Mindset Techniques To Accomplish Awesome Goals

This post will help you gain the mindset to accomplish big goals. Previously , I've talked about the psych up I do before a gym exercise to get the perfect mindset for great results. Today, I'm going to talk about my new in-between psych up that gains even better results! Both mindset techniques can be successfully used for other aspects of life. I also have family-related news to share.

Wonderful Family News: 
We had excellent family news this week. T, my teen daughter, qualified for nationals for Urban Debate League. K, my second oldest daughter, got accepted into a graduate program at Carnegie Mellon University, where she is currently a junior. J, my oldest daughter who is an industrial engineer was selected to be a speaker at University of Wisconsin--Madison to talk to a group of under-grad students about her successful transition from college graduate into the engineering profession. Yesterday, my teen son who is a photographer, just got done taking some lovely "author" pictures of me for my upcoming book. (Yes, I'll put one up on this blog.) I'm so proud of all of them!

Now to Mindset Techniques to Help *You* Succeed:
Psych-ups are special messages to get the mindset and chemicals in the brain ready so that the body can perform its best exercise possible. Surprisingly (or not!), I've also found that they can also be used any time of the day to accomplish any task. They involve actively encouraging yourself very strongly and strategically to be your very best--and who doesn't need more of that!

I've been getting some super results in the gym. I went 6.96 miles per hour on elliptical for 10 minutes (1.16 miles in 10 minutes), which is my fastest speed I've ever recorded. I had several high sets of bench press, including a set of 10 at 135 pounds. All of my exercises have been a little better because of the in-between psych up I've been developing. 

I've talked many times about my psych-up that I personally use before my weightlifting.  I've taught my psych-up to many young weightlifter guys and a few weightlifting women, and most of these people reported that they could immediately lift about 10 pounds more weight after the psych up. An immediate 10 pound gain for bench press is considered very remarkable in weightlifting.

But now I'm developing an in-between psych up that I use in the middle of a weightlifting set, or in the middle of a timed run. The in-between psych-up involves thinking a quick thought of "!!!" or "Yay!" in the brain for very tiny successes in the gym.

The In-Between Psych-Up for Weightlifting
For weightlifting, I gave myself a "!!!"for each rep of my bench press went all of the way up. So if I bench press the weighted bar up 10 times, each time gets its own brain "!!!" for that tiny accomplishment. Weightlifting has a breathing technique that seeks to accomplish that same thing. A person who is bench pressing is supposed to breathe out with a big energetic breath when the bar is completely up. But I find the "!!!" that I gave to my mind helped even further. It gave me a bit of mental freshness for each time I pressed the bar up. This is a new technique I made up on Sunday, and I can't wait to see the long-term results.

A weightlifter guy beside me was greatly impressed with my bench press of 10 reps at 135 pounds after several other previous sets that had already been tiring me out!  He happily exclaimed, "You weren't expecting that, were you!" And yes, I was grinning. And I told him about my in-between psych up. <<This is an example of fit gym people sharing information amongst themselves that makes them more fit than the rest of the people in the gym. 

The In-Between Psych-Up for Cardio
As applied to elliptical (or other cardio race), I give myself a "!!!" in the brain at the end of the first successful minute of the 10 minute race ( at least .11 miles per minute is my goal). Each minute is treated individually as a one minute race with its own ending. So to get to 6.6 miles per hour during a 10 minute race, these are my goals by the minute:

Minute 1:   .11 miles
Minute 2:   .22 miles
Minute 3:   .33 miles
Minute 4:   .44 miles
Minute 5:   .55 miles
Minute 6:   .66 miles
Minute 7:   .77 miles
Minute 8:   .88 miles
Minute 9:   .99 miles
Minute 10:  1.10 miles

If I'm going faster than this pace, I'm ellipticalling faster than 6.6 miles per hour. For example, I like to see myself a little ahead at the energetic beginning with .24 at the end of the second minute.  I also gain a little at the end of the 10 minutes just willing myself to have a strong finish.

The calculation for miles/hour for a 10 minute race:
(miles/10 minutes x 6 = miles/hour)

1.1 miles/10 minutes x 6 = 6.6 miles/hr

On Saturday, I had 10 minutes where I went a little faster than my goal: 
1.16 miles/10 minutes x 6 = 6.96 miles/hr

So each minute is its own race, with its own goal, with its own tiny brain victory. Try it if you want to up your personal cardio best.

Psych-Ups For Success In All Aspects Of *Your* Life
Lastly, I want to say that psych-ups should be used for other aspects of life. I'm actually going to do a post about this, but we really should all be giving ourselves little sparks of praise (!!!) in our minds for tiny accomplishments all day long. Giving ourselves positive brain zings for tiny accomplishments is a habit that can make each day happier and more successful.

What do *you* think? Did I explain this well? Can you imagine using this technique in *your* own life? And, of course, any other comments you want to say.

Give yourself tiny sparks of praise today!

:-) Marion