Mental skills training. Ocassional fun reading or a daily commitment in the pursuit of excellence?

I hear it all the time. 

 "Professor, I really liked the blog topic or article you wrote about mental skills training".

" It could really help me. 

Reading your sports psych text book or taking 3 minutes to read a short blog piece is only the beginnning for those looking to improve their daily lives, both on and off the field. The real work starts when you make a commitment and have the discipline to practice and execute the specific topic on a regular basis. 

How do you go from fun reading to being able to access these tools when the game starts?

JOG. 

Visit your Journal of Greatness daily and be brutally honest with your recap. Share the good, the bad and the ugly of each day or performance with a REAL " next time if it happens I have a better game plan to get better results" advice. 

Pre- practice weapon selection. 

Select one weapon; laughter, song,rap chats, debs, best flix, FOPO, etc and commit to working it all practice.  Write it on your hand or on your glove or post it in your locker. 

Pre-game check in. 

Visualize ( best flix) every part of the game and your performance and see it in your minds eye with smoothness, confidence and detail. 

On the bus, during warm ups, between innings, 

In the shower. Play the game and see your performance before the game starts so your brain and eyes have that special " been there done that" moment during the game. More detail the better. Creating bestflix doesn't happen overnight. Patience and trust!

Daily dose of DEBS.

During class, checking the phone, people watching in the cafeteria, in the shower, before getting out of bed. Take the time to focus on your slow, diaphragm breathing for 30 second intervals. 4 times a day. That's 120 seconds ( 2 minutes) of connecting your mind and body and reminding yourself how the breathe is the key ingredient in all your other weapons of choice. 

Don't just read about mental training. Live it each day.