Improve Your Mind Game Without Going Mental

You've trained hard in the gym. Your technique is flawless. Your diet is on point. You’ve studied your opponent’s fights. You have a solid game plan and can react on the fly. The bell rings. The buzzer sounds. Big John says Let’s Get It On! And all of the sudden, your mind takes a vacation and you wake up and realize that it’s all over. What happened? You were at your physical peak. Your mind betrayed you. All of the focus was on training, and cardio, and making weight.  You neglected your mental state and it cost you.  It has been said that the mind is the body, and the body is the mind. Here are some methods to help strengthen the mind-body connection. [caption id="attachment_17066" align="alignright" width="169"] Kombat Arts Students connecting their mind to their body at the Meditation For Athletes Workshop.[/caption] Meditate Don’t Marinate – Unclutter your mind. You have a million things running through your head. Meditation helps you disconnect from all the things that can be overwhelming. Let your anxiety and the many things that try to pull you in every direction flow out of you. Get focused on your clearing your mind and give it the reset that it needs. Your body will follow suit and it can put you in the mindset that you require to tackle any obstacle in life, training, and in the ring or on the mat. Keep an eye on this blog and Kombat’s Social Media for the next great Meditation Workshop. Our last one was a huge success and we are looking forward to another one soon! Talk yourself into it – Positive Self Talk. The words you speak out loud carry weight. This is never more evident when talking to or about yourself. A constant barrage of negative thoughts spoken aloud will manifest themselves into habit and truth. The opposite is also true. When positive affirmations are spoken aloud, they too become reality. Be mindful of how you speak, and use the power of words to cement your positive habits and outlook and it will give you the confidence and mental strength to overcome any negativity. Dear Diary – Building on what is spoken aloud, the written word also plays an important role in your mental well-being. An easy way to declutter your brain is to write it out.  Take all of your fears, concerns, and problems and make a list. Then break them down in bite size pieces that can be tackled bit by bit until the solution has been attained. Goals are also conceived and achieved in this fashion. Write them down, and write the steps required to reach them. The accumulation of all these steps combined will keep your goals realistic and more easily managed. Having an actual written out diary is a therapeutic  visual reminder that will keep you accountable to yourself as well. A great tool for this that has been talked about a lot lately is The Five Minute Journal (https://www.fiveminutejournal.com/) It helps you begin the day by embracing positivity and writing out clear goals and steps to achieve them. Prioritize and Categorize – Now that you’ve talked to yourself in a positive manner, and written out your goals and solutions to problems. It’s time to work on them, but not all at once. Do not overwhelm yourself. A lot of times what seems like the largest obstacle at the time, can actually be solved in the simplest fashion. A problem is an opportunity to overcome something . A wall that you must go over, under, around, or through.  When you focus on the small manageable tasks first, quite often your momentum will carry over into the other issues and they either become easier to deal with, or have already been taken care of as a side effect of solving another issue. Seeing is Believing –Visualization. Create in your mind what you want to physically happen, and the steps to achieving success will fall into place much easier. Think of it as reverse déjà vu. Countering opponents, raising your hands in victory, standing on the podium. Fake it till you make it. Beware, for doubts and fears can also grow in your mind in the same way as positivity. Remember that FEAR is no more the False Expectations Appearing Real. Do not let your mind create a scenario with an unfavorable outcome or you will have defeated yourself before the contest has even begun. It’s All in Your Head – "Whether you think that you can, or that you can’t, you are usually right." -  Henry Ford.  Remember in the end, it is all in your head. You are in control. Your attitude is your decision. Choose to have a positive attitude, the mind will dictate this to the body, and you will reap the benefits of what you have sown. Don't forget to follow Kombat Arts Training Academy's social media on  Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and Instagram. Like! Subscribe! Follow! Come in for a FREE 2 Week Trial today!