With Winning in Mind

By Engr. Carlos V. Cornejo

The author an Olympic gold medalist in rifle shooting does not claim his expertise in writing this book, “With Winning in Mind: The Mental Management System”, from psychology but from his gold medals and medals of his students.  Lanny Basham simply says that this is not theory but proven practice that works.  He wants you to read his book to get a share of his winning ways.

Below are his big ideas.

It’s 90% Mental

An excellent performance whether you are in golf, in sales, in parenting, in managing or coaching starts with a solid mental system.  It means you are armed with a good knowledge of the right skills in whatever craft you do and have tried it out and found out what works well and what does not.  In other words, you’ll have to do some reading and research if you want to improve in that skill.  The author says, it’s amazing that many athletes would claim that their game is 90% mental and yet hardly do the mental practice but stick more with the physical aspect.

Process is Primary

The book narrates of the remarkable story of golfer Ben Crane that he got so immersed practicing this principle of focusing on the process and not the outcome, that when he did his most crucial putt, he forgot that he already won the game not until his wife had run to him to congratulate and embrace him.  Often times we focus on the outcome.  When we study for an exam, we focus on the time we end our study period instead of the material we were studying.  When we are to speak to an audience, we pay attention on the impression people might have on us while on stage, instead of focusing on the topic that we are talking about.  No wonder many people have stage freight and end up giving a poor speech.  The key is to focus on the process of giving a good talk and the outcome will just take care of itself.

Handling Pressure

The problem arises when we think we are the only ones who feel pressure and then we allow ourselves to get overwhelmed by it. All the great people we admire feel pressure. The difference with the peak performers is that they recognize that it’s a neutral force and then channel that energy into their performance.

The energy is neutral. It’s how we interpret it that creates our experience. If we worry about

it and focus on what might go wrong, we feel anxiety.  The author’s advice is “Focus on what you want to see happen, not on what is stressing you.”

Talk About Your Good Shots

One time the author was interviewed and was asked how come he missed two out of ten attempts.  He replied, “Why focus on my missed shots?  Why not focus on my perfect shots?”  You should talk about your good shots. By doing that you improve the probability that you will

have more good shots in the future.  The best quarterbacks have the shortest memories. They forget their bad plays immediately and concentrate on the next play.

Self-Image

If your self-image is low, your performance will be low. That’s the bad news. The good news is that you can change it.  The author says, “Reshaping your mind is much like reshaping your physical body. If you are overweight, it is likely that the cause is repetitive overeating. Repetitive change of your eating habits is the best way to bring your weight down safely. If you have a poor attitude, it is likely that the cause is repetitive negative reinforcement. Repetitive change of your thinking habits is the best way to bring about an attitude change.”  It also goes with repetitive good actions.  Competence (having good skills or getting things done) is a product of confidence.  Both reinforce each other.  If you have confidence, your competence will go up and if your competence grows it increases your confidence.  And confidence is a self-assurance that your self-image is in a good place.