We can’t be positive ALL the time. I talk a lot about positive mental attitude (PMA), which I 100% believe in. But when I’m in a tough spot I try to just pull myself out of it, not get all the way up to positive—didn’t realize I’ve been trying to “get to neutral”. Getting to Neutral by Trevor Moawad really resonated with me (of course I love that Moawad worked with Nick Saban). My takeaways:
Neutral thinking isn’t emotionless thinking. It’s a way to process information to help make better decisions—strip away our biases and focus on facts.
Emotions are completely unavoidable and it’s unnatural to suppress them. Let that energy out of the body to get back to neutral.
Learn to downshift your brain to neutral so you aren’t trying to make critical decisions while your mind is redlining.
Stay in the moment. Outcomes are unpredictable and subject to change, so worrying about them will only overwhelm.
Focus only on what you can control.
Direct your focus, direct your life.
Accept what you’ve done in the past and understand that you control what happens in the future.
Behaviors have to supersede your feelings. Sometimes you have to behave your way into feeling it versus feeling your way into behaving.
Determining your values is talking the talk. Your habits are how you walk the walk. They’re what you do every day to ensure you get what you want, or to ensure you DON’T get what you want.
Understand your own influence on yourself. Recognize how you’re motivated and motivate yourself that way.
When there is chaos, you have to come with opposite energy.
Go to the facts instead of letting your feelings guide your decisions.
“Here are the issues” is more productive than “this sucks”.
Pressure is a privilege.
I am 100% responsible for my large, moderate & small wins, as well as the losses.
Process over outcome.
There is no finish line. Celebrate the victories when they come and then move onto the next moment. Curse the defeats when they come and then move onto the next moment.