2.6 Mental edge
Is it possible to beat a competitor that is better than you?
Yes! In fact, it happens all the time. Let me explain how this is possible. Many times I have seen dancers who have been technically better and stronger than another competitor, yet they were consistently beaten by these competitors at meets.
What these dancers lacked was the mental edge over these competitors. This mental edge simply creates opportunities which may not otherwise be there for you in that contest on that particular day. This mental edge often includes many different factors, one of which I will mention one today. This is a subject has won many competitions for dancers who simply weren’t as good as their competitors, but they managed to score a psychological win. The subject is body language.
Every single moment you are at the pool as a swimmer, by the ring as a boxer, or by the dance floor as a dancer, as a musician before an aduition, without even knowing it, you are unconsciously showing your competitors your level of self-confidence. For example as a boxer, simple aspects in your body language often gives away valuable information to other competitors, and so it is essential to only send out signals which say "I feel great, I'm relaxed, and I’m ready to go!". Your body language plainly shows your competitors whether you are feeling confident, relaxed and self-assured, or whether you are lacking in confidence and feeling nervous about the fight to come. This applies to all kinds of things really wether it is before a competition, audition, or even in school. If you want to be the best, you got to show others that you already is the best.
When you demonstrate confidence to your competitors (whether you actually feel that way or not) it can affect them in two ways. Firstly it often makes them wonder where you got that sort of confidence from, which often triggers negative thoughts in their mind before the meet. Secondly, it often forces them to examine themselves and question their own confidence, asking themselves such questions as "Am I as confident as they are?" As soon as they begin thinking these thoughts, they have handed you the mental edge! This means that they will assume that you have the edge on them, and their mind will programme their body accordingly for that race. Trust me, I am of experience.
This is a fabulous effect on your competitors when you have not even said a word to them! The funny part about this is that you may not actually be feeling confident at all, all you’ve done is just make them think that you feel confident! And the added payback is that when you begin to act confident, you very soon begin to feel that way anyway.
So what unconscious signals do you give out to other competitors? Are you exuding confidence and relaxation, or stress and nerves? Here are some things to watch for in your body language when you are at a meet; firstly, always keep your head up, never allow your head to drop towards the ground, as this always gives the appearance of a person who doesn’t feel confident enough to make eye contact.
Secondly, smile and laugh a lot, rather than having a tense look for the world to see. Remember, winners are grinners! This very often unsettles competitors, when they see how relaxed you appear! Additionally, smiling has also been scientifically shown to relax the body through a variety of relaxing chemicals it releases into your system.
Yet another aspect is to walk around confidently, as if you are already the champion, not as if the weight of the world is on your shoulders. If you do feel nervous, don’t let anyone detect it from your behaviour, act relaxed and in control at all times, as this will not only fool your competitors, but quite often improve your own emotional state as well. If you want to feel relaxed, begin acting relaxed, and miraculously you may begin to experience feelings of tranquility beginning to wash over you.
Most importantly, never, ever show feelings of negativity, nervousness or any other ‘vulnerability’ to your competitors, until you are away from their view. Act positively no matter what, as if you don't have a worry in the world, and eventually word will get around that absolutely nothing ever seems to bother you!
So be aware of the subconscious signals your body language is giving out to other competitors, they can be either a huge psychological weapon or a major disadvantage, the choice is yours. It has often been said, to become a champion, firstly begin acting like one. This saying may be even truer than it sounds. Many champions copied the mannerisms and behaviour of their idols when they were young, and this may well have been their key to their success. Think of a person/rolemodel/champion you admire, and begin copying their most impressive habits. You may be surprised at the results.
Remember: Mental edge creates opportunities which may not otherwise be there for you
per ardua ad astra ~ David
2.5 ATL - Approaches to Learning
In school, we were taught the method of ATL - Approaches to Learning. It is a simple method which helps me immensly bothin school, sports, music and everyday-life.
The ATL-method at IES basically refers to those characteristics students bring to the learning process. These characteristics can be observed during usual teaching and learning activities. Students are also requested to provide input. Then, appropriate teaching strategies can be chosen or adapted to improve achievement.
The ATL consists of 7 areas:
- Organizational skills, study practices and attitudes towards work
- Collaborative skills
- Communication
- Information literacy
- Reflection
- Problem solving and thinking skills
- Research and investigation skills
It took me 3 years to memorise all of these areas and what skills fell into what category area. Before we got to learn the 7 areas completely, we we taught about the bacics. The basics of ATL are merely 5 words, all of which are easy to understand.
"3PCA, was the first thing Mr. Eric Toste said to me first day at IES in August, 2004.
I gazed at him, confused.
