Self Fulfilled Prophecy: Using it as a positive training tool.

[loki09789]

Just to lay down a baseline of meaning:

Self Fulfilled Prophecy is what you convince yourself to believe, good or bad, and then having it come true because of that mental state.

Example: A waiter is carrying a huge tray of dirty dishes and, feeling the strain of the effort, starts thinking ("self talking") "I'm going to drop this, I'm going to drop this" and ends up dropping it because at that crucial moment, he acted consistently with the prophecy of 'dropping it.'


Training application example:

"I keep turning the wrong way in the form" So you will CONTINUE to turn the wrong way in the form. But, taking charge of the focus of the self talk/prophecy/expectation and 'programming positively' you change the phrase you repeat to "Turn to the right after the xyz technique" over and over to focus on what should happen instead of the mistake.

How many others use this stuff in their training/life...?

 

[Sarah]

I try to be positive, use positive self-talk and be confident. I also have a good training partner that snaps me out of it when I am doubting my self.

Hows this for a self furfulling prophecy.

Last grading we have a BIG certificate presentation night, where each student is called up one by one, bows to the BB and to our Instructor etc. Well, our Instructor, Steve was on a stage (no stairs), a few people early in the night kicked the stage as the jumped up, so all night I am saying to myself....don’t kick the stage, don’t kick the stage......apparently all your subconscious hears it 'kick the stage', so what did I do....yep I kicked the stage, and I did a damn good job of it, I broke my toe...LOL

 

[loki09789]

I try to be positive, use positive self-talk and be confident. I also have a good training partner that snaps me out of it when I am doubting my self.

Hows this for a self furfulling prophecy.

Last grading we have a BIG certificate presentation night, where each student is called up one by one, bows to the BB and to our Instructor etc. Well, our Instructor, Steve was on a stage (no stairs), a few people early in the night kicked the stage as the jumped up, so all night I am saying to myself....don’t kick the stage, don’t kick the stage......apparently all your subconscious hears it 'kick the stage', so what did I do....yep I kicked the stage, and I did a damn good job of it, I broke my toe...LOL

Still do this in hockey a lot. "Don't lose the puck, don't lose the puck...." Since I am focusing on 'losing the puck' of course it ends up four feet behind me as I swing my stick to pass.... with no puck.

Lesson for me should be to focus the mind/words with phrasing like "puck handle well, soft hands, soft hands...." because the I am focusing on the skill. Of course at this level of skill, I'll still lose the puck - just not for as long in the learning curve... I hope . Haven't broken a toe doing it though but give me time.

 

[Fight with attitude]

I try to use it all the time...it has really helped my game a lot.

Here's a cool Email that I got about positive self talk

Later down the road I am going to talk about positive self
talk in more detail. It is a VERY powerful tool, that the
top athletes around the world use.

If you are not familiar with it I will give you a quick
example. No matter what the situation, No matter
how bad it seems. You must talk to yourself and
tell your self why it is not that bad and how you will
fix it.

Here is an example I use, even now. Anytime I
get into a bad situation during training I say to
myself

------------------------------------------------------
I am one of the best in the world from this position,
I will be out of here soon.

I am one of the best in the world from this position,
I will be out of here soon.

I am one of the best in the world from this position,
I will be out of here soon.
------------------------------------------------------

Now instead of thinking how bad the situation is, or how
on earth did I wind up in this situation? My mind is
only thinking about getting out. Telling myself
that it is ok and I will get out of here soon.

You can make up your own positive self-talk for any
bad situation that you can think of. You can also
make them up for advantages positions. Example

Lets say you have the mount position. You could say:

------------------------------------------------------
The mount is one of my strongest positions, I'll finish
this fight soon. or

Ok, you're in the mount position, he'll make a mistake
shortly.
-------------------------------------------------------
What ever you feel comfortable with. Just try it.

 

[TigerWoman]

I have been trying positive feedback to be able to once again, practice and try my break. (If you possibly don't know about this after I have plastered my problem everywhere, its my last break to achieve 2nd dan). Actually I did better practicing by myself without a formal practice in TKD for two months this summer. But over the weekend I get psyched up again, get my boards ready, and what, the master doesn't show up for class and I have to teach and once again, my chance is lost. So sometime during that class, I wrench my back and no way can I even practice that jumpback-2/jumpspinheel-1, let alone attempt the break. Nor can I do it today, so after two weeks of cold and low energy, now my back. No positive feedback is going to get through that and even then, I have to have all conditions perfect--practice a few times during the week, physically in shape, and an available master to witness it. Argghhh! And this has been going on for more than a year and a half. Someone just shoot me. TW (sorry for my rant, thank you for listening)

 

[Sarah]

Is that from the Grappling Blueprint Newsletter??

