Values and Their Role in Strong Mental Performance

This week’s Mindset Monday is about the importance that CLEAR, STATED and DOCUMENTED values can have in keeping us from falling victim to mental performance challenges.

As we have discussed before, the goal of Mindset training is to achieve Mental Toughness. Or stated another way, to achieve the ability to take positive control of thoughts and the emotions that stem from those thoughts. For example, if we can take control of thoughts that stem from self-doubt, especially when it is time to perform, we will be better able to stay focused and perform at our best.

The truth is, we are under constant attack from negativity. Some of the negativity that we face comes from the external world and some comes from within. Some of it is real and some is imagined.

But here is the thing…in spite of all the categories that we may have for negatively (real, imagined, internal, or external) our brains don’t know the difference. Our brains respond the same in all cases. Thoughts Become Things (remember?).

The emotional noise that results from these thoughts is real regardless of its origin.

So how do we combat negativity? One way is by focusing on simple reminders that help us shift our brains AWAY from the negative and TOWARD the positive. In previous posts, we discussed the HAW Method which is worth having in your arsenal.

Another great way to stay on course is by reminding ourselves of our values. Our values can serve as a lighthouse in the fog of negativity and the unsettled state that it can put us in. But in order to work, our values have to be CLEAR, STATED and DOCUMENTED.

At Real Frequency, we have our clients document their values as a list of three words. We boil the list of values down to three words because this allows us to come up with a way in which we can make the list memorable and thereby…easy to conjure up in times of need. Often times, we make sure each term for our stated values starts with the same letter or we come up with another mnemonic device that helps our clients remember and focus on their values in difficult times.

For example the values for one of our team evolved as this:

VALUE 1:  “Be thankful for what I have and don’t focus on what I do not have” -> Gratitude
VALUE 2:  “Be a warrior and ignore doubt and worry” -> Grit
VALUE 3:  “Protect those around me at work and in life” -> Guardian

Gratitude, Grit, and Guardian. This is simplified as G3 and it becomes be base for our truth triangle. This is easy to remember even in times when we are bombarded with negativity. It is one simple-to-use weapon to protect our mental state…almost like a shield which is very simple to use and which can be very effective in stopping attacks.