Change Your Mental Perspective

A change in your mental perspective can lead to huge improvements in your results.

The first time I learned this lesson was when I was a teenager. I was an average wrestler in high school and I really wanted to improve my results. While thinking of ways I could do better I had a revelation. I realized the reason I was losing was not because I was not tough enough or did not train hard enough, it was because I quit when my match got too hard.

Upon realizing this, I made a mental adjustment - never quit. No matter what, win or lose, I never quit from that point on. My results dramatically improved and I received the "Most Improved" wrestler award after my second season.

Years later, I began training in mixed martial arts. In my first 6 months I was choked, arm barred, punched, kicked, you name it. I pretty much got my ass kicked every time I showed up which is the normal "right of passage" in this sport. In the beginning, I knew my lack of experience was my biggest problem. However, I wondered if I could apply, once again, my little secret of changing my mental perspective to help me get through this tough period.

The mental perspective change I applied this time was by imagining my opponent was trying to kill me. As intense as that sounds that is exactly what I did. I imagined I was struggling for my life instead of thinking it was just a fight. This was exactly the mental trick I needed which changed everything.

In both cases it was not as if I became a super human overnight. However, by adjusting my mental perspective I improved in a single giant leap forward. I was still the same person with the same physical abilities, but now I was armed with a different mindset which became my new weapon.

Sometimes you can improve your results by simply changing how you look at a situation. However, a mental perspective change on its own does nothing. The key is that by changing your mental perspective your actions will likely change to align with it. Not until your actions change will you see the results you are after.