I want you to be Punctual, I want you to be Prepared, I want you to be Positive, I want you to Communicate, I want you to be Active. No exceptions. Get yourself a nice day, he said and left the room."
This is Approaches to Learning at IES, and this is what I use:
Organizational skills, study practices and attitudes towards work
Punctuality; Preparedness for class - neccessary materials / equipment; Preparedness for class - ready to learn; Effective use of school agenda; Showing care for work well done; Keeping an organized work file / notebook; Meeting deadlines.
Collaborative skills
Working effectively in pairs; Wroking effectively in a group; Leading a group; Encouraging contributions from others; Considering and respecting different points of view / opinions / preferences.
Communication
Writing clearly by hand; Effective use of wordprocessor; Effective verbal communication; Presenting ideas clearly and coherently, in writing and through public speaking; Listening carefully to others; Essay writing skills; Analytical writing skills; Selecting appropriate forms of expressions to suit various contexts; Using writing, drafting and note taking as means for generating ideas; Effective use of visual representations (diagrams, graphs, charts, tables, etc.); Paraphrasing (summarizing) in note taking / avoiding plagiagrism; Use quotations to support arguments; Bibliography & citation using standard reference formats; Identify types of sources (Primary, Secondary).
information literacy
Use of the library; Use of school research labs; Use of Internet / Intranet information sources; Reading charts / graphs / maps; Locating appropriate materials via the Internet; Finding historical data on the Internet; Finding primary source materials on the Internet; Searching Internet for Current Events; Note taking; Interpret sources; Selecting and rejecting information according to goal; Evaluating sources for suitability, reliability, bias, fact / opinion & accuracy (academic worth).
Reflection
Draw conclusions from information and data; Reflect on the success of methods, procedures, techniques; Consider personal performance, areas of strenght and possible improvements; Using performance evalutation to adapt behaviour and learning strategies.
Problem solving and thinking skills
Interpret graphical data; Interpret written information; Identifying causes and effects / casual relationships; Explaining causal relationships; Identifying needs; Identifying goals / targets; Planning strategies for collecting data to clarify a problem; Evaluating outcomes; Considering issues from multiple viewpoints; Creatively generating new ideas.
Research and investigation skills
Develop a research strategy; Select a topic; Limiting the topic; Form a research question / thesis statement.
Remember: Get yourself a nice day.
per ardua ad astra ~ David
2.4 The Three-Minute Lesson
Both in dancing and school, i was taught about the Art of Mental Training.
Dance legend Tony Irwing used to say that, in sports, Mental Training has been called the Science of Success.
I believe that is a mistake.
If you imagine that Mental Training apply only to sports and athletes you’d be wrong. For it’s the "Everyday Champion", from all walks of life, and all types of scenarios, that stands to benefit immensely from the knowledge and techniques that lie ahead. No matter what you do, or whatever challenges you face, The Art of Mental Training can help take you to
another level of performance, achievement, and personal success. Any time that you arrive to compete, event-energy gets mixed in with whatever is going on inside your head at the time. It’s the emotions and feelings that this mixture produces that ultimately ends up affecting how well we perform. If, for example, undesired emotions like nervousness, anger, or fear, happen to surface as a result of this mixture, the Champion must have the right knowledge, tools, and techniques at his disposal so that he can use them to ensure that his performance does not suffer. It’s what Champions know how to do well—and it’s something that everyone can learn how to do. But it’s only those who set out to learn and practice mental training
techniques that gain all the benefits and achieve the highest level of results. The better your self-belief, internal self-talk, attitude, focus, and mental climate are going into an event, the better your situation will be when the adrenalin is mixed in and event energy is pumping through you. By understanding what to shoot for in terms of the Ideal Mental Climate, and having been given the knowledge, tools, and techniques required to achieve it, the Champion is able to empower all aspects of his performance.
So, understand this:
Remember: Whatever is going on inside your head has everything to do with how well you end up performing.
per ardua ad astra ~ David
2.3 Fear of failure
Ask yourself this: what type of competitor are you? Are you the kind who likes to play it safe and just do alright? Or are you the kind who’s willing to take a chance on possibly failing in order to accomplish something amazing? More than anything else, it’s a fear of failure that keeps people from achieving their full potential in school, in life, in sports, in business—in everything. Fearing failure is more than just a bad thing. The bottom line is, in order to be good in school, in your sport or whatever it is that you do, you simply can’t be afraid of failing, and here’s why; Being afraid to fail actually helps create the conditions that make failure more likely! Fear of failure causes a lot of problems. It restricts you. The wrong types of thoughts result in shortness of breath, tight muscles, and an overload of stress. . . Worse still, fear of failing (sometimes even fear of fear) can cause a competitor to start playing it safe. Instead of rising up to meet the challenge, he subconsciously shrinks from it. On the other hand—and this is the important point—once a competitor learns to overcome the fear of failing, his chances of succeeding increase dramatically.
