My Mind Is Playing Tricks On Me

If you didn’t know by now, the Winter Olympics are happening over in Sochi, Russia. I’ve always enjoyed watching the Olympics.

You watch the athletes rise to the occasion and put on a dazzling display of strength, power, and amazing athleticism. In a pressure cooker that is the Olympics, it can be fascinating watching the mental game that goes on. Why do some athletes thrive in pressure situations, and why do others crumble?

This morning I watched the men’s hockey game between Russia and Finland. It was the quarterfinals and it was do or die. You know the pressure was on the Russians to deliver. Anything less than gold would not be acceptable.

And what would happen?

They’re eliminated, losing 3-1 to the Finns.

I watched the entire 3^rd period and I could see no desperation from the Russians. You could see it in them.

There was defeat in their eyes, their bodies slumped, face in disbelief, and the desire to come back from a two goal deficit non-existent.

It was like they truly believed all was lost, well before the sound of the buzzer.

What we think of, and what we believe, is a powerful driving force. Whether it is positive or negative, it ultimately affects how we perform. The mind can make us do whatever it wants, but only if we let it.

We’re all human, and every human wants to take the easy way out. It doesn’t matter who you are, we are inherently lazy. But we are only that way if we let that happen. The overachievers, the people who seem to have super powers and can get ten million things done at once, they’ve learned to override the laziness. They have the mindset of wanting something, going out and getting it, and never settling for anything less than 100%. They believe they can achieve the impossible, because the word impossible is not in their vocabulary.

It’s a mental game. Just this morning, before I watched the match, I got my lazy ass out of bed at 4am (yeah, AM) so that I can train before my family woke up. I dragged my sleepy body to the gym, and started with a high intensity conditioning set.

Mere minutes into the training I wanted to quit. My body was aching, my breathing was laboured, and my heart felt like it was going to burst out of my chest. But I stuck with it.

I knew that if I just got past the hump, I was going to be ok. I knew that if I didn’t give in to my lazy desires, I would make it to the end.

And that’s what I did.

I changed my mindset. I changed my belief from “I can’t do this,” to “Yes I can!” And I truly believed it.

The next time you feel you’re down and out, look at yourself in the mirror. Tell yourself you can. Believe it with all your heart. Then go out there and get it.