This book is dedicated to understanding the chatter in your head. We have new technology teaching us wonderful new truths that can help us make sense out of so many things like thoughts, emotions and behavior. What we know now is a game-changer in the athletic competition.
Today in the world of sports we no longer live in a physical economy where physical strength dominates. We now live in a mental economy where what you know and apply on demand dominates the game. This “mental strength” is the new definition of strong. Learning to regulate the chatter and inner dialogue from within is the key to developing this mental strength.
In comparison to physical strength and conditioning, mental training is very similar. Physical strength and conditioning require discipline and a strict daily regimen. You must also create a strict mental regimen for your inner dialogue. Physical attributes will be lost without discipline. Mental skills and ability would be lost enabling the chatter to run rapid and toxic. Now, we are taking the brain into the weight room with mental strength and conditioning. This book is designed to be that workout guide for building your mental strength over time.
Throughout this book you will find good ideas. Guiding principles are what we call “nuggets”. A simple idea you can use when working to understand complicated subjects. If this book serves you well, you must continue to seek out new ideas on these topics of thoughts and emotions. As it pertains to your talents and your life long journey of developing your skills and ability this is only the beginning for you. There is so much more we are learning about the brain and how thoughts and emotions drive performance. Although this book is primarily about mental skills and regulating your inner chatter, you are wise to understand the connection between thoughts and your emotions. These two are connected at the hip. It’s difficult to talk about one without referencing the other. They are independent, and yet directly connected.
“Your thoughts and the chatter in your head directly determine your emotional state.”
These two are so subtle it’s easy to miss their individual impact on your performance. Your internal dialogue directly affects your emotional states; your emotional states directly affect your decision-making. Your decision-making is directly affecting your performance. The stakes go up once you realize the chatter is IN-directly affecting your performance. You cannot talk about one without referencing the other.
Understand the process. Your ability to develop Mental Skills to regulate the chatter will directly affect your emotional states. The right emotional state for the task empowers effective decision making, in the moment. Your ability to summon your talents on demand relies on this critical development of better understand your own thoughts and emotions.
The instruction and ideas in this book will aid you in the first step of development referred to as “awareness”, self-awareness to your own personal thoughts. As you grow your mental skills, you learn to regulate your thoughts and in turn learning to regulate negative emotions. The chatter and the emotional state of anxiety are the primary culprit of bad behavior and poor performance. As you develop these mental skills you will in turn learn more about your own talents and ability to play the game at a new level and more importantly, adapt to the pressure on the field and every day life.