If you try not to think about a pink elephant, you end up thinking about a pink elephant. The brain tends to overlook the “don’t” and focuses on the object.
So we want to tell ourselves what we want to do instead of what not to do. “Don’t drop the ball” is negative and “Catch the ball” is positive.
Once you become aware of the negative thought, you can rephrase to an ideal.
Positive phrases can help strengthen all the Zone-5 states.
2) Minimize Importance
The more important you make what you need to do, the more stress, anxiety and pressure you’ll likely feel. Instead, say things like, “It’s just another competition,” “It’s no more important than any other,” and “I’ve done this hundreds of times.”
The outcome is not totally controllable by you, so temporarily, make it less important and focus on preparation, strategy and emotion control (all controllable).
Minimizing improves the Zone-5 state of Carefree which leads to peak performances.
3) Matter of Fact
This is a great skill to use to get more Calm, especially after errors.
Practice using the part of your brain that is the “Play by Play” commentator (who describes only facts about what happened) vs the “Color Commentator” (who tries to make what happened exciting or emotional).
Avoid “catastrophizing” by making something much bigger than it really is.
Describe what happened factually, “I slipped and landed on my right knee” instead of using an inaccurate statement like, “I’m always so clumsy!”
4) ‘As Long As I’ Statement
This is a sentence you can customize, memorize and repeat when performing.
The statement structure is: “As long as I, 1) give 100% (effort), 2) strategize (problem solve), and 3) control emotions (C-C-C-F-M) …I know I’m doing everything I can in the moment …And the outcome will be what it is.”
Effort, strategy & emotions are typically all we control once a performance starts, but if you have specific controllables associated with your activity, use them for your As Long As I statement.
As Long As I helps strengthen all the Zone-5 states.
5) Optimism
It’s the belief that good things are controllable, they happen often and in many situations.
Optimism is highly related to Health, Success and Happiness, the 3 universal goals of humanity.
Criticize yourself with more temporary words (“sometimes” or “recently”) and complement with more permanent words (“always” or “usually”).
Optimism strengthens the Zone-5 state of Motivation