Imagine effortlessly keeping all your resolutions; sticking
to all the things you promised to yourself; getting
yourself to do all those things you've never been able to
get yourself to do. Wouldn't you perform like you never
performed before?
It need not be tough to get yourself to do the things you
know you should do. Actually the tougher it is, the less
likely you are to succeed. Peak performance feels
effortless.
For instance; after a hard game of racquet ball, I often
will sit with my partner, breathing hard, dripping wet,
thoroughly exhausted. Our favorite joke is, "If somebody
paid me to work this hard, I'd quit." Yet, there we are,
paying for the privilege. Between games, I enjoy recalling
exciting plays, such as smashing by partner's return ball
so low to the floor that he can't reach it in time. I will
eagerly look forward to the next game and enjoy buying a
new racket or a pair of shoes occasionally.
I realized that it is how you feel about an activity that
counts, whether you mentally associate it as work or play,
obligation or privilege, misery or fun.
The Magic of Fun
I can't say that actually playing racquetball was
effortless, but it felt that way. I was able to put every
ounce of my energy into the game. I was eager to play,
eager to do my best, eager to win; no reluctance, lethargy
of any kind. That's the magic of fun.
It's what we all knew in kindergarten--until adults trained
it out of us. If something was important, we had to get
serious.
We don't have to keep believing that anymore. The more
important a project, the more fun we can have doing it.
I remember a class I attended for teaching therapist
techniques for helping patients. We did a lot of actual
work on each other. One would volunteer to work on solving
his problem, and a colleague would volunteer to treat him.
This was serious stuff. We were engaged in removing serious
blocks to our happiness.
Everyone performed much better without any strain or pain
because, just before we started, a fellow student, named
Jeff, would announce in stentorian tones, "Grim up
everybody." We laughed and the atmosphere became playful.
Many major breakthroughs were made at those sessions
Four Steps to outperforming yourself:
1. You will outperform yourself if you make pleasurable
whatever you need to do. It may feel counter-intuitive, but
the more serious the issue, the more playful should be your
approach.
2. Simply deciding to make everything more fun will go a
long way towards boosting your performance. Practicing this
attitude until it becomes a habit. You will find success in
places you never expected.
3. Dwell on all the pleasure and funny situations of the
day. A good time to do this is at night before falling
asleep. Do this instead of dwelling on painful problems.
Especially powerful is to find ways to lovingly laugh at
your self.
4. Learn and use the powerful programming techniques taught
in the writings of Richard Bandler, John Grinder, Tony
Robbins and I. My book explains positive self-motivation.
These methods teach you how to set up simple signals that
will automatically put you in the right frame of
mind--instantly.
Summary Put in simplest possible way, positive
self-motivation is about achieving peak performance by
enjoying what you do. It's being pulled to succeed instead
of having to push yourself.
Once you understand how to motivate yourself with pleasure,
you no longer need to use pain based strategies such as
struggle, self-discipline and other pain based strategies.
Bring a playful attitude to everything you do and you will
perform like you never performed before.
Wishing you ultimate happiness and success,
----------------------------------------------------
Stan Mann, C.P.C. supports business owners, top executives
and commission salespeople to substantially grow their
business and have a balanced life. He is a Certified
Professional Coach. For additional articles and resources
please visit http://www.stanmann.com I deliver customized
coaching programs to help you become the leader of a highly
successful and highly satisfying business.
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