Garret Kramer's Blog, page 34

Stillpower, Competition, and Olympic Excellence

I’m not sure if you’ve ever heard of an American runner named Billy Mills. Mills was the surprise winner of the gold medal in the 10k at the 1964 Tokyo Summer Olympics. And guess what? When he speaks to groups about his victory and keys to success, Mills admits that (among his many thoughts during the gold-medal race) he actually thought about quitting every single lap. That’s twenty-five laps of negative thoughts during a race where he was at his best.

Impossible, many motivational or positive-thinking experts might say. Well, not if, like Mills, you understand stillpower.

Now, Mills didn’t call it stillpower back then, but clearly he knew better than to attempt to will himself through his low thinking. To Mills, his negative thoughts didn’t present a problem. He realized, however, that if he tried to fix these thoughts, he would be doomed to defeat.

So, how can you use stillpower as an asset in any competition?

First, understand that there is no connection between the quality of your thinking and the competition at hand. Sure, you will be prone to think about the event as it draws closer, yet whether your thoughts are negative or positive is 100 percent random. In fact, you will be prone to having both types of thinking about the very same competition.

Second, never try to control the thoughts that pop into your head. As Mills experienced, the human mind is like a roller coaster. The quality of your thinking is always in flux. If you try to force “good” thoughts in and “bad” thoughts out, you are working against your own innate functioning (preventing the roller coaster from ascending on its own). Instead, the key is to understand that wayward thoughts are normal and temporary. If you try to manage these thoughts—applying willpower—you will fortify them. If you leave them alone—applying stillpower—your level of consciousness will climb by itself.

The bottom line is that many performance experts believe that you must be in “the zone” to prevail; that you must think positive thoughts to find your best effort. The experience of Billy Mills shows this is not so.

All you really need is stillpower. Left alone, all thoughts prove to be powerless. You are free no matter when or where a negative, or even positive, thought invades your brain.

 

 

Garret Kramer is the founder of Inner Sports. His clients include Olympians, NHL, NFL, MLB, and collegiate players and coaches, and he often conducts seminars about his revolutionary “inside-out” approach to performance excellence. Garret has been featured on WFAN, ESPN Radio, FOX, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and Sports Illustrated. He is the author of the book, Stillpower: Excellence with Ease in Sports and Life; foreword by NHL and U.S. Olympic star Zach Parise, www.stillpower.com.

Goal-setting, Focus, and Monkey-business

As you know, I suggest a different way of looking at performance excellence. And there are aspects of my work that certain people disagree with. To be frank, when I’m in a low mood, the objections get to me. When my mood, is high, I take the objections in with understanding and appreciation. As I have often said, all of us experience the outside world based on our state of mind in the moment.

However, the premise that receives the most head-scratching by far, is my belief that, while it intensifies focus (to me, not a plus), goal-setting thwarts awareness and actually reduces our odds for success. In my mind, when we set goals, we narrow the perceptual field, limit possibilities, and decrease our ability to handle unexpected events.

In their insightful book, The Invisible Gorilla, Christopher Chabris and Daniel Simons also take dead aim at the often-suggested proposition that performers (or people in general) need to be more focused and goal-oriented. So, as a diversion from my weekly articles, take a look at the following brief and fun video. Then draw your own conclusions about what happens to our awareness and vision when we set our sights on a specific goal.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=IGQmdoK_ZfY

Be sure to let me know what you think,

Garret

 

 

Garret Kramer is the founder of Inner Sports. His clients include Olympians, NHL, NFL, MLB, and collegiate players and coaches, and he often conducts seminars about his revolutionary “inside-out” approach to performance excellence. Garret has been featured on WFAN, ESPN Radio, FOX, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and Sports Illustrated. He is the author of the book, Stillpower: Excellence with Ease in Sports and Life; foreword by NHL and U.S. Olympic star Zach Parise, www.stillpower.com.

Ten Reasons Why You Can’t Find “the Zone”

“How do I get to the zone?” A question that I hear just about every day. As I have often said, the harder you try to find the zone (clarity of mind), the further from it you travel.

Here are my ten reasons why:

1.  Finding the zone doesn’t require that you do something. Clarity of mind is unconditional.

2.  Using a method to find the zone divorces you from the wisdom within—and your innate functioning.

3.  Finding the zone is not something you accomplish—it’s your natural state.

4.  Being in the zone, or not, has nothing to do with the circumstances of your life. No connection exists between taking action, or making life changes, and clarity of mind.

5.  The zone is only achieved if you leave a cluttered mind-set alone (stillpower).

6.  The zone is a state of “no thought.” Using a strategy to get there requires thought—the exact opposite of what you’re looking for.

7.  You don’t have to be in the zone to succeed; thinking that you do only energizes your low mind-set.

8.  If you’re trying to “fix” your thoughts and current state of mind in order to get to the zone, then you don’t understand how meaningless your thoughts and current state of mind actually are.

9.  In a low state of mind (not in the zone), you aren’t seeing life clearly, so grinding your way out is a never-ending struggle.

10. Outcomes are not a measurement of self-worth. Therefore, zone or no zone, the opportunity always exists for development, growth, and achievement.

 

Bottom line? In spite of many expert opinions on the subject, in my experience, it is impossible to will yourself into the zone. Thinking into a low quality of thought is never productive. So, the next time your level of consciousness falters, simply stay in the game (don’t try to fix things). An instinctive and freeing answer is right around the corner.

