# With Winning in Mind **Lanny Bassham** | [[Action]]  --- > "The primary thing that separates the winners from the others is the way they think. Winners are convinced they will finish first. The others hope to finish first." This is the difference. Not hope—conviction. Winners expect to win because they've aligned their **Self-Image** with winning performance. They've trained their minds to the point where winning is "like them." Everyone else is hoping, wishing, trying harder. Winners have automated success at the subconscious level. > "Self-Image and performance are always equal. To change your performance, you must first change your Self-Image." You cannot outperform your Self-Image. If it's not "like you" to win, you won't. And you change Self-Image through imprinting—what you think about, talk about, write about, and rehearse. > "One of the most important things I've found useful is to write out the goal in the first person, present tense." Not "I will win." **"I am winning."** The Self-Image cannot tell the difference between what actually happens and what is vividly imagined. Imprint the outcome you want, and you improve the probability of having it happen. This book is mental precision. Not motivation. Not positive thinking. **Mental Management**—the process of improving the probability of having a consistent mental performance, under pressure, on demand. --- ## Core Frameworks ### [[Mental Management®]] > "Mental Management® is the process of improving the probability of having a consistent mental performance, under pressure, on demand." Three components of the mind: **Conscious Mind** (contains your thoughts and mental pictures; controls all senses), **Subconscious Mind** (source of your skills and power to perform; all great performances are accomplished subconsciously), and **Self-Image** (makes you "act like you"; the sum of your habits and attitudes). The mind is like a submarine: Conscious Mind = periscope (what you see), Subconscious = engine (your power), Self-Image = throttle (controls how much power you use). **Key insight**: Self-Image and performance are always equal. To change performance, you must first change Self-Image. ### [[Self-Image]] The Self-Image is the total of your habits and attitudes. Every time you think about something or attempt to do something, it creates an **imprint** stored in the Self-Image. > "The Self-Image cannot tell the difference between what actually happens and what is vividly imagined." Imprint anything you want to happen and you improve your chances of having it happen. Your Self-Image is the CURRENT state of you, not the FINAL state. When Self-Image changes, performance changes automatically. You change Self-Image through imprinting: what you think about, talk about, and write about. **Controlling Self-Image growth may be the most important skill you will ever learn.** ### [[Process Over Outcome]] Winners don't goal set to win the competition. They goal set to have a **winning performance** on the day of competition. **Process** = what you can control and only what you can control. Process can be defined, and anything defined can be duplicated. Outcome is what happens when you execute process correctly—but you cannot control outcome directly. **Only set goals on things YOU can control.** Keep your focus on you, not your competitors. Rehearse the process of executing a combination of mental feelings and technical moves that get results. When you think about winning while performing, you become outcome-oriented and **over-trying** is the result. You need to perform subconsciously in big competitions. There is a time to think about winning: **while training**. Your Self-Image needs to believe it is "like you" to win. ### [[Seven Principles of Mental Management®]] 1. **Your Conscious Mind can only concentrate on one thing at a time** – If you're picturing something positive, it's impossible to picture something negative simultaneously. Action: "I take control of what I picture, choosing to think about what I want to create" 2. **What you say is not important. What you cause yourself or others to picture is crucial** – Action: "I always give myself commands in a positive way" 3. **The Subconscious Mind is the source of all mental power** – Skill = doing something consciously long enough for it to become automated. Action: "I trust my Subconscious to guide my performance in competition" 4. **The Self-Image moves you to do whatever the Conscious Mind is picturing** – Positive pictures demand positive results. Action: "I control what I picture and picture only what I want to see happen" 5. **Self-Image and performance are always equal** – To change performance, you must first change Self-Image. Action: "I am eager to change my habits and attitudes to increase my performance" 6. **You can replace the Self-Image you have with the Self-Image you want** – This permanently changes performance. Action: "I am responsible for changing my Self-Image" 7. **The Principle of Reinforcement** – The more we think about, talk about, and write about something happening, we improve the probability of that thing happening. Action: "I choose to think about, talk about, and write about what I wish to have happen" --- ## Key Insights **Accomplishment = outcome** (the score, the medal, your place on the list). **Attainment = accomplishment + becoming.** Accomplishment measures the external. Becoming measures the internal. Your value as a person is more a function of your character, beliefs, and actions than your results. Goal set for both what you want to accomplish AND who you wish to become in the process. **Every thought creates an imprint. The Self-Image evolves in the direction of your imprinting.** How to change Self-Image: Identify the habits and attitudes you need to change (look at your problems). Set up a new Self-Image in direct conflict with old habits. Write a **Directive Affirmation** in first person, present tense. Write it on five cards, place in prominent locations. Read and visualize each time you encounter a key point. Critical discipline: **Only think and talk about what you need to do—not about what you did wrong.** "I need to be more decisive" aids Self-Image growth. "I'm just not decisive" reinforces error. > "Set a goal big enough to move you to change your habits or attitudes. If it is too small it will just not be worth it for you to make changes in your life." Most goals are too comfortable. They don't demand you become someone different. Real goals force Self-Image change—and Self-Image change is the only thing that permanently changes performance. **Rehearsal aids the performer in executing a desired action with precision.** Three phases of every action: **Anticipation Phase** (what you think immediately before you perform), **Action Phase** (what you think as you perform), and **Reinforcement Phase** (what you think immediately after you perform). **Critical**: When we worry that bad things might happen, we are actually rehearsing them. We're building new neural pathways toward failure. Only rehearse what you want to happen. Fill your thoughts only with your best performances. > "We tend to become what we picture." **Training produces skill. Skill is developed in the Subconscious Mind.** Seven training guidelines: Catch yourself doing something right. Train four or five days a week. Wherever you are, be all there. Rehearse match day often within training. When playing well, play a lot. We raise ourselves to the standard we are around. Plan your year. Quality = value of knowledge + efficacy of instructors. Quantity = actual time spent learning and growing (not just time spent at the activity). > "Perfection is the purest form of procrastination." > "Nothing is going to change unless you change. If you possessed everything you needed to succeed, you would have reached your goal already." --- ## Connects To - [[The Courage to Be Disliked]] - Self-Image = how you see yourself; changing it requires courage to let go of excuses - [[Black Box Thinking]] - Process over outcome; focus on what you can control, not results - [[High Performance Habits]] - Rehearsal and mental management are habits that separate high performers from everyone else - [[Ego Is The Enemy]] - Over-trying comes from outcome-orientation and ego; trust the subconscious, let go of conscious control --- ## Final Thought This is precision mental training. Not fluffy motivation—**Mental Management®**. The difference between winners and everyone else isn't talent, effort, or even skill. It's Self-Image. Winners are convinced they will finish first because their Self-Image expects it. Everyone else is hoping. **Self-Image and performance are always equal.** You cannot outperform your Self-Image. If it's not "like you" to win, you won't. And you change Self-Image through imprinting—what you think about, talk about, write about, and rehearse. **Attainment versus accomplishment.** Accomplishment is the outcome—the medal, the score. Attainment is accomplishment plus *becoming*. Who you become in the process matters more than the result. Your value as a person is your character, not your trophy case. Write goals in first person, present tense. Not "I will win"—"I am winning." The Self-Image cannot tell the difference between what actually happens and what is vividly imagined. Imprint the winning performance. Rehearse it daily. The Subconscious will automate it. And here's the trap: over-trying. When you think about winning *while* performing, you become outcome-oriented. You over-try. You choke. Winners perform subconsciously, trusting the process they've imprinted. They think about winning during training—not during competition. Stop hoping. Start expecting. Change your Self-Image, and performance will follow.