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SOM BATHLA
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5 Mental Shifts To Turbo-charge Your Performance
5 Mental Shifts To Turbo-charge
Your Performance
*********
“The path to success is to take massive,
determined action.” ~ Tony Robbins
Everyone would agree that above quote is the perfect recipe
with all the ingredients of success.
Success is Effect. Action is the Cause.
The action needs to be massive and determined. You cannot
expect success through lukewarm and fearful actions. You
cannot cheat yourself and your success by taking one step
further and then dragging two steps back.
You actions need to be massive and consistent in the
direction of your goal.
You need to be fully committed to achieve that success.
You would say, “Yes, I heard it now more than 1000 times”.
But, the issue is that human mind is a complex organ. Despite
knowing the benefits of particular actions, we don’t take any
steps towards that direction.
Who doesn’t know that daily exercise is good for
our body and mind?
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5 Mental Shifts To Turbo-charge Your Performance
Everyone knows, but how many follow through.
Who doesn’t know that drugs and smoking can ruin
your life?
But despite knowing the positive outcome of some actions,
and negative outcome of others, we still don’t change our
actions as needed.
Why does this happen?
This is because, our brains have a strong, complex and old
wiring formed through our parents, friends, society and
general surrounding environment which holds us back from
taking action. It is this internal complex wiring that
wants to maintain status quo.
But, if you are committed towards success, if your goal is
something that is dear to you, then you need to make
some important mental shifts.
In this report, you will understand 5 mental shifts that will
help you to change your mindset and jumpstart you to take
massive action. It requires determination and taking
consistent action. If you are ready to experiment this for the
next 30 days, you will definitely start seeing changes in your
behaviour and rise in level of performance.
These mental shifts are used by Olympic Athletes, high
performance in business, arts and music to force them
towards massive action.
If you understand and implement the below stated
principles, you will experience a change in your brain wiring,
your mindset and belief system.
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5 Mental Shifts To Turbo-charge Your Performance
With proper understanding, practicing and imbibing the
principles in your head, you will feel it more natural to take
action rather to sit idle on the fence.
So, let’s get into these mental shifts immediately.
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5 Mental Shifts To Turbo-charge Your Performance
Mental Shift #1: Take Stress as a Challenge;
not as a Threat
Most people view stress as a threat to them. They think that
stress is something they should avoid. But the individuals
who grow most are the ones who look at the stress
as a challenge.
Researchers call this response as a challenge response,
which is characterized by viewing stress as something
positive and therefore it becomes a growth stimulus. In
midst of stress people who demonstrate the challenge
response, proactively focus on the things that they can
control. If you know what you can control, you start doing
whatever you can do. Now you also know what is out of your
control and therefore make peace with uncontrollable.
So focusing on what you can do, in the midst of stress and
making peace with whatever is uncontrollable reduces the
emotions of worry and anxiety.
Science states that when someone is under stress, the mind
needs to release more of DHEA (dehydroepiandrosterone), a
neurosteroid that helps your brain to grow and is also
considered very powerful for anti-aging effects.
Only if you view stress as a challenge and make a
choice to face it, you will get supply of DHEA from
your brain. However, if you treat stress as a threat, you will
take all steps to avoid the stress. In this case, the mind will
release another chemical called cortisol, a stress hormone.
Researchers call the ratio between DHEA and Cortisol
as ‘the growth index of stress’. Those who view stress as
a challenge and not as a threat, have this optimal ratio.
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5 Mental Shifts To Turbo-charge Your Performance
There was a research conducted on the swimmers on how the
two groups consider stress i.e. challenge or threat. The result
of the research showed that the difference was that the
amateurs viewed stress as something to avoid, ignore, and try
to quiet. They felt stress would hurt their performance.
The professionals, on the other hand, interpreted the stress
and the sensations that came with it as an aid to their
performance; it prepared them to get the most out of their
bodies.
Dr. Robert Eliot in his book “Dare To Be 100” suggests that
we should work with stress instead of running away from it.
He states that the central ingredient in building familiarity
with stress is the perspective. If you view every miniature
departure from your routine environment as a threat of
major consequence, then life is going to be really tough for
you.
