MASTER your MINDSET: 9 Keys to Gaining Control Over the Mess in Your Head

Master Your Mindset was born from my own journey to gain control over the mess in my head. As a teenager I was often told that my thoughts had power—a power that I could harness and use for good; a power that could change my whole outlook and my results. But no one ever told me how the power worked or how to apply it in my life. As a high school athlete and competitive performer I used strategies such as visualization and positive statements on a daily basis, although I didn’t really know what they were or how they worked. I just knew that they worked. I was getting great results in my performing, but I was really struggling in athletics and personal confidence. I started to wonder what made the champion athletes different from me. I showed up to practice every day just like them. I worked hard, was open to learning, wanted it badly, and respected my coaches. But many of them were having great success while I was stuck in mediocre land. I knew that my body had more to give, but I didn’t know how to dig deep and retrieve it. And I had no idea how to deal with the massive amounts of fear that overcame me every time I had to compete. Sometimes the fear was so overwhelming that I refused to try new things, or I’d quit altogether. I didn’t know how to break the mental barriers I had created for myself and didn’t know where else to turn, so I gave up—on dreams, goals, and ambitions. As I got older I continued to struggle with bouts of depression and anxiety and didn’t know how to “snap out of it.” Only now it wasn’t just affecting my athletics—it was also affecting every other aspect of my life. But that is a story for another book. For the past 16 years I have continued to be heavily involved in high school athletics as a coach and manager and have watched other kids dealing with the same issues I have. I promised myself and God that if He would help me learn how to conquer the mindset game, I would spend my life teaching others how to do the same. I can’t sit back and watch youth (or other adults, for that matter) give up on the things that are so important to them because they can’t control the mess in their heads. After years of studying, attending seminars, certifications, and hands on application with my clients and athletes and especially myself, I have compiled what I have learned in the hope that some other soul won’t have to wait as long as I did to win at the mind game and harness the power that can change their world. May that person be you!