In reality, fear of failure is nothing more than a perceived psychological threat to your ego and self-esteem. What typically causes a fear of failing is the state of mind that takes hold when a competitor is afraid of looking bad, or else is such a perfectionist that he’s become overly self-critical. In either case, his internal state ends up holding him back, whether he’s aware of it or not.
Adults are more than capable of wrecking their own chances with fear of failure. However, with children, parents and coaches must be extra careful. Often the adults are the ones creating this build-up of nervous stress in the child athlete’s internal world. Injecting the wrong emotional input into a child’s occasional failure can ruin the child’s love of their sport and even destroy their confidence. With children it’s especially crucial that we help build self-esteem, not tear it down. Parents need to go easy on the criticism. Parents shouldn’t act out. It’s that type of adult behaviour that can cause a child's fear of failure. In order to avoid the internal state that causes the fear of failure, the mental athlete must first come to look at failure in an entirely different way from most people. He has to learn to accept that the only way to accomplish anything great is to risk failing at it first. He has to accept that without occasional failures he can never hope to get better. He has to understand that on the path to greatness some failures are inevitable. And when he does lose, the mental athlete has to make a conscious decision to learn from that failure. Rather than abandoning himself to the luxury of misery, he will methodically shut down that destructive voice of internal self-criticism in favour of looking at failure as valuable feedback. Thus, when he experiences failure he learns what, out of all his training, still isn’t working. He learns how to fail constructively. The mental athlete won’t allow a fear of failure to hold him back from greatness. By learning to look at failure differently, top competitors are able to enter competition without a fear of failure. After all, there is no one in history, in or outside of sports, who ever rose to greatness without having once failed. Politicians have lost elections. Generals have lost battles. Millionaires have failed in prior business ventures. Behind every Olympic gold medal lie hundreds of second and third place finishes.
Think about it.
Remember: The only way to accomplish anything great is to risk failing at it first.
per ardua ad astra ~ David
2.2 All of Me
Today I practised 7 hours to be able to play a song called All of Me by Jon Schmidt.
Jon Schmidt, composer:
"I gave All of Me its name because of what it is; It takes all of your inner strenght if you are to stop yourself from giving up. When you play this song these three words will ring in your ears: 'Rehearse, rehearse, rehearse'.
Good luck."
These words were not only motivational; they were also inspiring. I thought... If i could play this impossible ( ! ) song because of All of Me, why shouldn't I devote All of Me into everything I do?
So now, the song All of Me has gotten a new kind of meaning. It is a song that symbolises my Inner strenght and Will. Whenever I think negative thoughts or feeling like I want to give up, I just think of this song or listen to it if that's possible.
This is all of me for today, cheers.
Remember: One must practise in order to become.
per ardua ad astra ~ David
P.S.
I told my parents about my dreams of going to MIT today. They tried to push me down, telling me I would fail, but I am not afraid of failing... more on that tomorrow... haven't got the energy at the moment.
D.S.
2.1 Sidenote: Imagineering
So, in 1.1 Decide i mentioned Walt Disney and Imagineering. Seemingly, not everyone understood what I was referring to so that is why I decided to explain it to you, as it helps alot in building confidence and self-belief.
Mr. Eric Toste, currently Head Master of the International English School in Gävle told me alot about this during my lessons with him. I will do my best and try to repeat his words.
Keep in mind that this technique is very hard to master and that it takes time and devotion to use it. I am far away from mastering it, but still I feel that it has helped me a lot in my life. Both in mental preparation before competing in ballroom dancing and in boosting my self-esteem.
Imagineering—the technique of showing our minds how we want things to go; and a term first coined by the legendary dreamer, Walt Disney. We should all take his advice and allow ourselves to practice sensory rich imagineering. Champions such as Mike Tyson (Mr. Toste loves to use Tyson as an example) use imagineering prior to their events. It's also often used by people in order to help them achieve the successful completion of a project or an important goal over time. This simple practice has been proven to be so essential and so effective, that the athlete who fails to practice the technique apparently never plays to his true potential. Interestingly, the same results have been observed with actors and musicians, as well. For performance of any kind, mental preparation is as important as physical training.
Mike Tyson said:
"if you leave “imagineering” out of your preparation, you will be hurting yourself and helping your opponent. Imagine stepping into competition having seen and felt the entire experience before-hand; from the crowd to the coaches, from the venue to your own performance, all in your own mind. It’s a fascinating experience. It creates an incredible feeling of confidence."
