“All I see is Gold” – If you’re a fan of Olympic wrestling you’ll know that is the iconic mantra of Jordan Burroughs. A bona fide champion of his craft in every aspect. A winner. An Olympic champion. His skills mesmerise his opponents and his physical attributes seem superhuman at times. But it all starts with his mind. In implementing his mantra, Burroughs uses one of many psychological hacks to narrow his focus in his quest towards greatness. But these hacks aren’t confined for guys like Burroughs. Indeed, as sports psychologist and author of “The Champion’s Mind,” Jim Afremow, puts it – “if you can spot greatness, you’ve got greatness.”
Here are my biggest takeaways from The Champion’s Mind…
1. Intentions vs Accountability
Champions are forged from routine – a rigorous, monotonous regimen – that is built upon the previous day’s work. Much like a weightlifter employs the principle of progressive overload to build upon their gains – the athlete must progressively overload their training to hone their skills.
For this a system of accountability must be put in place. But first we need to set our intentions straight. Without solid intentions before embarking on our goals – there is nothing to be accountable for.
Consider this “daily gut check” from The Champion’s Mind, which is utilised by Olympic and UFC champion, Henry Cejudo.
At sunrise, ask yourself,
“How will I be a champion today.”
(Intention)
At sunset, ask yourself,
“How was I a champion today.”
(Accountability)
As an athlete, if you comprehensively answer these two questions on a daily basis, you’re well on your way to holding yourself accountable and improving in your sport.
2. Visualisation
"See first with your mind, then with your eyes and finally with your body."
Since the ground-breaking studies of Deborah Feltz and Daniel Landers in the 1980s, visualisation has been an integral component of elite athlete’s regimens. And for good reason – by utilising mental imagery, athletes are able to consolidate motor movements and execute their game plans.
Within the sphere of martial arts, a notable proponent of visualisation is Olympic Judo silver medallist, Jimmy Pedro. As he mentioned on Lex Fridman’s podcast – he takes visualisation down to the boring minutia of competition day – putting on your socks, having breakfast and weighing in. When visualising the competition itself he visualises every last detail – the feel of the mat beneath his feet, shaking hands with the ref, and his opponent’s kimono in his hand when he makes a grip. Pedro aims to have visited the site of competition 1000 times in his head before he actually enters the arena. That way he has prepared his mind for battle and knows exactly what he wants to execute.
A similar principle was seen with then-unknown quantity, Nick Rodriguez during his revolutionary 2019 ADCC run. After outgritting and outhustling his more experienced and skilled opponents Nick is seen pointing to his temple and saying – “I’ve seen this thousands of times already.”
When implementing visualisation, the research suggests the optimal approach is to visualise yourself from a first person perspective (through your own eyes) in “The Champion’s Mind”, Afremow recommends –
- Vividly see yourself performing successfully.
- Deeply feel yourself performing masterfully.
- Thoroughly enjoy seeing and feeling yourself winning.
3. Become a "now-ist"
In my last post, we covered productivity and blocking out distractions – that’s an essential pre-requisite for getting in the now, but to really sink into the present moment, Afremow, in The Champion’s Mind – recommends focusing internally.
In a way not dissimilar to mindfulness meditation – directing your conscious awareness to various points on your body and on your breath can powerfully drag you into the present moment. But that anchoring effect need not exist exclusively for Buddhist monks in zen posture – it can be employed whilst practising our sport.
Consider Jordan, feeling every last dimple on a basketball as he prepares to shoot. Or, Roger Federer, feeling the sinues of his racket handle as he serves an ace.
As a jiu jitsu athlete, I will often focus on the feeling of the mat itself beneath my feet prior to competing. The mat is a constant presence during competing and training and by focusing on it I’m able to block out random thought patterns and get in the zone.
*Bonus tip - breath control
You must control your breath. As Afremow puts it – short shallow breathing is a one way ticket to muscle stiffness, a chronic cause of underperformance in athletes.
Take deep, long diaphragmatic breaths through the nose and witness muscle tension in your body melt away.
There are many breathing methods you can use pre-comp but in The Champion’s Mind, Afremow recommends a 5-second inhale, a 2-second breath hold and an 8-second exhale for his athletes.