Legend Dale Carnegie once stated a clear formula for dealing
with stress with four simple steps. Here is what he offered to
us:
“Experience has proved to me, time after time, the enormous
value of arriving at a decision. It is the failure to arrive
at a fixed purpose, the inability to stop going
around and round in maddening circles, that drives
men to nervous breakdowns and living hells. I find
that fifty per cent of my worries vanish once I arrive at a
clear, definite decision; and another forty per cent usually
vanish once I start to carry out that decision.
So, I banish about 90 per cent of my worries by
taking these four steps:
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5 Mental Shifts To Turbo-charge Your Performance
1. Writing down precisely what I am worried about.
2. Writing down what I can do about it.
3. Deciding what to do.
4. Starting immediately to carry out that decision.”
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5 Mental Shifts To Turbo-charge Your Performance
Mental Shift #2: Apply W.I.N Formula
W.I.N. stands for What’s Important Now. This was the
acronym as coined by Bob Bowman, coach to the legend
Michael Phelps, an American swimmer, who is one of the
most prized Olympic athletes in the History.
In the Book No Limits- The Will TO Succeed authored by
Michael Phelps with Alan Abrahamson, Coach Bob Bowman
explains what separates Michael from all other swimmers.
Bowman states that if other swimmers don’t feel good,
they don’t swim good. But this was not the case with
the Michael. He performs regardless of whatever he feels
at any given point of time, as he has practiced this now for a
much longer period of time.
Above traits of Michael Phelps shows that high performers
don’t let their feelings govern their actions or priorities. If
something is to be done as a priority, then they perform at
their best, despite whatever they feel about that activity.
Their feeling is not important at any point of time; rather the
action towards the goal is important.
Similarly, author Eric Greitens, in his book Resilience states
that he is least interested in how you feel and more
interested in who you want to be. His success principle is
that it is your identity that should drive your action, and not
your feelings.
His formula is:
Identity > Action > Feelings
Whenever you are in a state of dilemma, ask yourself, ‘Who
do I want to become?’ The answer to that question will guide
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5 Mental Shifts To Turbo-charge Your Performance
you to the right action to be taken. The action that is
important to you – the action that will be defining your win.
The best part is that once you take action and move ahead,
you start to feel better.
Therefore don’t go by your feelings to decide your next action
step – chances are they will keep you hanging at times.
Moreover this is not a consistent way of operation. If you are
in a good mood on a particular day, you work your butt off;
but whenever you are not in a good mental state, you spoil
your day. That’s not the way; you can tread the path of
success.
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5 Mental Shifts To Turbo-charge Your Performance
Mental Shift #3: Re-calibrate Your Inner
Self-Image Thermostat
Our Self Image plays a vital role in how we approach any act
or goal.
Self-image is essentially how you view yourself—what
strengths and weaknesses you believe you possess and what
you believe you are capable of achieving.
Therefore, it becomes all the more important to first take a
close look at how do we see ourselves. Once we are able to see
ourselves as capable to do a particular task, then our action
will be aligned with our identity.
Jason Selk, in his amazing book, Mental Toughness
beautifully compares self-image with a thermostat. He goes
on to explain how it ultimately affects your performance:
“In this way, self-image is like a thermostat. If
you set the thermostat at 72 degrees Fahrenheit and
the room drops to 71 degrees, the thermostat then
sends a message to the heater to get to work. Warm
air rushes into the room, and the room warms up to
72 degrees. When the room reaches 73 degrees, the
thermostat tells the heater to stop working. All day
long, the thermostat governs the temperature in the
room and won’t allow the room temperature to rise
or drop from the desired temperature for long.
Human beings are the same way: we neither
outperform nor underperform our self-
image for long. That’s why it is so important to
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5 Mental Shifts To Turbo-charge Your Performance
set your self-image gauge high enough to achieve
your life goals. Set your self-image gauge too low,
and by definition, you’ll underachieve, because your
mind won’t call for the motivation to achieve more”
If you are in the habit of second-guessing your capabilities,
then you don’t have the right image for yourself to take
action.
How you can change your self-image?
Lanny Bessham, the author of Winning Mind at Hand
explains that it is a two-step process:
1. Mental Rehearsal: You have to frequently
rehearse and see yourself performing at the optimal
levels. Science has already proven the importance off
mental rehearsal and this technique is widely used in
getting great results in sports.
2. Mentally stating that ‘I am like a person who
wins”: While doing your mental rehearsal, you should
tell yourself, I am like a person who always takes
action and achieves the goals.
