I want you inspired.
I want you motivated.
I want you interested and then I want you COMMITTED.
I will be quoting these words every week until this mini-series concludes as I truly believe they separate the thinkers from the doers and they mean the difference between smashing results and dreaming about results.
Like previous weeks; I want to continue on our journey of the case studies we have been focusing on and try and work through some more methods that are just PROVEN and AWESOME. Last week we covered OWNING YOUR MORNING and DEEP BREATHING.
As you will remember the areas we are going to cover over the next few weeks have been MEDITATION, SELF HYPNOSIS, GUIDED VISUALISATIONS, TIME MANAGEMENT, OWNING YOUR MORNING and DEEP BREATHING and will also include COGNITIVE CUES, AFFIRMATIONS, TALKING WITH OTHER POSITIVE PEOPLE, TAKE STOCK OF YOUR LIFE EVERY WEEK AND REVIEW and JOURNALLING. So this week we will cover COGNITIVE CUES and AFFIRMATIONS.
But first…I would like to take a few moments to talk about Remembrance Sunday. This is always a special day for me and last Sunday was no different. As you may know, I served in the Royal Marines Commandos between October 2007 and October 2013.
This year, myself and my brother-in-law Tom took part in the two-minute silence and also the day’s events. The town was amazing and the support was incredible. I have listed some values below that the Royal Marines stand for and I am going to relate how you can use these in your own life when this mini-series comes to an end.
So the values of the Royal Marines Commandos are:
- The ability to fight and win anywhere in the world.
- Individual Commando Spirit + Collective Group Values.
- Courage
- Unity
- Determination
- Adaptability
- Unselfishness
- Humility
- Cheerfulness
- Professional Standards
- Fortitude
- Commando humour
Even writing about these above brings back flashbulb memories from my time in the best corps in the world. I will come back to these values and life skills once this mini-series has been completed.
Back to this week.. COGNITIVE CUES and AFFIRMATIONS.
Cognitive Cues are all about mental priming at key times to get the most out of your MIND and BODY to smash results. They can mean the difference between winning and losing. Getting a job and not getting a job.
Having confidence and feeling anxious. Feeling strong and disciplined and feeling weak. This week’s case study is going to focus on the COGNITIVE CUES one of my client uses to stay focused, stay present and stay AWESOME. When he came to me; my client often devalued his own achievements and didn’t reflect enough on all that he achieved.
“It is great to look back when it gives us a huge amount of motivation moving forward.”
We created an image using previous memories and events he had photos from. We called it his PRIDE BOARD.
Every day and every morning he looks at the board which he has saved on his phone and this gives him tremendous energy moving forward. My client had pictures of his house, his family, award ceremonies he had won prizes at, a picture of his car, his holiday home. He even had a picture of his biggest ever profit from his company.
All these cues gave and still do GIVE HIM ENERGY and also prime his mind for success. Give it a go. You need to warm-up your body at the start of exercise and you need to warm-up your CONFIDENCE and FOCUS muscle before your day begins too.
Now…AFFIRMATIONS. We actually touched on this last week when we spoke about OWNING YOUR MORNING but let’s give you another example today.
AFFIRMATIONS aid in your quest to be the best that you can be and the most PRESENT you can be. One of my clients used to really struggle with switching off from work and getting into PERSONAL FITNESS mode when he came to see me. He would leave his work but mentally he was still in the company office answering calls, managing customer expectations and thinking about what he had to do on his return.
His drive to training or on his way home would be mentally all over the place. We developed a set of AFFIRMATIONS that took less than 60 seconds to say that he could repeat in the car to get his head in the game ready for training. The KEY was using words that meant something to him personally and that would set off a trigger whenever he spoke them.
The RESULT – An optimised version of himself turned up more often for training. He was MORE PRESENT, he was MORE FOCUSED, he was MORE ENERGISED and he was GOOD TO GO. AFFIRMATIONS are great and I really suggest you get using them at the earliest opportunity. As always if you struggle with this concept then get in touch and let’s see what we can achieve together.
I want you inspired.
I want you motivated.
I want you interested and then I want you COMMITTED.
There are those words again.
Get INSPIRED, get MOTIVATED, get COMMITTED and let’s smash the end of the year like a ROYAL MARINES COMMANDO.
Happy Sunday and have a fantastic next 7 days ☺
Chris Hunt is the Head Mind, Body and Life Coach at The FUNdaMENTAL Coach based out of The Hub, Molly Millars Lane, Wokingham
