With Winning In Mind: How Mental Picture Is Formed (Chapter 2)

This is a chapter-by-chapter summary of a book by Lanny Bassham's With Winning in Mind (2012) series. One chapter, one article. Read this summary, buy the book. Enjoy!

Let’s keep this short and simple, Lanny Bassham writes: “Our conscious picture is formed from what we think about, talk about, and write about” (as mentioned in the previous post, or by what someone else talks to you about). So controlling your mental pictures happens by controlling what you think, talk, and write about. Simple enough.

Be careful what you wish for a picture. “The more we think about, talk about, and write about something happening, we improve the probability of that thing happening!” Now it gets really interesting. Every time you think about, talk about or write about something happening (or you picture something in your mind), you increase the odds of that thing happening.

Are you constantly telling yourself that you’ll fail a certain exam? Well, congrats! Every time you do that, you improve the probability of failing the exam. Are you telling yourself that you’ll miss the crucial penalty kick? Too bad! Every time you do that, you improve the probability of missing that penalty kick.

Lanny calls this reinforcement. Every time you create a picture in your mind, you reinforce that picture and increase the likelihood of making it a reality. You can either use positive reinforcement (great idea!) or negative reinforcement (a terrible idea!).

Think that you gonna win!

Talk about winning!

Write about winning!

Have a Winning Mindset!

With Winning In Mind: What Are You Picturing in Your Mind? (Chapter 1)

It this Pink or Purple Elephant? 

This is a chapter-by-chapter summary of a book by Lanny Bassham's With Winning in Mind (2012) series. One chapter, one article. Read this summary, buy the book. Enjoy!

“I had a baseball coach once who always said, ‘Whatever you do Bassham, don’t strike out.’ What do you picture when I say, ‘Don’t strike out’? It is impossible to think about hitting the ball if you are picturing striking out”
(Lanny Bassham)

Lanny writes, “It is impossible to picture winning and losing at the same time. You are either picturing something that will help you or something that will hurt you.” It doesn’t really matter which words we use when we think or talk. What matters is the picture that gets created in our minds.

Think about this: What happens when I say, “Don’t think about a pink elephant?” Damn right, your mind pictures a pink elephant. What happens when you’re about to hit the ball and you or someone else is constantly telling you, “Don’t strike out! Don’t strike out! Don’t strike out!” Yep, you will picture yourself NOT hitting the ball, but striking out instead. This is HUGELY important.

We have to take control of our mental pictures. Everything we’re picturing either helps us and moves us in the right direction or harms us and moves us in the wrong direction. Just like every action and every decision you make… every mental picture you create in your mind either helps you achieve your goals or moves you further away from your goals. It doesn’t matter who creates the picture in your mind. It could be your coach, your parents, your friends, or yourself. What matters is the picture that gets created. Keep that in mind.

Control Your Mental Picture.

Have a Winning Mindset!

  

Old Blog, New Name: Richard Angelus' Thoughts

Hi, if you follow my other blog entitled Word Speaks Today, I want to inform you that I already renamed it as Richard Angelus' Thoughts. CLICK HERE to go to the blog site. Thank you for your supports 😊

With Winning In Mind: Focus on Performance (Introduction)

This is a chapter-by-chapter summary of a book by Lanny Bassham's With Winning in Mind (2012) series. One chapter, one article. Read this summary, buy the book. Enjoy!

In this book With Winning in Mind (2012), Lanny Bassham writes, "What separates winners from others is mainly the way they THINK." From interviewing hundreds of Olympic winning athletes, they all answered that 90% of their games is MENTAL. How much time do average athletes spend on training mental part of the game? Usually answer is the same: very little or less than 10%. Again: What separates winners from others is mainly the way they THINK.

When athletes have the mindset that they EXPECT to perform well, winning is automatically an option. For others, hope or wish is their mindset. If you want to be a winner, the desired outcome needs to be CONCRETE in your mind. What's important here is the PROCESS. This is primary. Think about executing mental and physical processes, not about winning. Thinking about winning can pull thoughts away from the process. So, you need to think about PROCESS.

In business, for example, think about how you can improve your mental and business processes, rather than making a certain amount of money. "One thing is certain, however," writes Lanny, "your worth as a person is not equal to your score." Self-worth is not equal to net-worth. Lanny explains, "So, should we be concerned at all about winning? Certainly. And the best focus, in my view, is on a winning performance, not on finishing on top. I suggest that your goal set on how to win performance on the day of competition instead of goal setting to win the competition. What is the difference you ask? If your goal set to have a winning performance you will always be process-oriented and not outcome-oriented. You will be much less likely to over-try in the competition because you are always focused on the next step and not counting your score."

This is really critical for goal setting.

Focus on performance.

Have a Winning Mindset!

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