Developing the Winning Mentality by Mark Wager

Developing the Winning Mentality
By Mark Wager

Just imagine what you could achieve if you could switch into the right mental attitude that was required for success. Have there been times when you dealt with a situation only to regret how you reacted? Were you angry when you knew you should have been calm or maybe you were relaxed when instead you should have been sharp and focussed? The main reason for people not fulfilling their potential is the inability to react in the right way at the right time. Very often people put down their wrong mental attitude to ‘this is just who I am” and decide to have regret as company for the rest of their lives. It is sad to know that people are completely unaware of the techniques that are available in order to enhance mental performance.

It’s the mental game that is often the difference between success and failure.

In this article I will be looking at an advanced techniques designed to explain how you can select the precise mental attitude you need to be successful in a particular situation. You will learn how to develop that winning mentality. Please note that like any article the topic is covered briefly and does not in any way represent a complete guide to implement such a technique. If you want more information then please contact me directly.

In this article I will explain the technique of using code-phrases in order to become successful. A code-phrase is a brief statement, an explanation of a strategy or tactic in its simplest form so that such a strategy/tactic can be implemented or reinforced by brief audio or visual repetition. The intention is that a code-phrase is used to mentally focus a person’s mind on what they need to do in that moment in order to succeed.

Imagine you are in a situation that you need to react in a particular way yet you are currently acting in the opposite way. Whether it’s a relationship or a work situation the stakes are high and you can see the bad ending being written as you speak. In the heat of the situation minutes feel like seconds and you have no time to react. Now imagine if you were an observer seeing yourself in this situation. Time has frozen and you are standing there watching with the full realisation of just how much you are going to regret your reaction later on. Time is still frozen and you now have time to give yourself some valuable advice but you only have a minute to do so before time resumes. With only a minute, your advice has to be so precise, so simple yet so compelling that it changes your mentality from a losing one to a winning one. What would you say? How would you convince yourself? Answer those questions and you have the beginning of forming your own unique code phrase.

When you review the advice you give yourself, break it down even further and you need to look at what is the key fundamental point that you want to get across. To work this through some more do the same exercise but this time give yourself 30 seconds in order to give advice and then again with only ten seconds. A good key phrase should be able to be recited in under ten seconds. A key thing to remember is that the key phrases often represents the advice as opposed to being the advice itself. Just by way of example I had coached a young man who felt that he needed more focus. He needed to take advantage of what time was available instead of getting to the end of the day wondering how little he had achieved. He did the self coaching exercise and initially started talking about time management tips but ran out time. He then talked about how valuable time was and how much regret he would have later on if he hadn’t achieved the things h wanted and again he ran over time. A minute wasn’t long enough let alone teno seconds. When he talked it through, certain phrases stood out. i.e.“we only have one shot in this life” and references about having a killer instinct to be aggressive with opportunities. After a while these comments were ground down to a performance statement “one shot, one kill” a statement on its own that means very little if you said it in conversation but to this individual the phrase “one shot, one kill” represents the precise mindset that he needs in order to regain focus and for him to enter into his winning mentality.

Each code-phrase is unique to that individual. Some people can develop several code-phrases each of which is for a different scenario or issue because a winning mentality is not just a single mentality but a series of variations in order to enhance performance for different scenarios. Again I need to stress that this is just an outline on what is a complex subject. If you want to know more feel free to contact me otherwise I hope you found this article an interesting read and maybe this will help you find your own unique winning mentality.

About the Author:

Mark Wager is an experienced Leadership Coach and international Author. Mark specialises in turning intelligent people into world-class leaders through coaching and customised workshops.

If you have any comments or questions regarding the above article or leadership in general feel free to contact Mark on Twitter or via the enquiry form below.