Performance File #06 - The 7 Key Rules of the Mental Road (Part 2 of 2)

[ This article is part 2 of 2. For part 1, see Performance File 05. ]

Rule #4 States: Your Dominant Thought Determines Your Emotions, the Behaviors that Result from Those Emotions and Ultimately, Your Performance...

Because human beings think in pictures and the pictures you view in your mind have a real influence on your emotions and your physical body, whatever you process in your mind as a dominant thought has a direct influence on your subconscious mind, directly influencing feelings, the behaviors that result from those feelings, and ultimately your personal performance. I recognize that this is a bold statement and because I cannot demonstrate this basic truth for you in a tangible way through this article, I’d like you to simply take my word for it. In a seminar environment, the strength of this most important Rule can be demonstrated in a way that most of my high-performance clients have found absolutely fascinating and even shocking.

Rule #4 affirms that our dominant mindset directly affects our ability to perform. Each of us, regardless of our age, has more than likely experienced the consequences of this powerful Rule in the real world. Consider the following, for example:

• Circumstances or belief systems that lead us to become afraid, to develop feelings of anxiety with its associated physical tension often deny us the ability to focus effectively on the task…and our performance is not as good as it might have been.


• Situations in which we feel a high degree of motivation and desire seem to allow us unlimited reserves of energy and strength.


• A loss of confidence creates periods of self-doubt where images of failure become self-fulfilling prophecies that infect and poison our feelings, behaviors, and ultimately, our performance.


• Environments that allow us to remain calm and focused usually allow us to generate and deliver our best personal performances.
  

Positive and productive dominant thoughts generally beget our best performances while negative and counter-productive dominant thoughts beget anxiety, loss of focus, and poor performance. We violate the Rules of the Mental Road and our personal performance suffers.

Rule #5 States: You Can Control Your Dominant Thought

There are some things in our life over which it seems we have little control. There is however one thing over which we can learn to have greater and greater control…our mind. If you learn how to control your Dominant Thought such that your mind consistently ‘sees’ what it is you want and what you want to be like when you perform, your personal performance will be the best that it can be given the skills, knowledge, and abilities you possess. The A.C.T. Model© that is the hallmark of our Individual Performance Program is a self-directed process that is expressly designed to help our clients control their dominant thought, to be able to bring their best performance to the event on command, in spite of what might be significant challenges.

Rule #6 States: Your Perception or Perspective Regarding the Challenges you Face Will Determine Your Emotional Response...

It may be hard to believe, but it is not the events in your life that cause you stress, it is your perception or interpretation of those events that leads to a stress response that on the one hand, can be negative and counter-productive for your health or performance and on the other, that can be positive and contribute to your ability to perform. This Rule follows a simple A-B-C format.

A references The Activating Event – the situation that you are reacting to

B describes Your Belief with Respect to That Event, and

C outlines The Consequences of That Belief

Let me give you a concrete example from the world of business to illustrate this point:

Two salesmen from competing companies arrive at a local hotel because each is scheduled to make a major sales presentation to prospective buyers from one of the leading companies in their industry. One is scheduled to present from 9:00 to 9:30 and the other is scheduled from 9:30 to 10:00. Initially, they were supposed to meet with the Vice President for Sales only but 10 minutes prior to their presentation, each is told that not only will the VP for Sales be present, but so too will two other senior VPs for Marketing and Finance as well as the President of the company. It appears that this deal has just recently escalated in importance and volume and because it could be so financially significant, all of these key executives want to be able to ask the questions that they feel are important to satisfy their individual concerns.

Salesman #1 thinks to himself: “Good grief, what am I going to do? I’ve only got a half-hour to answer all of their questions! I will never be able to satisfy their need for information in that short a time. Not only that, I know that often these top executives do not really understand the sales process and I am certain that I will not be able to convince them that our company’s product is their best choice. I never do well in these kinds of pressure situations… I get so nervous that I trip over my tongue every time! I just can’t get comfortable. Why did these other people have to show up? This meeting is going to be a disaster! What will my boss think if I can’t pull this deal together?”

When faced with the same information, Salesman #2 thinks to himself: “Good grief, what a great opportunity!! It is so tough to get all of the key decision makers to focus on one thing at the same time and I have them all in the same room for 30 minutes. I know they won’t expect to get all the details in that short a time, my job is to excite them about this opportunity for collaboration and show them that our company’s product and reputation is their best option. I always do well when the challenge in front of me is well defined! These people put their pants on one leg at a time just like I do and I know I can deliver the goods. What a lucky break! I can’t wait to get in there to show them what we can do to help make them more successful! The boss is going to love this!!”

The quality of their product or service being equal, it should be obvious which salesman is going to be more effective and is likely to bring home the big contract. We can go back to our A-B-C explanation to better understand this scenario.

The Activating Event – the ‘A’ in this scenario is the same for both individuals: 10 minutes prior to their scheduled meeting, each is informed that other key players will be participating.

Their Belief about the event (the ‘B’ in this equation) is quite different however! Salesman #1 sees the change of plans as a threat, with the arrival of company heavyweights as a sign of doom and disaster. Salesman #2 on the other hand, sees the change as a positive, a situation that could turn to his advantage and make closing the big deal that much easier because he is being provided with the opportunity to make his presentation to all of the key players at the same time.

