The Mindset of a True Champion

This write-up is especially for all my young students who are about to enter the professional world, either as employees or entrepreneurs. Developing the mindset of a true champion is the difference between winning and losing in life. And as we’re all meant to shine, winning is our only option, losing is not. Losing is possible only when we give up.

How many times have you heard a true champion speak with doubt? How many times have you heard a cricketer, a footballer, or a boxer say, “It’s going to be difficult, we will just have to wait and watch how it all works out”? Never, because they know that doubt will knock them out before they even begin.

The true champions that are remembered are always those that performed memorably during times of pressure. I say memorably because they could be remembered for choking or rising to the occasion. Anyone who has played competitive sports knows that there is a different feeling during a playoff game, but as with all things in life, that by itself is not a bad thing, it is all in the way you handle it.

If you let self-doubt enter your mind, anxiety is sure to grow. Once you start to doubt whether you are capable of winning, you’re on your way to disaster because the mind can only hold one thought at a time. You are either thinking of winning, and visualizing what winning will be like, or you are worried about what happens if you don’t win. You can only hold one picture at a time. Sure, some athletes waver back and forth, but at any given time you can only be holding one thought.

Whatever the mind sees, feels, and thinks, it works towards. The mind needs to be given direction and then it works towards making that given destination a reality. The mind is constantly working towards results, the question is what directions we are giving the mind. When you learn how to control your mind, greatness is achievable. Learning how to think like a winner is the first step toward becoming a winner.

To Become a champion, you must first look and act like a champion. -- Muhammad Ali

One sure-shot way to build confidence in your ability to win is to develop a strong inner knowing that you can do almost anything. Have you heard of the Navy SEALs? I bet you have. The United States Navy Sea, Air, and Land (SEAL) Teams, commonly known as Navy SEALs, are the U.S. Navy's primary special operations force. They have the most difficult military training on this planet. Despite all the numerous hardships, how do these candidates manage to graduate?

Here are four important habits that the SEAL candidates are trained in to help them combat fear and self-doubt, and be successful in their mission:

1.????Observe the Present Moment:

This is a special kind of short-term goal-setting technique that involves focusing on the immediate task at hand and bringing it to fruition. Narrowing their focus down to the immediate future helps them stay in the present moment and avoid thoughts of fear and anxiety, ultimately helping them combat stress. ?

2.????Rehearsing Past Successes:

The Navy SEALs are trained in counting their past successes, no matter how small, to help them generate the feeling of success and start imagining how good it will feel if they successfully completed the task at hand.

This is something I encourage all my students to practice. I encourage them to make a list of ten things that have happened in their life that have made them feel really good about themselves. It could be a compliment that they have received from someone, a sense of achievement or an accomplishment, a feeling of life flowing with a lot of ease, a deep sense of joy, etc. While my students make this list, they are able to recreate the experience in their mind's eye and reproduce the feeling of success. This eventually forms a habit of focusing on life’s successes rather than life’s failures.

3.????Breathe Deeply:

The Navy SEALs are trained in a special, yet very simple breathing technique. During tough times when anxiety kicks in, they are trained in taking a deep breath for a count of six, holding for a count of two, and exhaling for a count of six. Repeating this exercise three times helps them calm their nerves.

The increased supply of oxygen to their brain relaxes the “amygdala” which is responsible for producing the “Fight or Flight” response.

4.????Replacing Negative Self-talk:

This method involves focusing on the positive aspect of the situation and repeating cheering statements to oneself while performing a particular task. Instead of saying, “This is difficult. This is impossible. I can’t do this.” They say, “I’ve done this before. This is possible. I can do this.”

When these simple, yet very powerful techniques, are working for people who are in the most challenging situation one can imagine, they can most certainly work for us.

Some people say you cannot control what comes into your mind. I believe with the proper training you surely can. Regardless of whether you can or cannot control what enters your mind, you can definitely control how long you hold any thought that does enter your mind. If thoughts were horses, we just have to ensure that we don’t ride the wrong ones.

When a negative thought enters, instead of latching on to it, instantly replace it with a flood of positive images. Focus on your past successes. Focus on what you want, not on what you don’t want. Focus on winning, not on not losing. Begin to daydream, make this daydream the ideal outcome. Not what you will settle for, but what would be perfect.

It's not what you are that holds you back, it's what you think you are not. -- Denis Waitley