With Winning In Mind: The Mental Management System (Summary)

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!

First off, you have to take control over what you picture in your mind. Because whenever you picture something in your mind, you increase the likelihood of that thing happening in the future. You control the picture in your mind (and thus what’s happening in the future) by choosing what you think, talk, and write about.

At any given time, you are either picturing something positive or something negative in your mind. You are either thinking, talking, or writing about something positive or you are thinking, talking or writing about something negative. In other words, you are reinforcing certain behaviours. There are two kinds of reinforcement:

#1 Positive Reinforcement (YES!): You reinforce something you did well such as hitting a grand slam, meditating, studying, being nice to someone, or whatever. Reinforcing this positive action makes happening it again in the future more likely.

#2 Negative Reinforcement (Meh!): You reinforce something you did poorly such as missing a shot, wasting time on Facebook, getting in an argument with someone, or whatever. Reinforcing the negative actions makes happening it again in the future more likely (NOT what we’re after!).

How to Use Positive Reinforcement in Your Life (do this more often):

• Praise, applaud and celebrate yourself
• Praise, applaud and celebrate others (creates the same mental pictures)
• Talk about the positive things in your life (what went well in your life?)
• Get in the habit of catching yourself doing something right (and then praise yourself and tell yourself that “that’s like me” and that you “do this all the time”)

How to STOP using Negative Reinforcement in Your Life (stop doing this):

• Never whine, bitch or complain
• Don’t listen to other people whining, bitching or complaining
• Don’t get angry about your negative actions
• Don’t think/talk about the negative things in your life

This bottom line is: Stop focusing on the negative. Stop complaining, making excuses, bitching around, or in any other way negatively reinforcing what you don’t want in life. Instead be nice to yourself and others, focus on the positive, talk about the good things in life, and just generally try to reinforce what you want more of in life.

Have A Winning Mindset!

With Winning In Mind: Mental Rehearsal + Reinforcement (Chapter 7)

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!

“You can imagine far more than you currently can achieve. If you consistently rehearse what you want to achieve, what you imagine can become reality. Let me give you an example. Back in the 1970s, I was shooting good kneeling scores and began approaching the national record of 396/400. I wanted to set the record at 400, a perfect score. But I had never actually fired a 400, even in training. Nonetheless, I vividly rehearsed shooting the first 100, then another and another. I visualized each of the last ten shots building toward the record. I rehearsed what I knew would happen at that point: I would realize that I was above the record.

“Next, I rehearsed hearing a voice say, ‘That’s OK. I do this all the time.’ then I imagined shooting the final ten easily and saying to myself, ‘Another 400, that’s like me.’ I rehearsed this sequence several times a day for two months. In my first competition since the beginning the rehearsal, I started with a 100 kneeling. My next two targets were also 100s. I began my last series with ten, ten, ten, ten, ten. Only five more to go. Ten. Ten. Ten. Then reality set in. I was above the record. I heard an internal voice say, ‘That’s OK, I do this all the time.’ I shot two additional tens, setting the national record at a perfect 400.”

(Lanny Bassham)

Bassham basically mentally rehearsed shooting a perfect record of 400/400. And when (in his mind) he hit the 400/400 he positively reinforced it by saying, “That’s like me,” and “I do this all the time.” He’s programming his mind and tells it over and over and over again that hitting a perfect 400/400 is “like him” and that he “does it all the time.”

Lanny had never actually shot a 400/400. Not even in training. But of course, he then did it straight away in the next competition after using this mental rehearsal + positive reinforcement technique.

Have A Winning Mindset!

With Winning In Mind: Mental Rehearsal (Chapter 6)

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 mental rehearsal you are picturing what you want to see happen before you actually perform. You go over in your mind exactly how you want your performance to be conducted. In rifle, looking through the sights, centring the target, and firing the shot in the ten ring. The more vivid the picture, the better the outcome. The more often you rehearse, the better the chance for success”
(Lanny Bassham)

Mental rehearsal is simply visualizing your performance or behaviour in your mind. You can mentally rehearse giving a speech, shooting free-throw, hitting grand slam, writing an exam, or anything else. The benefits are threefold:

1) You are practicing: Mental rehearsal is mental practice. Maybe it’s not as good as actually practicing, but Lanny says it’s a great substitute when actual training is not possible due to weather, injury, or time limitations.

2) No negative reinforcement: Because you only rehearse good performances, there is no negative reinforcement. It’s 100% purely positive reinforcement (which is almost impossible during actual training).

3) It reduces fear: This is neat. When you’ve been in a stressful situation often, the stress or fear you encounter diminishes over time (Think about the first speech you’ve ever made. I bet you were more nervous than in your 10^th speech, right?). Rehearsal reduces fear because it gives you mental experience in a pressure situation. Lanny claims that he’s competed in the Olympic Games twice physically, but thousands of times mentally.

Keep in mind that you mentally rehearse the process of your performance,

NOT the outcome.

Have A Winning Mindset!

