SHIFT
SHIFT
Shift Into Mental Performance Training
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Shift Into Mental Performance Training

Mental performance training

Let's take a long deep breath in, and out.

Little mini-shift into presence.

And talk about mental fitness — mental training for performance.

First of all, this is such an interesting topic.

Syncing your mind with your task — whether that's in sports performance, or work, or daily life — is the most desirable situation for us.

To be fully present with what you're doing at each moment along your journey.

But of course, that's not the way we always function.

So the process of learning to notice when you fall off that train — I call it the Train of Presence that navigates at the pace of your miracle.

When you fall off of that, and you need to find your way back on, recognizing that you've fallen off is an important skill.

And then, shifting back onto your train by connecting to presence and then listening to life — listening to your journey — is another important skill.

Practicing those important skills turns them it into immediate, experienced things, rather than just exercises that we can describe or talk about.

As you get better at using those key skills, the distracted moments — when you're feeling out of sync with whatever you're doing in the present moment — will reduce.

And your performance, in turn, will improve.

This practice largely applies to emotions — a lot of this is about Emotional Intelligence.

It’s a practice in how to cope with relationships in a way that leaves you feeling free, and creative, and engaged, and connected, and enthusiastic, and curious.

Pro Tip — I’m referring to your relationships with others, your relationship with yourself and your relationship to your life. We pay attention to each of those relationships during Shifts.

So let's take another deep breath and practice a bit right now.

First, just notice.

Ask yourself, what's a recent distraction that's been popping into your mind lately?

Maybe it's a relational one.

Or, maybe it's another kind of distraction.

Just take a few seconds to define that for yourself.

Allow it into your mind.

And allow it to distract you now too.

Get engaged with the emotional aspect of that for a few seconds.

It's gonna come back anyway, so may as well observe it and deal with it now.

Just observe how it feels in your inner world for a few seconds.

Good.

And now shift out of that experience, that sequence of thoughts — that distraction in your inner world.

Just allow it to fade away by completely connecting to this moment.

Take all your attention and focus it fully on your body right now.

Feel the buzzing of your body — the miracle of your body.

I call the miracle that's flowing through your body and then out through you into the world, “silence.”

Feel silence by feeling your body.

Feel the miraculous 30 trillion cells that are buzzing as your body, as you.

Bring all your attention into your body right now.

Listen and feel for a little while with me.

Feel the buzz?

If you get distracted from your intention to feel that buzz, just reset your intention — 100% of your attention feeling your body for a little while.

Good.

That cleans your inner-etchasketch quickly.

You can do that anytime.

And then you can go right back to taking that next step along your journey — whatever’s next for you in your day, and in your life.

That's how you get back on the train that's moving at the pace of your miracle.

You get back on and you stay with presence.

And then whenever you notice yourself getting knocked off, you know you have a quick way to get back on.

And we, of course, do longer drops into the present moment to practice in a variety of ways.

We’ll do that for the next little bit here, by again placing 100% of your attention in your body.

Think of this deeper dive as inoculating yourself against distraction by deepening your practice.

Practice gets better when you can notice yourself falling off your Train of Presence.

And also when you know how to stay with that felt, embodied experience of the pace of your miracle.

The more you connect to that the more you’re able to embody it to walk the pace of your miracle — to hear the next steps on your personal path, and to take them.

So another long deep breath.

Let’s spend a short time in our bodies.

Paying 100% of your attention to how your body feels again.

Notice that tingling in your body all at once.

Pick it up now.

Close your eyes this time if you want.

You can start again by focusing 100% of your attention on the sensations of your left hand.

And ask yourself, how do you know your left hand is there when your eyes are closed?

Because your hand buzzes.

So feel it — it buzzes with life.

Can you feel the buzz?

Good.

Now allow that buzzing sensation to spread to your whole body.

Just spend 30 seconds or so listening to and feeling your body in silence.

Fully present to your experience in this moment.

Good.

Good job!

That was a dose of a mental performance training in the form of a Shift.

It’s good to remember that’s what we’re doing each time we shift — in one way or another.

We’re dropping into presence and strategically shifting our state of mind.

And we’re training our minds to perform at their best.

So nice work.

Have an incredible day.

I’ll talk to you soon.

Sean

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Pro Tip Strategically applying today’s Shift process with consistency, and intensity, and targeted variety, to achieve a particular objective is how you use mental performance training to develop specific expertise and mastery.

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SHIFT
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OnePerfect Shift is an audio letter from a psychologist that shifts you into a better state of mind anytime. Each post gives you a fresh look at your relationship to your mind and reminds you how much control you can have over your life experience.
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Dr. Sean Sullivan