Chapter 85

Imagine That!

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Today's Empowering Quote
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"Something almost magical happens when people break through the obstacles that hold them back and discover what is truly inside them."
-Brian Biro (from Beyond Success)

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Today's Empowering Question
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"What can I achieve today if I make just a little shift in my belief about what is possible?"

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Today's Fast Session
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Brian Biro, the former coach of a national swim team, was about to coach his last meet.

One of his young swimmers was a girl named Allison, who despite good natural speed, always "died" at the end of races.  Finally, after years of just missing the Junior Olympics before she moved up in age brackets, she made the final spot (by one hundredth of a second) on the team for her only event, the 100 meter butterfly... seeded last out of 64 other girls.

She was just happy to be there and felt absolutely no pressure.  So in warm-ups with no undue expectations, she turned in her best 25-meter time ever.

Brian got an idea...

When he told her what her time was, she was bubbling over with enthusiasm. He asked her to remember how she felt as she was swimming... to remember how high on the water she felt. This got her in an incredible state of excitement.  She couldn't wait for her race.

They had it all set up.  She was to get into the same excited mental state she was in at the beginning of her recent sprint.  Then, to give her the strength at the end of the race so she would finish strong, at the 75-meter mark, Brian was going to be waiting. He would yell, "NOW!"  When she heard it, she was to pretend that she had just dived into the water in her most recent personal record-breaking sprint.

In her race, Allison exploded off the gates.  By the 25-meter mark, this last seeded swimmer, had opened up a one-length lead on her competitors. Approaching the 75-meter mark the lead was two lengths.

By now, all her teammates had joined the coach beside the pool, screaming wildly, cheering her on.  When she reached 75 meters, Brian dropped his hand and 100 voices screamed in unison, "NOW!!!!!"

She poured it on.

When she finally touched the wall, she looked around.  There were no other swimmers nearby.  She thought she had finished last and that everyone had gotten out of the pool!!

Actually, she had won the race by a giant margin, dropping 10 full seconds off her personal best.  10 seconds in a 100-meter race!

With tears in his eyes, Allison's father asked Brian, "What did you do to her?" Brian said, "SHE did it."

That day, he had changed his coaching with Allison.  In his frustration with her habit of sputtering at the end of races, he had started his own habit of saying, "One of these days, you're not going to die."

That day he changed, by helping her focus on what she wanted instead of what she didn't want.

When we fail to get what we want in most situations, it's often because we're focusing on not failing.

Sports psychologists have been training athletes for decades now in imagining the perfect performance.  Mental rehearsal. And world records have continued to fall in every category of human physical performance.

Focus on what you want...

See it over and over.  Get in the right state and you can achieve almost anything. The words will just come to you.  You'll magically feel wonderful... precisely when you have to.  The right actions will come easily.  They'll be fun.  You'll achieve your personal best.

And you'll get what you want when you want it more predictably... After all, when you do this a few times and you start winning more consistently, you'll want to continue this mental habit forever, right?

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Today's Winning Beliefs
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-- I easily imagine myself doing my best
-- My mental success rehearsal is so real I can feel it
-- I pay attention to my thoughts and keep the positive
-- I quickly turn pictures of failure into success
-- I am setting new records of personal achievement now

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