by Jack Singer, Ph.D.
Professional Sport and Business Psychologist
Running a successful business requires the exact same skills from its managers and employees that professional sports teams require from their coaches and athletes.
To stay at the top of your game requires the three C’s: Confidence, Concentration and Control. All three of these key elements overlap and depend on the others for ultimate business success.
- Confidence is the single most important variable in improving your performance and it comes from positive self-talk. Recognize when you give yourself negative, self-defeating messages, such as thoughts that begin with “What if…,” “I hope I don’t…,” or “I shouldn’t have…” I call this negative self-talk the “Internal Critic.” For so many of us, that critical, internal voice dominates over the rational, positive, optimistic one.
- Concentration is directly affected by your self-talk. To run a championship-level business, you cannot be distracted by fears, worries or negative emotions, all of which incubate in negative self-talk. A simple formula for success is: Your Performance=Your Talent +Motivation-Distractions. Keep the distractions to a minimum and your performance will always reflect your true talent. Can you guess what the number one distraction is? That’s right… negative self talk!
- Control your negative self-talk, and you control your destiny!
So how does one do that, you ask?
Here is a simple, but powerful, five step mental toughness routine that only takes a few minutes to practice each day.
- Wear a loosely fitting rubber band on your wrist and every time you catch yourself beginning a negative, self-defeating thought (such as, “What if I fail at this endeavor?”), snap that rubber band, while telling yourself (with emphasis) to “stop this silly thinking.”
- Take a deep, calming breath, by breathing in to the count of four through your nose, hold it for four seconds and then a big exhale from your mouth, to the count of seven.
- Challenge every negative thought with questions, such as “Do I really have any evidence that the thing I’m afraid will happen, will actually happen or am I simply anticipating the worst?” If you challenge those thoughts, you will realize that most of your fears are just fabrications of the worst case scenario.
- Give yourself an “identity statement,” which is directed at boosting your self-confidence. For example, continuously visualize yourself as having already accomplished your business dreams, and tell yourself how proud you are of your accomplishments. When you do this consistently, you are well on your way to success. The more frequently you visualize your success as if it has already happened and continually think about it in positive terms, the more quickly your subconscious mind will actually want to make it happen for you.
- Complete your mental toughness routine with another deep, centering breath.
It’s simple: Practice the “three c’s” of success each day, then you will bring out the true champion within and your business will thrive!
About the Author:
Dr. Jack Singer is a professional speaker, trainer and psychologist. He has been speaking for and training Fortune 1000 companies, associations, CEO’s and elite athletes for 34 years. Among the association conventions which Dr. Jack has keynoted are those which serve financial planners.
Dr. Jack is a frequent guest on CNN, MSNBC, FOX SPORTS and countless radio talk shows across the U.S. and Canada. He is the author of “The Teacher’s Ultimate Stress Mastery Guide,” and several series of hypnotic audio programs, some specifically for athletes and some for anyone wanting to raise their self-confidence and esteem.
In his speaking presentations, Dr Jack teaches sales and financial services professionals the exact same skills he teaches to elite and world champion athletes to Develop & Maintain the Mindset of a Champion!
To learn more about Dr. Singer’s speaking and consulting services, please visit DrJackSinger.com and FunSpeaker.com or call him in the U.S. at (800) 497-9880.
