As you know, we hit self-talk pretty hard.
That’s because your self-talk carries a serious super power.
Let me explain.
A classic tactic to get in the head of your opponent (especially in a friendly competition) is to ask them,
“Wow, what are you doing so differently to be hitting your serve so awesome today?”
If they take your bait (most will), they’ll be telling you the many bio-mechanically-correct methods of what s/he thinks s/he’s doing to achieve greatness, only to start over-thinking when the competition starts.
You’ve probably seen countless antics from elite-athletes trying to ‘get in the head’ of their opponent. Tennis players are infamous for doing this, whether its stalling, questioning calls, arguing or creating outbursts. And in some cases it works to get the opponent to start “thinking too much”.
Why is this?
It’s because of your subconscious mind and your conscious mind. (1)
You see, the subconscious doesn’t think, it just does.
When the conscious leaves it alone it will do what it has been trained to do, from, in many cases, many years of repetition, a.k.a, your habits, or your trained habits.
On the other hand, your conscious mind thinks about options.
It gives the subconscious commands. It’s like a garden in that you decide what you want to grow:
- Weeds or roses
- Grapes or thorns
- Strength or power
- Quick-feet or slow-and-steady
- Calm or erratic
- Wealth or poverty
- Muscle or fat
Your thoughts literally are the root for how you talk to yourself, ultimately telling your subconscious to carry out orders.
You control how you think. And how you talk to yourself. And what you want to “plant in your garden”. This process is also key to you having even more control over your brain’s most powerful chemicals, further creating good habits for yourself and stripping away bad ones. (2)
So, as we sign off today, answer this:
What do you think is stopping you from
realizing your most important goal?
Your answer might be more revealing than you thought. It’s possible that your conscious mind needs to give your subconscious an uber-clear mission. Then, your two minds can work together, train hard, train right and become an unstoppable force!
Until next week,
Your Team at Mental Strength
(1) The perfect starting point for your rock solid mental game is the Mental Strength and Peak Performance training manual. For a limited time, you also get 3 Pillars of Mental Strength FREE (a $49 value) with your purchase.
(2) See Mental Strength and Brain Chemistry featuring Dr. Brittany Rummel who has a Ph.D in Psychology with an Emphasis in Cognition and a Masters and Bachelors in biochemistry.
Mental Strength 