This mental rehearsal and personal competency declaration
to oneself do the job of changing your self-image thermostat
and help you see yourself as capable of handling seemingly
difficult goals.
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5 Mental Shifts To Turbo-charge Your Performance
Mental Shift # 4: Use Thought Replacement
Principle
Again Jason Selk, the author of Mental Toughness has
explained the importance of Thought Replacement Theory.
Thought replacement means that every moment and before
taking any decision, you have to weigh whether the thoughts
going on in your mind are supporting your performance or
hurting the performance. He states:
“The key to using thought replacement in sports is
to identify what thought is most helpful for
performance. If you determine what you want to
accomplish in any given situation then lock your mind on
what it takes to achieve that goal, you will have a much better
chance of reaping the rewards.
This is true in any setting—business, sport, or even social. As
often as possible, choose to think about the path to success
rather than the obstacles in your way. You have to decide
what you want and then put your energy into acquiring it.
Don’t wait for good luck to find you. Go out and create your
luck.
The only reliable method for overcoming self-doubt and
negative thinking is to supply something else for your mind
to process. In my opinion, the essence of mental toughness
is the ability to replace negative thinking with thoughts that
are centered on performance cues or that contribute to
improved self-confidence.
The central theme is to train your mind is to remain present
in the current moment. You cannot take any decisions in the
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5 Mental Shifts To Turbo-charge Your Performance
past; nor can you do something in the future. It is only the
present moment where you are sitting with your mind. Every
moment, you have to take some decisions and those
decisions determine if you will take action or just sit idle
doing nothing.
The requirement to attain the state of high performance is
to control your moment to moment thoughts and direct
those thoughts to only such objects that serve your ultimate
purpose. Only then you will be in a position to deliver your
performance on an ongoing basis.
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5 Mental Shifts To Turbo-charge Your Performance
Mental Shift #5: Understand and
Implement the Principle of Homeostasis
Homeostasis is a key concept in understanding how our
body works. It is formed with two Greek words: 'homeo,'
meaning 'similar,' and 'stasis,' meaning 'stable.' A more
formal definition of homeostasis is a characteristic of a
system that regulates its internal environment and tends to
maintain a stable, relatively constant, condition of
properties.
In short, Homeostasis is a system’s tendency to do what
it needs to do to maintain stability.
Homeostasis is happening constantly in our bodies. Here we
are talking about a system that is our body and mind. Every
cell in our body and brain is constantly working to maintain
a sense of stability—adjusting everything from our blood
pressure and heart rate to our pH balance and blood sugar
levels.
What is interesting to know is that whenever we push
ourselves beyond what is comfortable for our
bodies, our bodies responds by overcompensating
in the pursuit of creating a new higher level of
homeostasis.
This is the general pattern for how physical activity creates
changes in the body: when a body system—certain muscles,
the cardiovascular system, or something else—is stressed to
the point that homeostasis can no longer be maintained, the
body responds with changes that are intended to reestablish
homeostasis.
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5 Mental Shifts To Turbo-charge Your Performance
For example, if you start lifting the weight in the gym more
than you regularly to, your body will ask you, “Hey! What are
you doing? You’re pushing me out of homeostasis. Let me
see what I can do to handle this new load and calibrate a
new level of homeostasis.”
The law of homeostasis applies everywhere, it applies to
running extra miles as compared to the other day, learning a
new language, playing guitar or anything. You have an
existing level of comfort or skill or stability in what
you do. Whenever you do something new, your
body and mind improves its homeostasis and
establishes a new standard.
If you understand homeostasis, then you can convince your
mind to build your capabilities in any area of your life. It is
similar to the concept of what neuroplasticity is in relation to
brain, which means the ability of your brain to change and
reorganize itself, both physically and functionally,
throughout your life due to your environment, behavior,
thinking, and emotions. Neuroscience has proven that
our brains are malleable and can be moulded to
entirely something different.
With these principles, you can build capacity in any area of
your life, if you are willing to stretch beyond your current
capabilities.
Hence, don’t stress that you don’t have a skill or capability,
rather use the principles of homeostasis and neuroplasticity
to your advantage. You can master any bodily and mental
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skill, if you are willing to take action and go beyond your own
normal.
Cheers
Som Bathla
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