you and I reach that level of confidence and sheer chutzpah that would allow us to manage even a fraction of the stress we see a Jordan handling with so much calm and balance?

Here is the good news: There is no special double top secret ninja training, no secret book, and no course you missed out on. The fact is that people who handle these situations with ease are the same as you and I. With one very important distinction…their attitude toward pressure is one of welcome and gratitude rather than fear and trepidation. The want to take the game winning shot. They want to put their good name on the line. They do not run from the burning building, rather they run into the building grateful for the chance to put the skill, training, and hours of practice into play.

So how are you going to get that level of control over your emotions? What can you do today to start making your way into the ranks of the mentally tough?

Change your mind! Decide you can do this. Decide you are capable. Decide you are (insert noun here) enough to be that person. Until you change your mind and decide you want to be mentally tough you have little hope of really getting there.
Recognize your emotions. This starts with recognizing that they are there. We all have anger, joy, love, sadness, fear and all the rest of the emotional palette inside of us. These are the things that make life interesting and without them out lives would be far less interesting and far less fun.
Practice, practice, practice. Whatever it is you are actually doing you have to practice doing it. If you want to write a novel you have to start writing. Start with something simple, work your way into it. Get good at whatever it is you want to be good at. Michael Jordan practiced. Tiger Woods practices. Boxers and fighters train every day. Eventually you will be pushing your boundaries. You will get tired and exhausted and then you will keep going. You will know that you have something left in reserve to call on in time of real pressure. But only if you train hard enough.

Test your self under performance conditions. Preferably in conditions where there is less at stake. Don’t throw yourself into situations that you can’t control right away, rather, work yourself up in increments. Are you scared to speak in public? Don’t book yourself to do an assembly of 500 middle schoolers first thing. Better to arrange a small gathering of friends to practice on. Work into the bigger things. Don’t try to be a world champion your first time out. Settle for town or block or regionals to get your feet wet. Then shoot for the stars.

Pressure is pressure. How we look at it and how we let it affect us tells the world whether we are mentally tough enough, mentally ready to handle it. Will you crumble at the next stress situation coming your way? Because it is coming you know. Just like the 7:30AM train it is on its way already. The mentally tough are ready to handle the situation using their practice skills, their resilience and elasticity of mind and their attitude of welcome.

Namaste
John
“Teaching Focus, Inspiring Transformation”
www.martialartsnevada.com

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