MM#23--Mental Training

Hello I’m David and welcome back to another MOJO Minute

Coming this weekend, we at the MOJO Academy will release another Academy review—#26–the Art of Mental training, a wonderful book by DC Gonzalez.

*when you read this book, think Mr. Miyagi from the Karate kid movie meets Danielson except in real life*

*for you young kids, just search for the move in youtube* lol 

In DC’s books, he helps us to understand our mental chatter.

Ya know, those voices in your head that are telling you are a great or those same voices that are your own worst critic.

The most striking quote DC gives us from his book is this one, “Whatever is going on inside your head has everything to do with how well you will end up performing.”

I just love that quote.

But isnt that so true?

We know from professional sports athletes that mental performance training is a big part of their own training regimes outside of regular and assumed physical training.

Coming up this summer, we will watch the pinnacle of all sports from around the world, when the summer Olympics will be played in Tokyo Japan.

In the wake of the last year, when the Olympics was supposed to be played in 2020 but because of the COVID 19 worldwide pandemic outbreak was postponed until the summer of 2021  

surely, those athletes have had use their mental performance models to keep in check the negative self talk.

And so all that brings me to a great nugget of wisdom that I uncovered when reading the Art of Mental Training.   

DC talks about stopping the negative mental chatter and starting positive self talk.

Here’s his quote

“He taught me to interrupt any negative thoughts or self-talk the instant I noticed them by saying to myself—cancel/ cancel, and then immediately replacing the negativity by firing off positive self-talk.   Things like:  I’m fast, I’m focused, I’m good.”

Isnt that cool?

Stop the negative, fire off the positive. 

But then I remembered, wait, that sounds quite familiar with another book I had read.

In fact, it was, Mark Divine, the fmr Navy Seal commander came out with a book back in 2015??  Titled the Unbeatable Mind. 

Check this out!

In it, Mark discusses how this very type of thinking helped him get through the arduous Navy Seal BUDS training which has something like a 70% fail rate.

Here’s the part, think to yourself, does this sound familiar.

“As I said earlier, negativity erodes performance, so it is imperative to retrain the underlying pattern and maneuver from witnessing negative thoughts to starving those thoughts into oblivion. Then start in with the positive, courage-building thoughts. Or as the Native Americans might say with a vivid metaphorical punch, you need to starve the fear wolf and feed the courage wolf.  

This is the specific process I use and have taught through my various training programs: 

1. Witness negativity. 

2.  Interdict, or stop, the negative thoughts with a power statement. 

3. Redirect your mind with self-talk and imagery to something positive and productive for your current goal. 

4. Maintain your new mental state with a jingle or mantra.”

If we go back to DC Gonzalez, he was teaching us to stop the negative and fire off a positive such has “I’m fast, Im focused and I’m good”

Mark Divine is teaching us the same concept, but adds to it such as Witness the negativity.  Then to interrupt the negative or stop it with a power statement.

Then redirect your mind with self talk and imagery to something positive and productive for your current goal.

Then finally, maintain your new mental state with a jingle or mantra just like DC saying “I’m fast, I’m focused and I’m good.”

How cool is that!

I just love when two brilliant authors overlap in their teachings and we can get the brilliance of both commenting on the same concepts which ultimately helps all of us.

So in todays MOJO Minute, can we begin to implement witness the negativity techniques coming on in our minds and then stop or interrupt it?  

Replacing it and firing off a positive statement or mantra?

As we try today to implement this teaching let us remember the great words of DC Gonzalez at the end of his book the Art of Mental Training, 

“remember:  One must practice in order to become.”