I try to use it all the time...it has really helped my game a lot.

Here's a cool Email that I got about positive self talk

 

[Fight with attitude]

Is that from the Grappling Blueprint Newsletter??

Yup...I think that Newsletter is pretty good for beginners.

 

[KenpoNoChikara]

I try to use postitive thinking to my advantage, especially since i have a tournement coming up, but sometimes I'm not all that confident.

I think it's a good idea to use that type of confident thinking to your advantage, especially for testing, etc.
TW, sorry your frusterated, hope all goes well and you reach that 2nd Dan

 

[Akula]

Self-Talk, positive reinforcement, and pre-visualisation are all tools that I use when I'm getting ready for an event/race/whatever.

Before the competition starts for real, I've already done most, if not all of the event in my mind, both from a third person and first person point of view. I visualise just as I would do it for real, including the little mistakes like 'I was a little late there' or 'my form broke down there.' These issues then become training tools to fix in reality. It's the awareness of where a mistake may occur that helps me correct it, but I don't fixate on it to the point of causing said problem to occur again.

 

[CMack11]

".yep I kicked the stage, and I did a damn good job of it, I broke my toe..."

Before I go into this, most of my information comes from research on golf, not MA, but I think it applies the same.

A lot of research has been put into this kind of thinking. One of the the things that I've read is that visual thinkers will tell themselves 'don't kick the stage' while in their head they are picturing themselves kicking the stage. When it comes time to act, their brain remembers what it 'sees' not what it 'says', and lo and behold, the stage has been kicked.

The way to beat this is to never picture the negative thoughts or use the 'don't do this' thought. Instead of saying 'don't screw up this form', make a mental picture of doing the form correctly and repeat it over and over in your head.

I know this kind of visual thinking shaved about 10 strokes off my golf game, and I know it helps in the MA arena as well.

 

[loki09789]

".yep I kicked the stage, and I did a damn good job of it, I broke my toe..."

Before I go into this, most of my information comes from research on golf, not MA, but I think it applies the same.

A lot of research has been put into this kind of thinking. One of the the things that I've read is that visual thinkers will tell themselves 'don't kick the stage' while in their head they are picturing themselves kicking the stage. When it comes time to act, their brain remembers what it 'sees' not what it 'says', and lo and behold, the stage has been kicked.

The way to beat this is to never picture the negative thoughts or use the 'don't do this' thought. Instead of saying 'don't screw up this form', make a mental picture of doing the form correctly and repeat it over and over in your head.

I know this kind of visual thinking shaved about 10 strokes off my golf game, and I know it helps in the MA arena as well.

Definitely applicable! That is exactly what I find when I finally take charge of this process when I am playing hockey/training a new technique or just focusing on 'unlearning a bad habit'...

The trick is exactly as you mentioned with visualization OR positive sentence structure that focuses on the successful behavior or habit that you want to promote. Starting the sentence with a "don't do xyz" or visualizing the mistake will only focus on the error and not the correction.

thanks for the post.

 

[Aaron Little]

I have found that there is a big difference in telling someone to “keep their hands up” versus telling them “don’t drop your hands”. It seems that the human brain works in such a way that it must first process what it is that it is being told not to do.

Kind of like telling someone not think of a purple elephant. It is kind of hard to do so with out picturing what it is you are not supposed to be thinking off.

 

[loki09789]

I have found that there is a big difference in telling someone to “keep their hands up” versus telling them “don’t drop your hands”. It seems that the human brain works in such a way that it must first process what it is that it is being told not to do.

Kind of like telling someone not think of a purple elephant. It is kind of hard to do so with out picturing what it is you are not supposed to be thinking off.

Good explanation Aaron, in order to 'not think of something' you have to first 'think of it' so it slows down the process by adding that little step.

I think you said it more clearly than I could. Thanks.

 

[Aaron Little]

A great example of the importance of a positive self belief in training is Roger Bannister. For many years it was an excepted belief that it was not physically possible for a human being to run one mile in less than 4 min. Bannister set a personal goal to prove that assumption wrong.

On May 6th, 1954 in Oxford England Bannister ran one mile in 3:59:40. Bannister proved that the 4 min mile barrier was a false belief.

Within one year 37 runners, now believing it possible broke the 4 minute mile. The year after that 300 more achieved the same goal.




"Whether you believe that you can or whether you believe that you can't … you'll be absolutely right!"

---Henry Ford