Bo knows…

Tonight in practice eleven we tasted a little Heaven. Bo shared the way his mind works right before he hits the mat. He has this little convo within that goes something like this. His brain tells him he’s got a worthy opponent  and he (Bo) is fighting a tweaked hammy or something similar. He fights his normal brain and tells himself to give his full effort and put it all on the line. He tells himself to not listen to his internal excuses. He fights his own brains attempt to protect him from loss. Bo, you see, is badass. Bo knows. Good…

You see, your brain, just like mine is wired mostly for loss aversion. Your brain doesn’t want you to lose, whatever that means. So, the normal brain gives you lots of excuses to make you feel better about yourself when you lose the sale, miss the mark, get pinned on the mat, miss the putt, or fail in any number of ways. Your brain wants to protect you from failing so it works against you becoming the best. Tonight, in practice eleven, we took a team of OSU grapplers through a little magic as we walked the line together. I thought Coach Grap was going to jump out of his skin on this one. You see, Coach Grap wants his men to get every message they can to make themselves iteratively a bit better. Coach Grap need not worry about Bo. Bo knows.

Your normal brain, remember, is wired to work against you being great. Your normal brain doesn’t care about you maxing out. Your normal brain simply wants you to make it out – alive. Rewire, my friend. Rewire. Rewire your brain to simply “keep working.” Elite performers do not focus on the outcome. Elite focus on effort. They quiet their little voice with a built in discipline. Whenever their little voice tries to give them an out they shut ‘er down. “Keep working,” is my personal favorite. Keep working, Chet. Keep working. Regardless the struggle, regardless the pain, regardless the distance to the destination, my brain keeps getting the message – keep working. Don’t believe me. Believe Bo. You see, Bo knows…