What are the Consequences (the ‘C’ in our equation) that each will realize as a result of their beliefs? Salesman #1 will become anxious and physically tense as the meeting approaches and the increased tension will cause him to narrow his focus and lose the mental flexibility needed to think on his feet. He will likely trip over his tongue, just the way he pictured it in his mind! Salesman #2 on the other hand will become energized by the thought of hitting a home run and will enter the room more relaxed, confident, and mentally sharp.

What is the impact of Rule #6 on performance? Here it is: realize that in our A-B-C analogy, A always leads directly to B, which in turn always leads directly to C. A, the activating event does NOT lead directly to C, the consequences! It is always our beliefs - our perception - regarding the activating events in our life that lead to the Consequences that we ultimately experience. The beauty of this realization is that if you change your belief about the activating event (something that is 100% within your control to do), you will change the consequences that you experience. It is simple enough, it just is not very easy to do in the real world!

And finally, Rule #7 simply states:

If you do what you have always done,
You will get what you have always gotten…
If you want something different,
You must approach challenges and opportunities
with a different mindset!

If you successfully integrate the 7 key Rules of the Mental Road into your day-to-day thinking (and maintain that mindset – this is the key), you will understand the secret of how to program your mind for success. You will understand how to powerfully shape your dominant thought so that you can more easily slip into your mental zone of peak performance, on command.

Remember that the mind can only process one thought at a time and that you cannot NOT think about what is on your mind. Your performance will be best served by implanting a dominant program in your mind that describes exactly what you want and how you want to be when you perform in the moment. If you focus on this mental program with intensity and single-mindedness, you will find it easier to maintain the relaxed and confident frame of mind that is consistent with excellence in your personal performance!

Visit www.dallaireconsulting.com if you would like more information regarding Dr. Dallaire and our Performance Programs.

Performance File #01 - Develop Your Mental Skills by Training to Improve Performance

Some days, your personal performance can only be described as spectacular - moments of brilliance where everything just seems to go right! You can tell what's going to happen even before it happens. You're in synch with the rhythm and balance of actions as you take on the challenges of your performance environment. Time seems to slow down. Your focus is sharp and your mind easily processes the actions of performing "in the moment". The act of performing itself is effortless even though your energy level is high.

Unfortunately, these moments of brilliance are often all too elusive. Why can't it always be this way? Why is it that some days your mind wanders to include all kinds of irrelevant thoughts and you can't stay focused and on task. You're one step behind the action that's happening right in front of you. You always seem to be playing catch-up and you end up just hanging on rather than being on top of your game. You make mistakes that build one on another and your performance nosedives. The harder you try not to mess up, the more it seems to happen. In spite of what you might tell yourself, you know that the problem isn't the golf club, the sales pitch, or car, it's you.

Mental Training From World Champions' Perspectives

Over the past 30 years, I've enjoyed the opportunity to work with more than 600 high-performance racers including many world and series champions from 35 countries and nearly every form of racing on the planet. I've also had the opportunity to work with many hundreds of other high-performance people from other walks of life including: business executives, pilots, law enforcement professionals, salesmen, military personnel, actors, golfers, tennis players, as well as athletes from dozens of other sports.

Every one of the top performers I've worked with over this time period readily acknowledges that good equipment, while being important for success, is only part of the performance equation. They understand that their best performances often depend as much on the mental skills they're able to bring to bear 'in the moment', as they tackle the many challenges that they face. Horsepower and muscle power is important but brainpower is often more important if you want to be successful.

Focus and Confidence: Key Mental Skills

Over the years, I've asked every one of the top performers who have visited with me what they hoped to gain from their experience with us. Stated another way, what was the most important thing that they would like to change about themselves, that they know holds them back from doing their best work - from bringing their 'A' game to their performance environment - every time they toe the line to compete? What would YOU answer if faced with this same question?

Would it surprise you to find out that more than 80% of these top performers talk about the same two issues? Indeed, they most often are looking for guidance regarding the same two things. Their two main requests I've heard over the years have been: "Show me how to focus more effectively and when I lose focus, how to get it back quickly?" and, "Show me how to maintain my confidence when things are not going well?"

Isn't that interesting? It doesn't matter what sport they play or what occupation they're involved in, the same two basic issues or concerns seem to be centrally important to their ability to perform. Experienced and novice competitors alike immediately recognize the role that mental skills such as concentration or focus, control of anxiety, and confidence play in determining the final outcome of competitive experience, because of how these skills or abilities affect their personal performance. What many competitors don't realize is that mental skills (including the ability to focus) can be improved with the right kind of training and that the way to improve your confidence level involves changing how you measure success. It's simple enough in concept although it's not very easy to accomplish in day-to-day life.

Look to this space in the coming months to find out more about these two critical issues dealing with FOCUS and CONFIDENCE, and how you can learn to control your dominant thought and improve your personal performance.

For more information about programs and products to develop your mental skills and improve performance, visit Dallaire Performance Consulting.