V.O.W. to Succeed

3 Hallmarks of a High Performance Mindset.

Many people think mental training for sport and performance is all about learning to stay calm and focused under the pressure of high-stakes competition.

That’s only part of the story. Mental skills are just as important, perhaps even more so, during the skill-learning or preparation phase of training.

In my mental coaching practice, I distinguish between Preparation Mindset, which involves the attitudes and mental habits that are necessary for the development of expertise, and Performance Mindset, which involves the routines and mental skills that promote reliable demonstration of expertise when it matters most.

In this article, I am focusing on the 3 essential components of the Preparation Mindset:

• Vision
• Optimism
• Will

Conveniently, these components create the easy-to-remember acronym V.O.W. – as in “V.O.W. to succeed.”

Vision

“Every person takes the limits of their own field of vision for the limits of the world.”
~ Arthur Schopenhauer ~

It all starts with a vision. Before anything extraordinary can be achieved, it must first be envisioned in the mind. Good visions are always specific and detailed. “I hope to be a great violinist someday” is a vague aspiration. “I will play first chair in a major orchestra within 5 years” is a clear vision.

How is a vision different from a dream, purpose, goal, or intention? While these words are often used interchangeably, dream sounds hallucinatory, purpose sounds too supernatural, while goal and intention are not lofty enough to inspire. Remember that your vision must ultimately serve as the driving force behind your ongoing motivation and commitment.

In imagining your long-term vision for yourself, it is important not to set your sights too low. While there are some real limitations in life, most limitations turn out to be unnecessarily self-imposed or, worse yet, accepted merely based upon the limiting beliefs of naysayers. Never accept the limitations of others’ beliefs about what is and is not possible for you.

Optimism

“Optimism is the faith that leads to achievement. Nothing can be done without hope and confidence.”
~ Helen Keller ~

To realize your vision, you will need a healthy dose of optimism. I am not just talking about having a bubbly, positive disposition or a generic tendency to see glasses as half-full. Optimism is about having an unshakeable belief that realizing your vision is not only a possibility, but is actually inevitable if you remain committed to your chosen path. Because this commitment requires a willingness to fully invest your self when the outcome is uncertain, optimism can also be considered a form of courage.

My long-time friend and mentor in the sport of pool (rest in peace Billy Peay) loved to say that there are “wanna-bes” and “gonna-bes” in life. Those with the quality of optimism are the gonna-bes of the world. They have a sense of self-assurance that they will ultimately accomplish whatever they set out to accomplish. Although they may experience self-doubt, they are not hindered by it.

Optimism is a close cousin to the more popular terms self-belief, self-confidence, and self-efficacy. However, optimism is preferred here because it also conveys the energy and enthusiasm that frequently accompany this sort of robust self-belief. The enthusiasm of those who know where they are going and believe in what they are pursuing is unmistakable, contagious, and inspiring.

Will

“Without execution, ‘vision’ is just another word for hallucination.”   
~ Mark V. Hurd ~

The final ingredient in the recipe for expertise is will. With apologies to the many believers in the pseudo-scientific “law of attraction,” visions of performance excellence do not magically manifest themselves simply because you “put them out into the universe.” Manifesting a vision requires the deliberate execution of one’s will through persistent goal-directed activity.

Will involves a dedicated commitment that is supported by the vision and optimism discussed above.  Frequently used synonyms for what I am calling will are drive, persistence, resilience, and tenacity. Any of these words would suffice, but they do not lend themselves to the acronym V.O.W. that I wanted to use.

The bottom line is that the pursuit of excellence is not for the weak-minded or faint-of-heart. There will inevitably be obstacles to overcome, setbacks to endure, and disappointments to suffer. The road to excellence is littered on all sides with those who have relinquished their vision due to some difficulty or other. Very often the difficulty simply amounts to a lack of patience.

When the world’s foremost experts in various performance domains are asked to identify the most important mental factor that contributed to their success, their responses almost always involve an unwavering commitment to achieving their vision at any cost. That’s what I mean by will. To realize your highest vision for yourself, you must want it more than anything else in life. You must adopt a do-whatever-it-takes mentality and be willing to make the sorts of sacrifices that others are unwilling to make.

Summary

“The path from dreams to success does exist. May you have the vision to find it, the courage to get on to it, and the perseverance to follow it.”
~ Kalpana Chawla ~ 

Let’s review. The necessary mental qualities for developing world-class expertise are vision (know exactly where you are going and why), optimism (believe that you will get there and commit fully), and will (want it more than anything and don’t give up when the going gets tough).

Please note that I have identified these qualities as being necessary (but not sufficient) conditions for achieving performance excellence. Even with all three of these qualities present, realizing a lofty performance vision will also require top-level coaching, intelligently designed training, adequate environmental supports, access to challenging competition, and the mental skills to reliably deliver your optimal performance under stressful circumstances. The qualities I have identified here provide the mental foundation for performance excellence, not the entire structure.

So there you have it. If you want to be great, you have to V.O.W. to be great. Begin by clarifying your vision and cultivate an unshakeable belief that, with persistent goal-directed effort, your vision will eventually become a reality.

With you in the pursuit,

Dr. Dave