What’s really the key with imagineering is that you not only see and watch, but that you actually feel yourself succeeding, over and over again. Make sure that you bring emotion into your mental practice. Practice feelings along with images including those related to your overcoming adversity and being able to successfully fight your way out of challenging predicaments or situations. Never allow yourself to entertain images or feelings of defeat during your imagineering sessions. This is because whatever impressions reach the subconscious mind it will accept as being true—and what it believes to be true affects your performance. Feed it empowering, successful images and feelings, and it delivers performance, drive, and motivation from deep within yourself in line with those images and feelings. However, if you feed it suggestions of worries or failure then you will defeat yourself. Success, victory, and your ability to effectively overcome adversity, is what you must rehearse, rehearse, and rehearse again. Relax, be still, and in your mind - you must see it, feel it, and accept that it is coming your way. This process of conditioning for success set's things in motion. It creates confidence and confidence is one of the most significant by-products of good mental training. The most powerful confidence comes as the result of both physical and mental preparation—and winning and achievement has everything to do with preparation. If you think you’re confident now, and you’re not using mental training techniques, then you really can’t even begin to know what you’re missing or understand how much you stood to improve with mental training — that insight comes only through its practice.
Remember: Imagineering is vital because it leads to greater self-belief and greater
confidence, which in turn leads to better performance and achievements.
per ardua ad astra ~ David
2.0 Strive
I feel like I have started to improve my english again after my progress being like a doldrum since last june.
For months my thoughts have all been in swedish, but the last couple of weeks english has been coming back into my mind all the more fequent which is really good since it takes me one step closer to one of my goals: Improve my english.
This weekend I have been reading some of the MIT and the GRE compendiums that Rutvika e-mailed to me. (Thanks, Rut)
So, the quest has now officially started: I am now reaching for the stars as I strive to fulfill my goals.
Strive. Do something - big or small - today that takes you one step closer to your goals.
per ardua ad astra ~ David
1.1 Decide
- Study hard, Work hard, Play hard
- Have fun
- Improve my english
- Study mathematics and physics this summer
- Establish a unique and successful UF-business and earn lots of money
- Pass the GRE-test
- Complete the TOEFL with a minumum score of 600
- Apply for MITs Department of Economics in January 2011
- Graduate GS with high academic achievements in June 2011
- Study at MITs Department of Economics in September 2011
Those are my goals. Those are my dreams. Those are my visions.
For months I wandered in the darkness looking for the dreams that I had given up. I knew that I needed something to motivate myself to work hard, but I always thought that somebody else would do the hard work for me. Things don’t just happen on its own.
If you want something to happen in your life you need to do it yourself, and the best way to do that is to have something that motivates you; a dream, a vision.
Think about it. Without a dream, without a vision, how can you know where you hope to
get? Without a dream one is only drifting... I know I was.
So, what’s your dream? If it’s important to you, then it’s worth chasing. Any champion will tell you that a big part of life involves reaching for your dreams. It’s what helps you move forward.
Remember what Walt Disney called Imagineering? Use it, as you set out to create your vision. Let imagineering help you build the confidence that you can get to your dream; allow yourself to be moved by the power of your dreams. Never let anyone or anything shove you off track or break you down once you’ve set your course towards achieving
something.
Where do you see yourself next? What’s your vision of your future? One thing’s for sure, if you ever hope to achieve it, you need to see it and feel it, vividly, in your mind’s eye, and not just occasionally. Learn to often reinforce your vision of where you hope to be in a few years time—and then work towards achieving it. It’s not only dreaming, of course, but believing and taking action also. You’ve got to take specific steps to get you where you want to be. Soon you’ll learn some simple goal setting ideas that can help you transform your dreams into reality. They’re the same ideas that many top performers use in order to help them make steady progress, but for now, I want you to get a clear vision of what it is that you want to achieve for yourself. Think about what you want to become, how you want things to be. For a little while, you need to do some Imagineering. Close your eyes and see yourself and everything around you the way you want it to be. Imagine it; feel it; see it clearly; see it vividly. Let your spirit soar.
Decide. What's your dream? Figure it out. That's your assignment.
per ardua ad astra ~ David
1.0 Dreams
At certain times in my life I have looked around and found myself having (temporarily)
achieved my goals. Looking back on all the hardships, the obstacles, the challenges, and
even some of the negative people who’d done their best to try to keep me down,
somehow I still did what I intended to do, and got myself where I wanted to be.
So, what is it that drives us to try again and again, to keep going, to keep taking just one
more step even when nothing seems to be working for us?
A dream, that’s what.
per ardua ad astra ~ David