With Winning In Mind: Catch Yourself Doing Something Right (Chapter 5)

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!

“Stop catching yourself doing things wrong and trying to find out why you are failing. Instead, only think about your successes, never your failures. An example is a golfer. The mentally uninformed golfer hits a good shot and says, ‘Well, I guess I just got lucky that time.’ When he hits a bad shot he says, ‘Why do I always do that?’ The mentally informed golfer hits a bad shot. He knows it is bad, but says, ‘Next time I will hit a better shot.’ Then he hits a good shot and says, ‘That’s a good shot. What did I do right?’ See the difference?”

(Lanny Bassham)

Instead of catching ourselves doing something wrong, let’s from now on catch ourselves doing right and improve our chances of repeating that positive behavior in the future. You can catch yourself doing anything right. Be it cleaning your room, studying, reading, meditating, being kind to someone, having fun, practicing something… whatever it is: Catch yourself and pat yourself on the back. Applaud yourself. Better yet, celebrate yourself.

“I know it’s counterintuitive,” writes Bassham, “but that’s because our society is seriously messed up. We’re all programmed to focus on the negative, to complain, to make excuses, to behave like little bitches, and to use negative reinforcement. Let’s stop that.” Instead, be nice to yourself and others, focus on the positive, talk about the good things in life, and positively reinforce them.

Have A Winning Mindset!

With Winning In Mind: Negative Reinforcement (Chapter 4)

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!

“Be careful not to complain. I often hear people, in business as well as sport, complaining about their circumstances. Complaining is negative reinforcement. I teach my students not to reinforce a bad shot by getting angry. Do not reinforce a bad day at the office by complaining to your spouse. Remember something that you did well each day instead. Fill your thoughts only with your best performances and you cannot help but be successful!”

(Lanny Bassham)

Ugh… negative reinforcement, it’s terrible! Yet, funny enough, it’s what most of us are absolute pros at. Do something right and nobody gives a sh*t (= no positive reinforcement). Do something wrong and people are all over you telling you what a loser you are and bla bla bla (=negative reinforcement). Ourselves, we are often the worst offenders or critics. Somehow we were just never taught to reinforce our good behaviors, but instead, we were taught to get down on us when we did something wrong. Anyway, it’s obvious that we want to reinforce our good behaviors, not our bad ones.

So what are some ways we negatively reinforce our bad behaviors?

• We talk about our bad performances
• Someone else talks about our bad performances
• We complain
• Someone else complains
• We get angry at the bad behavior
• We tell ourselves that we’re idiots for a certain bad behavior

Remember (previous articles): Every time you think, talk or write about a bad performance/ behavior/whatever, you improve the probability of having another bad performance/ behavior/whatever just like it in the future.  

“One thing I especially remember about training with them,” says Lanny Bassham about his toughest competitors in shooting, “was that they never talked about their failures in front of me.” If Lone Wigger (World and Olympic Champion) had a problem, he kept it to himself. Jack Writer (World and Olympic Champion) on the other hand was a talker. It was not that Jack bragged on himself (“Although I can understand how those who didn’t know him would think that,” write Bassham), he just liked to talk. His favorite subject was shooting and he was his favorite shooter. No matter how many low scores he shot, Jack would only talk about the high ones. The important lesson here is that Jack never reinforced a bad performance and rarely shot a low score in a big match. On the opposite, Margaret Murdoch (World and Olympic Silver Medallist) rarely talked at all. If she did, it was to compliment others on their performance. “I wonder if she knew that every time she praised another shooter, she also improved her own chances of winning?” reminisced Bassham.

The point is: The top athletes do NOT negatively reinforce their bad performances.
And neither should you.

Have A Winning Mindset!

With Winning In Mind: Positive Reinforcement (Chapter 3)

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!

“You've done it before and you can do it now. See the positive possibilities. Redirect the substantial energy of your frustration and turn it into positive, effective, unstoppable determination.”

(Ralph Marston)

Remember that the more we think about, talk about, and write about something happening, the higher the probability of that thing happening. When you reinforce a positive behaviour, you increase the likelihood of that behaviour happening again.

Arrived at the summit? Reinforce it.

Just read and meditate the Scripture? Reinforce it.

Had a great study session without being distracted? Reinforce it.

Ate a healthy meal? Reinforce it.

Just exercised? Reinforce it.

Finished a work project? Reinforce it.

Won a game? Reinforce it.

The point is: Whenever you do something beneficial, you want to reinforce it. Because reinforcing it improves the likelihood of that thing happening again. So that begs the question: How do you positively reinforce something? By thinking, talking or writing about it. Here are some ways to do it:

• Praise Yourself (“I think I did a great job today”)
• Praise Someone Else (“You absolutely rocked this. Greatly done!”)
• Write Down 5 Wins at the End of Every Day
• Talk About Your Good Behaviour/Performance With Your Friends or Family

“Once you replace negative thoughts with positive ones,
you'll start having positive results.”

(Willie Nelson)

Have A Winning Mindset!

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!

  

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!