About the Author: Ed OıKeefe is known as the "Master Teacher of Mental Toughness". He has consulted with athletes in the NBA, NFL, USPV, MLS, PGA, CBA, and much more about how to focus, concentrate, and enter the Zone through mental training and conditioning. Ed has created a one-tape program called "Focus Like A Champion" and a 6 tape program called the "Ultimate Mental Training Program For Athletes: Secrets For Speed Mental Toughness". Ed speaks to corporations, athletic groups, and works with individuals one on one.
"10 Master Keys to Ultimate Mental Toughness and Destroying Your Competition!"
1 Physiology: Your physiology is the fastest way to manage your emotional state! Itıs how you move, breathe. Do you hang your shoulders or keep them back? Is your head up or is it down? If you looked at someone who is really confident and put your body in the same posture, you would find that you would feel more confident.
2 Language/Self Talk: Talk more positive to yourself. Instead of saying, "I am lazy, fat, or slow". Say I am working on getting faster, healthier, and having more energy!"
3 Visualization: The best way to prepare your mind for an event. See yourself and the future the way you want it to be. More confident, athletic, successful in all areas of your life.
4 Questions: Thinking is the process of asking and answering of questions in your mind. The quality of the question you ask yourself will determine the quality of the answer that you get back. For example, if you keep asking "What am I doing wrong?" Your brain will tell you what you are doing wrong. However, if you ask yourself, "What can I do right now, to improve my situation, health, level of motivation, etc.?" Your brain will give you those answers.
5 Positive Self Image, and Self-Expectancy: How an athlete seeıs him/herself and what she expects of him/herself, is the basis on what her behavior will be. Itıs that internal thermometer that people live by. If they feel they are playing "above their head" he or she will automatically come down into her normal performance, because of her beliefs. However, if he/she changes what he/she believes about his/her capabilities then what used to be "playing above his/her head" now becomes the norm.
6 Emotional Power: This key is about creating only emotions that will support an athlete and move her in a direction that is powerful. When I ask most people what emotions they feel on a weekly basis, they will tell me 3 negative emotions (i.e worried, anxiety, stressed, depressed) to 1 Positive emotion (Happy, Excited, Motivated). Thatıs normal, but that doesnıt mean itıs what is possible. In my program I teach a series of exercises that release the negative emotions and allow you to feel more positive emotions. P.S. All athletic performance is based on the emotional state someone is in!
7 Creating A Positive Past: Athletes who focus on what theyıve done well, while working on improving are much more successful than athletes who focus only on what theyıve done wrong.
8 Create a Clear and Exciting Future: Knowing how to set goals and where you are going is a must. It is what keeps individuals and teams focused, motivated, and excited about what they want to do. If you donıt know where you are going, youıll end up where someone else wants you to be.
9 Programming yourself for Success: This is just taking all the steps and showing you how this impacts your mind and body. If you know that what you think about right before you go to bed runs through your mind 14 times while you sleep, you would know to rehearse mentally your performance because your mind will go through it over and over again. This is one of the best keys to accelerated learning.
10. Winning Through Intimidation & the Leap Frogging your Competition: This is a must read for everyone. No matter how old or how young. This idea is about how your competitors will try and use intimidation against you to get the advantage, and if you donıt know that it is going on, it will work. Start noticing how people try and put you down, or make comments that lift them above you. At those times you need to be able to laugh it off and manage your own emotional state.
The Leap Frog theory is about not thinking you need to be passive or think you are less than anyone, just because theyıve been in the sport, won more championships, or are older than you. In fact, the truth is, the true athlete knows that everyday is new and the real battle is on the court when you are fighting toe to toe. In other words, you can beat anyone, but you must be in the mindset of a champion first, or else you are just "trying" hard, but not doing what it takes to win!
Take these 10 steps to mental toughness and use 1 or 2. Then come back to them and use a couple more. When you do this you will start to notice a major difference in your sport and life.
3 Master Keys to enter the Zone and create the Peak Performance more consistently:
They are:
1) Your Physiology: your physiology is how you use your body. How you breathe. How you move. Whether you are moving fast or slow
Where your shoulders are at: Are they shrugged or are they back.
Where your head is at: Is it up or down?
Your physiology is the fastest way to change your emotions and the structure of you focus! In other words. Remember how you move when you are having an outstanding day, and walk, breathe, and move the same way. What happens is your brain will fire off the same messages you had the day when you were unstoppable. Also, you can walk around like someone else, and notice what it is like to move like him or her for the day.
2) The second way to master your focus. is through your language other known as your self talk. What you say to yourself and how you say it will determine how you feel and where your brain focuses. Your language describes what you are thinking and also determines what you are thinking.
Use phrases like: I can do this (fill in the blank)
I will shoot 4 under par today
I am shooting 4 under par today.
I get better as I go, and I adjust to all my mistakes quickly.
Point #2 about your language! Never ever, ever, tell your mind what it is that you "donıt" want to happen. For example, If you say, I donıt want to serve it out. Or I donıt want to hook this. I donıt want to have a poor back nine today. Your brain goes right to that thought, and that is what you just programmed your mind to do.
Instead of using "donıt", replace it with what youıd like to happen. I will hit it straight down the fairway. Itıs going right in the basket. I am serving it with power to Zone 1. I will have my best back nine ever today!
3) The third way to master your focus is through the process of visualization. Now, this is where I begin to teach you "How to Maximize your Performance with less Effort!" This is probably the most effective way to pre-program your mind and body before competition so that you respond without thinking and you compete naturally.
Key points: Visualize yourself performing perfectly, right before you go to bed at night. Whatever you think about before you go to sleep runs through your unconscious 16 times. (Now thatıs practice!) Also, go through any skill that you are performing poorly and see yourself perform that skill perfectly over and over again.
By simply learning these 3 skills, you can easily change how you perform. Go ahead and try it for a day. You may not be perfect right away, but thatıs okay. Once youıve used those 3 Master Keys, then move onto another one or two next two. Until then, Good Luck and those who focus like a champion feel like a champion!
