USE  YOUR HEAD

Work to learn and understand as much as you can about your brain and how to manage your sub-conscious mind. Your Personal OS is the key to excelling at your potential in the Martial Arts. Here are a few tips to get you started on your Mind Game.

Professor Phil Migliarese/ Pretzel Logic - Photo By Eric "the Imagemaker" Zippe

1) Reason
Use both your insight and the insight of a mentor, coach or skilled professional to help develop your ability to reason. In MMA, as in other competitive arenas, it’s not always the better athlete or technician that wins. Many times it’s the right strategy that determines success.

2) Perception
Become extremely tuned into your perception. Learn about how you can strengthen your empowering beliefs and change your dis-empowering beliefs. Try to perceive what you see, feel and believe from more than one frame of reference. I cover beliefs in great detail in my book, The Winning Mind Set.

3) Will
Develop your will and you will be a force to be reckoned with. Will is about passion. Remember, the “why” we do something is always more powerful than any “what” or “how”. Attack your training and your development with passion and persistence. Develop a stronger “Will” by bombarding you’re your sub-conscious with personal self-made audio recordings, verbal affirmations and written notes of “what you want, why you want it and how you will get it.” This absolute sub-conscious saturation of positive reinforcement will strengthen your WILL to an unstoppable level.

4) Memory
Work to strengthen your positive associations and diminish your negative associations where needed. Use anchors in conjunction with visualization to tap into your sub-conscious. Many times athletes will create stress by focusing on past losses, and then repeat their poor performance because it was imbedded in their sub-conscious. Learn more about the how to use the power of your associations to past experiences, I touch on these in great detail in my book, The Winning Mind Set and in past articles.

5) Imagination
Practice, not just in the gym, but in your Mind Gym as well. By visualizing over and over in your head exactly and precisely what you want to accomplish in the fight, with your technique and in your performance, you will become 10X the athlete you were capable of through mere physical training. If you cut kick your trainer 20X in training and 50X in your head, you’ve just not only improved your cut kick technically, but you’ve improved your success ratio. Because guess what? You will always do it better and more consistent in your visualizations than you do when you perform physically. Repetition is the mother of skill, and as my friend World Class trainer Greg Nelson says, “Practice makes HABIT.” If you practice it right, it’s habit, if you practice it wrong it’s still habit.

6) Intuition
Use your intuition to read your opponent’s intention. If you pay close attention, you can tell what his level of confidence is and in what area he may be weaker or more powerful than you. This intuitive information can give you insight into how to strategize your approach.

Remember, your sub-conscious is the KEY to your behavior, performance and ultimate success. Although your conscious mind may be very strong, when paired with the power of your sub-conscious, you will be optimal in your performance!

According to Professor Relson Gracie, his father Helio believed that success in Jiu Jitsu was 90% mental and 10% physical. Hmm…something to carefully consider?

“I figured that if I said it enough, I would convince the world that I really was the greatest.” -Muhammad Ali 

Thanks To Phil Migliarese/ Balance Studios

Photo By Eric “the Imagemaker” Zippe

Kevin Seaman is available for private training, consultation, coaching and speaking engagements. To inquire or if you would like to book Kevin for an event, team training or individual training contact us at kevin@thewinningmindset.com.
© 2012 all rights reserved. May be shared in entirety. Material may be reproduced upon request with written permission. Just ask.

For more Winning Mind Set Strategic Wisdom To Live By…
Go to:  www.thewinningmindset.com or check the product page on kevinseaman.net