Using Whats On The Outside

Our physiology, self talk and visualisation all come from within us and we have complete control of them. On the other hand we also have to deal with external influences and they are equally as powerful on our thoughts and emotions but our control of them can be limited. 

What are the external factors which affects us? 

In short they are anything around us that affect any of our senses and as a result affect our thoughts and emotions.  What we see, hear, touch, smell or taste always has an affect on us in some way.   

How do they affect us? 

They prompt our thoughts and emotions. I know all of us can remember a time when one of our senses was affected by an external influence and it prompted a memory, prompted an emotion or even prompted an action.  A piece of music, the smell of a food or air freshener, the touch of putting a football shirt on or even the taste of your pre match meal or the sight of your team scoring a goal, they all provoke a thought and an emotion and emotions are what ultimately control our results. I’m sure we can all think of something and sometime when this happened to us.

How does this work? 

In very simple terms our minds make associations with everything and those associations are formed by experiences, our beliefs and values that have been built up and learnt over time. For example when I see this logo below i think of Match of the day 2 

There are no words on the logo yet I think that I know what it stands for, I assocciate it with Match of the day becuase over i time i have learnt that is what it stands for and because of previous experience i feel excited because i think it is a great football program.

1. I see the logo -                                                        The external influence
2. I associate the logo with match of the day -           The association
3. I think Match of the day and football -                     The thought
4. I feel happy and excited, i like match of the day -   The emotion
5. I look up the start time of the show  -                    The action
6. I watch it -                                                               The result

This is a very very simple example of how my association with the external influence of the Match of the day logo has resulted in me taking action and reaching a result.

As I say, it is a very simple example and the level of emotion and the action associated with the logo are minimal, however if you take that principle to a more extreme example I am sure you can see how powerful our associations can be and that with the right influence and personal development we can achieve any emotion and so can achieve almost any result.

Why is this relevant?

Have you ever been playing in a match where you were unbeatable and you were the most confident player on the pitch? I can say with a degree of certenty that you have. Sometimes called being 'in the zone' that is what all top class athlete reach at just the right momment all the time. Some athletes can just do it and others need different degrees of assistance and time to practice the techniques that will take them to that 'in the zone' state.

 So just as the match of the day logo can influence me to organise and watch the program, at the other end of the scale there is something somewhere that combined with my thoughts could make me walk on glass or walk on fire.

Those are examples of each end of the scale, somewhere in the middle there is an external influence or anchor that elicites a state of mind that helps you perform at your very best when in goal, we just have to find it.