• Visualisation
• Staying in the present
• Relaxation
• Positive affirmations
• Making physical changes

The Five Basic Principles Of Thinking Like A Winner

Visualisation

Visualisation is a tool used by sportspeople the world over to mentally prepare for their event. But it can just as easily be used to prepare for an important job interview, a major presentation to a boss at work or even for a date with someone new who fills your stomach with butterflies (cough!).

Run the activity or game through your mind as the way you want it to end. Example, you scoring a goal, making a goal-line clearance, or winning a one-on-one. This allows the mind to prepare the thought process, and when the action takes place in real time, the mind does not need to think as it already knows how to react in a split second.

Never underestimate the power of the mind. That is the biggest weapon of all.

Exercise: Before a game, for example, you can visualize how you would like the match to proceed, using your imagination to fill in blanks about the game play and your individual performance.

Staying in the present

How often do we watch a champion like Monica Seles or Steffi Graff or Venus Williams (:D) pull herself together to win a match only moments after being on the verge of losing? (Ok, these are tennis players, just replace them with Steven Gerrard, Kaka, and Cesc Fabregas.) How do you stare defeat in the face and turn it around? How do mere mortals like the rest of us put our past failures behind us - targets we failed to meet, not performing up to the expectations of ourselves and others, etc? - to function at our peak when the pressure's on in a meeting, an interview, or during a match?

The answer, according to sport psychologists is to 'STAY IN THE PRESENT'.

All of us have a little voice inside our head (if you've got two or more, please seek professional help), which chatters away to us non-stop, often dwelling on the past or worrying about the future. We need to become more aware of this voice and to learn to control it. As mentioned above, the power of the mind is phenomenal.

You can indeed learn from the past and plan for the future but while you're actually in the middle of a game, you must focus on the present.

Exercise: Close your eyes and take deep breaths. Once you are completely relaxed, think of things that make you happy, e.g. Christmas presents!, nothing in relation to sports at the moment. Run this image through your mind for a good minute, and then think about that special moment in your life where you scored the best goal, made the perfect pass, or an excellent defending tackle, etc. It could have been executed during training, not necessarily a match. Try and visualize as though it's happening right now.

Tell yourself that that's what important now. Seek to replicate those actions, especially during a match. Constantly remember to tell your mind that winning and the great feeling of success is sweet. However, don't focus primarily on winning, concentrate on playing your best.

Relaxation

For athletes, relaxation of the body is very important. If your body is too tense, there is no way you can play effectively. So athletes learn how to relax 'on demand', even during actual competition. But mental relaxation is just as high a priority, particularly for those prone to anxiety under pressure.

A relaxed mind thinks more clearly. One of the easiest ways to relax on demand uses a technique called 'Favourite Place'.

Exercise: With this method, first think of a time where you were most relaxed and happy. Remember the sights and sounds. Sportsmen are encouraged to slip into this 'favourite place memory' even for just a few seconds, when they feel nerves start to overcome them. This technique works well for nearly everyone. If you can master the art of being able to relax quickly under pressure, you will give yourself a great advantage over the opposition.

Positive affirmations

To explain the value of positive affirmations, here is a story of a tennis player at the time that 'tie breaks' were introduced to the game.

This player was in the world's top 50 but he just couldn't win a tie break. It was driving him mad with anxiety and as a result he lost seven tie breaks - and seven matches - in a row. He realised that there was no point in competing at an international level unless he could beat this bete noire.

He brainwashed himself in reverse cycle - into believing that he could play tie breaks. He did this by, in relaxed situations, convincing himself that in fact he loved tie breaks. He stuck notes saying 'I love tie breaks' on his bathroom mirror (ok, that is kinda creepy), so they greeted him first thing in the morning. He repeated 'I love tie breaks' over and over to himself throughout the day and scrawled thi mantra on whatever paper he could find, even on serviettes in restaurants. He won the next nine out of eleven that he played.

What's important is that there is no way that he actually believed that he loved tie breaks when he started the 'brainwashing'. He programmed himself into believing it.

Exercise: (No, I'm not going to ask you to scrawl 'I love penalties' on your bathroom mirror.) If we tell ourselves often enough that we're useless or a failure, we start to believe it. (Heads up, Sala.) By the same token, if we tell ourselves we're successful, quick on our feet or a good player, we start to believe it - and believe it when it counts. Promise yourself that you'll tell yourself what it is you need to hear 10 times a day. Don't feel stupid about it. Just do it and watch the results.

Making physical changes

Obviously, we all perform better when we feel good. What we must remember is that feeling good is our responsibility.

Tests which monitor chemicals and hormones in our bodies have proven that 'putting on a happy face' (i.e. smiling) actually releases chemicals which make us feel better about life within 10 seconds of us breaking into a grin. Contrariwise, when we fall into depression, our bodies release different, misery-making (lol) chemicals.

In other words, we can cheer ourselves up, at least to an extent. Correcting our posture - shoulders back, chin up (Sala...) - has also been shown to help 'trick the brain' into feeling happier.

In its simplest form, this means we can control our emotions when it counts most, even if we're suffering from fatigue or simply feeling low. Your mind is your most powerful tool, by learning how to control it, you can use it to your advantage.

The challenge is to take responsibility for your emotions. There's no need to perform badly just because you're 'having a bad day'. (In fact, that's a freaking lame excuse.) Even for champions, there are only so many tactics and technical moves they can play, there's only a certan level of peak fitness they can achieve. What sets champions apart from the also-rans is their ability to go beyond these physical basics and to perform well mentally.

Furthermore, these rules apply to life. You can be a strong person, someone with a lot to offer, smart, confident, and skillful. But unless you have the ability to take all that strength with you wherever you go - both on and off the pitch - opportunities are going to slip away from you. Also, a player with strong mental skills can very well contribute more to the team than a player who only has good ball skills. (Team spirit and playing to win as a team.)

The mental toughness that elite athletes show is something that everyone can achieve. Many of us actually live out the basics of 'thinking like a winner' without even realising it. But it also takes repetitive practice and determination so that, like a perfect serve in tennis, or the ability to kick a winning goal, these mental skills never let us down when we need them most.