|
I'm just going to throw out something that has personally helped me. I'm in no way BTDT, but everyone has to deal with a bit of stress now and again. One of the things I've found quite helpful is what some people might call a "Mantra". It's simply a short phrase that you mentally, or if you have to, verbally (I find murmuring under your breath works best), repeat to help you stay focused and motivated. The continuous repetition can, in many cases, help shift you to a more positive or focused state of mind. I've personally used this technique while pushing myself to do things that I didn't think I could do physically or that I thought would be more challenging than they were. It's not a magic bullet, but if it works for you it helps you keep going after you hit the wall physically or if you're just fucking tired, or whatever.
A few tips:
1. A short, concise phrase, or even a series of words works best. The longer it is the more energy you have to put towards dredging it up, the less you have left to stay focused.
2. It can and should be anything meaningful or impactful to you personally. The set of words is yours. If you create your own phrase, it will likely be more effective than a generic "inspirational" quote.
3. You should (in my experience, at least) avoid a negative mantra if at all possible. Black humor can work, but something genuinely negative (so and so will kick my ass if I don't finish) is something that personally hasn't worked for me. In fact, I've seen a bit of a performance drop associated with repetitive negative phrases.
4. It's just some words. They might help you push yourself a little harder on that last couple of pushups or the last few miles when it starts suddenly raining, or whatever, but it's not magic that will compensate for a mistake already made. It's just a tool to help you push through some shit.
Some examples:
"Calm, Cool, Collected." (primarily utilized to help keep sharp/focused under pressure)
"History has no more room for cowards." (feeling a bit nervous?)
"If you feel done then you're only 40% spent." (trying to push through that last little bit and feeling like shit. I didn't come up with it.)
It might be helpful, might be me being MOTO. I've never bothered to ask if anyone else does the same thing because frankly it's rather personal, but I have noticed it significantly help my mental fortitude.
oh, one of my favorites:
"There is always some small thing you can do to improve whatever shit you're in. Always."
It's the longest by far but it's probably the most useful for when some shit's really going sideways, IME. Locking up in the moment because shit looks hopeless is sometimes worse than quitting.
But all this shit is just my own philosophical take on it, and I'm hardly an expert. I'm just in the process of trying to cultivate a mindset and thought I'd share something that was helpful.
|