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Mental Skills in Business:
The 7 Key Rules of the Mental Road
(Part 1 of 2)
Jacques Dallaire, Ph.D
Why is it that in some situations, our personal performance
is so good while in others we struggle and cannot seem to
get into the groove where we do our best work? Is it because
we forget, from one day to the next, the important details
of our profession or what it takes to excel? Of course we
all know that this is not the reason we sometimes follow up
a great personal performance with one that leaves something
to be desired. The answer to these questions lies more in
the inconsistent application of basic mental skills that underlie
our ability to perform - whether the performance is in the
boardroom, on the sales floor, or on the golf course!
In order to provide a simple frame of reference to help our
high-performance clients understand how the human mind works
and how it can be made to work for us (as opposed to against
us) in high-stress, competitive situations, I have created
a set of simple Rules that I have called "The Rules of the
Mental Road". These key Rules serve as the backbone of the
educational process that ultimately yields the development
of a mental training process we call the A.C.T. Model © -
a practical set of mental 'tools' that you can utilize to
shape your thinking so that you can perform to the best of
your ability when called upon to toe the line.
RULE #1 STATES: If you want to climb out of a hole, the
very first thing you must do is stop digging…
Sometimes we dig ourselves into a mental 'hole' by thinking
negative thoughts, constantly reviewing and repackaging them
in our mind and sharing them with others who are only too
happy to reinforce those negative thoughts. If you want to
shift your mindset from negative thoughts to positive and
productive thinking, you first must choose to process only
positive and productive thoughts. If you do not stop digging,
you will not be able to shift your dominant thought to the
kind of positive and productive thinking you need to turn
yourself around and climb out of the hole. It does not matter
what the nature of the negative thoughts might be, the first
Rule of the Mental Road applies. Some examples:
- Increased responsibilities that seem to deny you the
opportunity to focus effectively on anything - Deadlines
you feel are unrealistic
- Expectations you feel are unfair
- Sales quotas you worry about
- Monthly numbers you are told you must reach in order
to guarantee bonus compensation or worse yet, maintain your
job
- Problems at home
If you allow yourself to be caught in a negative loop, worrying
about things that are not relevant to the act of performing
'in the moment' your performance will not be optimal. Rule
#2 helps us to understand why…
RULE #2 AFFIRMS: The Mind Can Only Process One Thought
at a Time...
The human brain is capable of millions of computations each
second but our mind can only process this information one
piece at a time. The mind is not capable of processing two
thoughts at the same time! Try the following simple test as
a way to demonstrate to yourself the truth of this basic tenet.
The task I would like you to undertake involves counting backwards
by 3s out loud, starting from the number 100. While you are
doing this, have a friend ask you to solve a simple mathematical
question (2x3 for example). Ready begin: 100, 97, 94…
Interesting isn't it? If you actually tried to complete this
little exercise, you will likely already have realized that
the only way you can solve the mathematical problem is if
you shift your focus of attention from the task of counting
backwards, process what you heard - the equation - compute
and give the answer, and only then shift back to the first
task, once the mathematical question has been resolved. This
shift does not take long but undeniably, it does occur.
If you truly could process two mental tasks at the same time,
you should be able to continue to process the task of counting
backwards without interruption while simultaneously processing
and computing the solution to the math question. Would it
surprise you to find out that nobody can? Many people believe
that they can process two thoughts at the same time, but in
practical terms they cannot. What happens is that we switch
back-and-forth between different thoughts, albeit very quickly
indeed sometimes, but still it is a process of shifting one's
focus of attention from one thought to another. But what is
the impact of Rule #2 on personal performance?
Simply put, if your mind is only able to process one thought
at a time, it cannot process a different thought at the same
time. The implications of this Rule on performance are significant.
If you take a moment to think back to the performances in
your life that you would categorize as being amongst your
'best ever', it is likely that you would report having possessed
a single-minded focus directed specifically to the task in
which you were involved…where your mind was fully absorbed
in the process of what you were doing. This process-focused,
undistracted, 'here-and-now' mindset is a common theme reported
by many high-performers at the moment of their most brilliant
performances, whether it is in the arts, in sport, in business,
or whatever. Some people call it "Being in the Zone".
With Rule #2 in mind, what would the consequence of focusing
on something other than what is required at that very moment,
to perform to the best of your ability? For example:
- Worrying about how you are being perceived by others
or perhaps fearing that you are not performing up to someone
else's expectations;
- Being focused on the results or the outcome of the activity
(the negotiation, the sales pitch, the presentation)…which
may perhaps even be hours away;
- Distracted by some unrelated thought that is not directly
beneficial or relevant to your performance at that very
moment; and so on.
The consequence is that, if your mind is occupied processing
thoughts that are not related to your performance, it cannot
be focused on the process of performing at the same time -
in the moment - and it is likely that your performance will
not be as good as it could be. Rule #2 serves as the foundation
on which the next 3 Rules of the Mental Road are built.
RULE #3 STATES: You Cannot NOT Think About What is On Your
Mind...
So often, we pre-program ourselves for failure by expressing
things negatively and thinking about them in the negative…
- "Don't get nervous. There is nothing to be nervous about"
- "When you are up on stage Billy, don't focus on the crowd"
- "Whatever you do, don't slice the ball into that rough
on the right side of the fairway"
Because the mind cannot act positively in response to a
negative thought, by expressing things in the negative (whether
you state them out loud or simply process them in your mind)
you make it easier for your mind to focus on exactly what
you did not want to do… exactly the way you pictured it in
your mind! The second Rule of the Mental Road affirms that
you cannot NOT think about what is on your mind.
Here is another little exercise to help drive the point home.
Take a moment to understand clearly the following instruction:
I DO NOT want you to think about the thing that I will describe
for you now. I do not want you to picture in your mind's eye:
A BIG PINK ELEPHANT…
Wearing… PURPLE BOXER SHORTS…
With… BIG YELLOW DOTS on them…
It's tough to do isn't it? The only way you would not see
the image of the Pink Elephant in your mind's eye is if you
had relied on Rule #2, that is to say that you set your mind
intently on processing something else, another image that
grabbed your attention fully while you read through the boldfaced
lines above. The vast majority of people picture that strange
Pink Elephant in all its glory…even though they understand
the explicit instruction I gave not to do so. What is the
impact of Rule #3 on your personal performance?
Rule #3 affirms that the harder you try NOT to think about
something, the more strength that thought and its associated
images gain…to become firmly entrenched in your mind. You
must learn to 'phrase' things (and picture them) in your mind
in positive terms, describing to yourself how you want to
think and feel while you successfully accomplish the task
that you are focused on, rather than what you do not want
to do.
Since you cannot NOT think about what is on your mind and
because you can process only one thought at a time, you must
ensure that the thoughts you choose to process while performing
are associated with the act and process of performing, picturing
in your mind's eye what you want to do, how you want to do
it and how it feels when you do it that way.
[Part 2 of this article will be added at a later date.]
Jacques Dallaire, Ph.D is the principal consultant
of Dallaire
Performance Consulting. Dr. Dallaire has extensive experience
gained over the past 32 years working with more than 1000
high-performance athletes and business professionals. More
information about our revolutionary business
and team performance seminars, mental skills products,
and free access to Dr. Dallaire's Performance Files are available
from http://www.dallaireconsutling.com.
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