When you train your whole life to become the best at a particular sport or any endeavor for that matter you are bound to run into opposition.

That opposition can take many forms.

It can show up as an ill timed injury, bad coaching, a losing strategy, or even some of your own limiting beliefs. But many times that opposition has a name and a face.

It’s that one athlete or group of players standing on the other side of the field planning to run your ass over and keep you from your objective.

How would you define that opponent for you?

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Click the video below to watch the full 3 min episode.

This one is so good for those of us who are fooling ourselves about the impact of our daily practices… when in actuality all we are doing is repeating the same unchallenging routines.

Watch the video and share your thoughts!

(click player to watch this video on MuscleandFitness.com)

Whether crossing a busy intersection, performing a complex strength training movement or delivering a keynote presentation our ability to FOCUS on the task at hand is imperative to our success. But equally as important is where you direct your focus.

In this episode of Max Mind Set, I hone in on the importance of FOCUS and the keys to achieving it.

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“What do you believe is the number one most important component in the entire fitness puzzle?”

Here are your choices:

1.  Nutrition
2.  Exercise
3.  Mindset

I surveyed a group of 500 fitness/exercise enthusiasts who had illustrated their commitment to improving their health, stamina and over all physical appearance – that very question.

Almost unanimously they agreed that mindset was far and away the most important factor in fitness success. 

And yet… admittedly only 12% of the group was actively investing any real time, energy and resources towards improvement in that area.

We’ve all seen super star athletes crumble under the pleasure or literally talk themselves out of victory when it was already in the palm of their hand.

Why?

When it comes to taking your knowledge and experience and making it shine in the real world, on stage or in your business as a winner… confidence and how you handle stress will always be mitigating factors.  Meaning… those things will either help you rise above the competition or f__k you up bad.

The truth is the only thing holding you back from being a champion in your own life… is you!

And yet we can’t eliminate you from the equation… can we? So you have no choice but to improve you – from the inside out.

Improve what’s going on inside and you will massively improve the results you achieve on the outside.

So, if “Mindset” is indeed the #1 most important factor in your success… how much, if any time, energy and resources are you investing in that area?  

If, for example your overall commitment to your fitness success requires a minimum of 8 hrs a day (24 hrs – 8 sleep – 8 work = 8 hrs remaining) and 2½ of those hrs are devoted to training and another 2½ to meal prep and eating… shouldn’t, at minimum, the remaining time 2½ hrs be devoted to learning and developing the mental strategies and the psychology of a championship mindset?

Most would-be-champions would rather invest that time in partying.

The choice is yours… winner or loser?

Here are three tips for investing your time for a Max Mind Set return on investment:

1. Read at least one hour a day on the subject of mind set, confidence, success strategies or inspiring stories of success.
2. One hour a day to listening to or watching training programs about overcoming fear, finding motivation, relaxation techniques, and strategies for success.
3. Practice visualization techniques NOW so that you can learn to relax and feel confident when you are on stage instead of stressed and overwhelmed.

Here is a great program to get you started and it’s free!

See you in the winner’s circle!

The truth is accountability and especially accountability partners can be a HUGE pain in the ass. But truthfully I know of very few of us including the greatest athletes in the world who have the discipline, presence of mind and sheer will power to keep themselves on track and accountable all the time – especially to those big audacious commitments.

We all slip now and then… but to keep us from slipping too far or repeating the same mistake twice we may need someone to call us on our shit when it shows up.

In this episode of Max Mind Set I address the issue of accountability and how without it we can easily fall off the commitment wagon.

Watch the full Max Mind Set episode at Muscle and Fitness Magazine

Then come back and take my Accountability Survey

Click here to take survey

Here are the Survey results

Ready to rock… then check it out.

Get Audacious in 2012

Watch My Video at Muscle & Fitness Magazine

How BIG a game did you play in 2011

Chances are, like your neighbors up the street and millions of other people, you were directed less by a sense of desire and ambition and more by a need for survival.  As a collective we contracted last year like we have for the past 3 years and as a result we experienced very little GROWTH… personally or collectively.

Can you even remember  the goals or “resolutions”  you set for yourself last year… more importantly did you achieve them?

Perhaps you did. Maybe you stopped smoking, gave up the booze, started a diet, asked your boss for a raise or read a book a month. If so – bravo. But the odds are you either didn’t set any goals or don’t even remember your goals.

And there’s an even greater likelihood  that if you did set some goals, like the ones I mentioned above, you didn’t come close to achieving them.

WHY?

It’s simple,  those objectives aren’t ambitious enough to invoke even the slightest bit of excitement much less passion…

Read the rest of the story at Ironman Magazine

An athlete, CEO, actor, or speaker can have all the outer game tools in his or her toolbox but if she doesn’t have the inner game needed to put those tools to work she will find herself frustrated, falling short of her full potential, and choking under pressure.

Imagine your inner game like the software in a computer. You can have the greatest hardware on the planet, a shiny new 32 inch monitor, slick new wireless keyboard and mouse, a really cool black tower with pretty blue lights, and a great workstation to put it all on but if you don’t have the proper software inside or if you have some old obsolete software to run the system and perform the tasks you want it, all that outer equipment or hardware won’t mean squat.

The inner game of confidence is your ability to control your focus, your state, and your emotions rather than letting them control or rule you.

It’s the ability to believe in yourself and your ability to succeed.

I’ll go one step further and say it’s the knowing that you will succeed.

The key for anyone looking to create more success in their lives whether in athletics, business, or even relationships is the ability to master their own inner game.

The empowering emotional state of being confident is triggered in most cases by an internal thought or vision. And so are the disempowering emotions of self doubt, frustration, fear, and disappointment.

Because of the way our brains process information every time that inner voice suggests something negative and you entertain that thought, your brain creates a picture or internal representation of that thought. If for example the pitcher facing that best hitter in the league were to say to himself, “don’t let this guy get a hit” and he entertained that thought his brain would immediately make a picture of the guy hitting it out of the park, dramatically increasing the likelihood of it happening.

So next time you’re in a potential choke situation and that little inner voice says something that could keep you from succeeding, simply acknowledge it and usurp its power by saying “thanks but no thanks! Then refocus and take action.

More strategies at Inner Game of Confidence

But of all the advise I have ever gotten of given I would have to say Jacks is still the best. You could even say “if you don’t listen to Jack, you don’t know jack.”

The legend Jack LaLanne was a coach and mentor to thousands of Americans and inspired countless more over the span of some 60 plus years. His advise is as sound today as it was in 1960 and needed even more than ever before.

Listen, Learn, Follow… or risk not knowing JACK!