If you believe you can knock me out and I think you can knock me out, it is all over for me! Self-Image, our belief about ourselves, can define our outcome in any performance. So, what can we do to restore our Self Image and also our odds of winning? First, we will start by reviewing just what causes the Self Image to shrink or to grow, and then we will get into possible things you can do to influence your Self-Image.
Of the three mental processes, SubConscious, Conscious, and Self-Image, the Self-Image is possibly the most perplexing. The Self Image includes your habits, attitudes, and your so-called comfort zone. When we work within our comfort zone, our Self Image is fine with that, but when we work too poorly or too well, the Self Image tries to correct us to work within the comfort zone. This can ruin a great start and produce a crash-and-burn finish, or it can elevate you out of a poor start into a score that is like you at the end.
When we function well or when we think we are performing well, our Self-Image nurses. The reverse is also true. Every time we commit an error or think about causing a mistake, we increase the likelihood of making that same mistake in the future. This occurs because it becomes like us to work in the way we are picturing, bad or good. Manage the imprinting, and you control the outcome in the future. Remember, it is much simpler to narrate a perfect performance than to actually have an ideal performance because we can always define the results in an imaginary imprint.
One of the most significant contributors to poor performance is exaggerating the effect of bad performance by talking about it or thinking about it. It is common in a race to hear competitors talking about their errors. Every time they speak about it, they stamp a mistake in their Self-Image and, in a way, define their future performance through that direction. Bad attitudes cost competitors titles. I conclude that more competitions are lost by mental breakdown than by technical failure. One of the leading contributors to failure is reinforcing a mistake by thinking about it and talking about it directly after performing.
I urge you to perform a new thinking pattern in your life and sport. I advise that you decide today to make it a point and improve your self-image by controlling your thoughts after performing a task. Rather than complaining about your lousy performance and crying over it, try to imagine you executed your task to the best of your abilities. And try to spend more time thinking about the positives of your business, sport, and life and less about the negatives!
