In life we find ourselves constantly trying to reach goals or turn dreams into reality.
Unfortunately, winning the battle in your mind first is not something most people think about.
Sometimes we do all the preparation we can to reach a goal:
For example, you want to run a marathon and you do all the running in preparation for the race.
You even change your diet to make sure your body is fueled and ready to go for the challenge that lies ahead.
But even after all this preparation, the race turns into a nightmare or you struggle to finish.
Another example could be a big presentation you need to do for work or your business.
A presentation that could make or break your career.
You practice your speech and memorize the words.
But still, you find yourself too nervous and you struggle to give a convincing presentation.
An example from game or dating is you might be thinking about asking a girl out that works with you.
So you finally build up enough courage to ask her out.
Then when you do it you find yourself messing it up so badly that she turn and walks away.
In Jiujitsu you might be training to get your blue belt or purple belt.
Finally, that big test comes up and you are so nervous that you screw it up and have to retake the test.
Why Do We Fail?
Why do we fail in these situations even if we did all the “real world” preparation?
The big part that many people miss is that victories are won first in the mind.
Winning the battle in your mind first is the key to everything.
Before you enter the stadium you have already won or lost that battle in the mind.
Yes, planning and vision are important.
But you as an individual need to experience the win with all your senses before the battle.
Victorious warriors win first and then go to war, while defeated warriors go to war first and then seek to win.
– Sun Tzu
The Weeds
We need to get rid of the weeds of the mind.
Useless thoughts need to go.
We need to access the deeper part of our minds, the full spectrum of our minds.
Most of us just move in the shallow water and never dive deep.
In some Asian philosophies, they refer to the mind as a wild horse that needs to be tamed.
They also refer to the mind as a garden that sometimes get overgrown by weeds.
Whatever way you approach the nature of your own mind you need to take control.
We need to tame the wild horse that is our minds.
Or get rid of the weeds in our garden.
We clear our minds by becoming conscious of our thoughts.
We consciously look at the influences that might be poisoning our wild horse.
Or influences that cause weeds to grow in our garden.
Things like negative people, social media,news etc.
We then decide to limit those influences or remove them.
Maintenance
Then we maintain it with a daily practice of meditation or yoga.
Or both if you have the time.
You can do a quick meditation session every morning and do a yoga session 3 times a week.
Then we plant powerful ideas in the clean garden.
We use visual images to create a new garden.
These ideas must grow roots and create fruit for us.
Reading
We start reading books that influence us in positive ways and we surround ourselves with positive people.
Then we start setting weekly visualization sessions for whatever it is what we want to achieve.
So for 30 minutes we lie down in a dark room or any place comfortable where you can be alone and relax.
Put on some relaxing music with no words.
Some instrumental music that you find inspiring or relaxing.
Visualise
Then start visualizing yourself doing the thing you want to achieve.
Use all your senses and make it as real as possible.
For example, if you want to ask a woman out on a date see yourself confidently walk up to a beautiful woman.
Feel how calm, relaxed and confident you are.
Hear yourself speaking confidently with good body language.
See the women responding confidently to you and giving her your number.
Another example could be climbing Everest.
See yourself enjoying the pain and the cold.
Feel the cold weather in your face and smell the cold air.Imagine how you conquer the mountain step by step and overcoming challenges.
Then see yourself standing on top of Everest and successfully completing the mission.
Visualization is a big part of winning the battle in your mind first.
See Yourself
There is a famous story about Michael Phelps that I talk about in my book Self Discipline.
Michael Phelps was a famous Olympic swimming champion.
In the book I tell the story about how he used visualization for years to see himself winning over and over again in his mind.
He rehearsed (visualized) this so many times in his mind that when the time came to race he already won the race before he even got into the water.
The point of this article is this:
Winning the battle in your mind first is the key to all success.
Of course, do the physical preparation but you need to get your mind on the same page for the challenge that awaits you.
Many times the guys who are mentally stronger will defeat the guys who are physically stronger.
This does not mean that the physical does not count.
But it means that the mind is usually the difference in very competitive environments.
If you can master your mind you can overcome any challenge that comes your way.
For many people, visualisation will not come easy.
This is ironic because most people worry about things every day but they won't use this “worry power” for their own benefit.
What is worry?
Worry is imagining bad things happening.
What if you use the power of your imagination for your own benefit?
Start using your imagination to create the outcome that you want in your life.
But like I said this will be hard for many in the beginning.
But don't just give up after you tried it a few times.
Just try again and again until you start getting on a roll in your mind.
If you struggle then change up the music until it triggers your mind into the deep creative parts of your brain.
Motivational music is helpful in getting the mind into a creative place.
So find what works for you.
Conclusion
You are right now using very little of the massive potential of your mind to transform your world.
Start experimenting with the creative power that is your mind.
From now on start winning the battle in your mind first.
Then go to war!
Done!
