Think BIG!!!!

Mind of Steel

Think BIG!!!!

Dr. Christopher Stankovich 

www.drstankovich.com

This month I would like to offer what may seem like at first glance more of a rah-rah speech, but actually it’s more than that – I want to get you excited about taking your pool game to another level, or in other words, to think BIG!!  In sports, just like everything in life, what you think you often become – for better or for worse.  In fact, Henry Ford once said that whether you think you can or you think you can’t – you are right on both counts!         

So how does all this apply to pool you might ask?  Well it’s simple, actually – when you think big and actually allow yourself to believe that you can not only improve your game ‘a little,” but instead start thinking that you can, with a positive mindset and dedicated practice schedule, actually improve your game dramatically to the point where you are the top shot in the house, then you are thinking BIG!!

Essentially, what I am encouraging you to do is develop a positive self-fulfilling prophecy, a concept that is essential in order for success of any magnitude to occur.  A self-fulfilling prophecy is a prediction that directly or indirectly causes itself to become true, by the very terms of the prophecy itself, due to positive feedback between belief and behavior. 

Breaking this down to a pool example let’s think about it this way: If you go to the pool hall and you think, believe, and expect that you will soon pass up everyone in the room, then every little thing you do well (i.e. make a touch bankshot, cut the paint off another thin cut, or execute a tough combination) your mind will view those experiences as evidence of confirmation that you are getting better!  That mindset will propel you to work even harder, typically producing even better results, and essentially making the idea of the “self-fulfilling prophecy” true!

On the other hand, if you A) Don’t believe you can improve, or B) Only believe you will improve a little bit, then your progress (or lack thereof) will follow.  As simple as it may sound, the bigger the dream and the more you believe in the dream the more likely chance you will have for it to actually occur.

In my experience in working with elite-level athletes from all different sports, a positive self-fulfilling prohecy is always at the heart of their success.  These individuals don’t even think failure is an option, and also realize that positive change in life always begins between their ears with what they think, believe, and feel about themselves.  Their “success,” then, is not a product of luck, good fortune, or having better genes, but instead due to their commitment and not being afraid to convince themselves that they will one day be a champion.

Remember, you don’t have to be arrogant or cocky about your expectations for future success, as you don’t even need to talk about this with anyone.  Instead, tell yourself how good you can be, and remember, think BIG and you will soon be playing at a level you might have only dreamed about!  Good luck!

Dr. Christopher Stankovich is a nationally acclaimed expert in Sport Psychology and the Founder of Advanced Human Performance Systems.  For more information on performance-enhancement products, including the exclusive “Mind of Steel for Pool Success” and the world’s first Sport Performance Assessment for Pool, please visit www.drstankovich.com