Garret

 

Nine Reasons Why Positive Thinking is Actually Negative

As many of you know, in my mind, affirmations (or trying to think positive) don’t work. In fact, they work against you. Because so many readers have expressed surprise at hearing me say this, this week I’ve decided to list my reasons, one by one. So, here are my nine reasons why if you believe in positive thinking—you might want to think again:

1.  All thoughts are random and meaningless (not a result of your circumstances)—including positive thoughts.

2.  Positive thinking implies that negative thoughts are the result of your circumstances, and, thus, not random and meaningless.

3.  Positive thinking energizes negative thoughts by turning something that’s meaningless into something that we must overcome.

4.  There is no connection between peace of mind and positive thinking.

5.  There is a direct connection between peace of mind and unnoticed thinking (a state of no thought).

6.  There is no connection between performance excellence and positive thinking.

7.  There is a direct connection between performance excellence and unnoticed thinking (a state of no thought).

8.  Positive thinking implies that clarity of mind can be achieved by doing—manipulating or changing thought—when clarity of mind only occurs instinctually or on its own. 

9.  Manipulating thought (changing negative into positive) stunts your innate functioning, inner wisdom, intuition, and personal development.

 

There’s my list. Let me know what you think or if you have questions. Obviously, pointing readers inward, to an understanding about the principle thought—not to trying to control thought—is a very important component of my work.

I look forward to continuing the discussion.

Garret

 

P.S.  If you’re wondering about thought being random and meaningless, look at it this way: Have you ever had a thought about something and then had a different thought about the very same thing? Well, which thought is meaningful?   

 

 

The Yips—Cause, Cure, and How they Apply to You

Have you ever had the “yips”?

Merriam Webster defines the yips as a state of nervous tension affecting an athlete (such as a golfer) in the performance of a crucial action.

I define the yips as a state of repeated nervous tension affecting athletes (or anyone) when they continue to look outside of themselves for the reason that they’re in this state and for the cure.

The truth is that many of us experience the yips. Actions that seem routine can, at times, become mind-boggling difficult. The other day, for example, I cut myself several times while shaving. After the first nick, I reasoned that I was in a rush so I tried to slow down. But to no avail, I cut myself again, then again!

Nervous tension does not occur because of your circumstances. Trying to make a putt or throw a ball, for instance, cannot create tension.

As a recent sports example, I received a call last week from a baseball coach who wanted me to speak to his catcher. According to the coach, the catcher was experiencing the yips. The catcher was in a major rut and even struggling with the most basic of tasks: he couldn’t throw the ball back to the pitcher with accuracy. He would bounce a throw, then miss left, then miss right, then throw the ball over the pitcher’s head. Plus, even though the catcher was doing his darndest to get out of this funk, he was seeing both a throwing coach and a sports psychologist, things were getting worse by the minute. 

I agreed to meet with the catcher. However, instead of focusing on his throwing or looking for reasons why it was off course, I pointed him inward—toward an intuitive “system” that we all possess.

I explained that he, like all human beings, exists in a continuum of consciousness. A high level of consciousness begets ease and simplicity; a low level begets complication and struggle. Both are normal and will occur. In fact, in my experience, understanding this system is the only way for a person’s level of consciousness (and performance) to adjust upward more regularly.

The yips occur when a person attributes nervous tension to anything other than normal fluctuations of consciousness.

As we spoke, and the catcher began to look away from external factors for his difficulties, I could see his thinking and demeanor become more at ease. He then asked, “Are you saying that when I make a bad throw back to the pitcher, there is nothing I should do about it (i.e. stillpower)?”

I replied, “What I’m saying is that if you look outside of the system (or normal fluctuations of consciousness) for the reason you made a bad throw and try to find a cure, your consciousness will trend lower and lower and your ability to perform will suffer.”

The result? The coach called me on Sunday after a long but successful weekend. He was astounded at the quality of the catcher’s throws. They had been grinding away at this problem for two months. “How did a one-hour meeting make such a huge difference?” he asked.

“Understanding the human experience (the system) always trumps searching for and applying a fix,” I told the coach. “I pointed your catcher in a different direction (within), and the rest took care of itself.”

So, how does this understanding apply to you? The next time you are struggling with what feels and looks circumstantial, and your experience keeps going downhill, resist the temptaion to make any type of correction. Instead, apply stillpower and an instinctual correction will easily find you. Truth be told, I get more amazed at how this system works every single day.

 

Stillpower Q and A: A One-On-One Interview with Me about the Book and Its Revolutionarily Simple Perspective

This week, as a change of pace and with the Stillpower book release in full swing, I thought you might find the following interview interesting. It was conducted by Beyond Words Publishing/Atria Books, the imprint of Simon and Schuster that published Stillpower. I am grateful to Leah Brown for her insightful questions…..

Recently, we caught up with Garret Kramer the author of Stillpower, a book that challenges us to find that inner state of stillness, the zone, to achieve excellence in sports and life. Here are his answers to questions about this interesing and revolutionary perspective: 

You define stillpower as the clarity of mind to live with freedom and ease; the inner source of excellence. Can you expand upon how you came to this definition?

To me, the human mind is designed to regulate or default to clarity and consciousness—if we don’t try to fix, or fight through, our lows. In effect, stillpower is the opposite of willpower. Finding peace of mind and performance excellence is built into the system (how the mind works). Human beings aren’t designed to force through our lows or use self-help techniques or external tools which only thwart our intuitive functioning—not to mention our free will.

For years, coaches, teachers, and parents have told us that the harder you work, the more likely you are to succeed. But your book turns this theory on its head. Why don’t these methods of willing ourselves into ‘the zone’ work?

There is a wide disconnect between the experience of performers at their best and current performance improvement methods . As all top performers would attest, the zone is a state of no thought and no grind. So, to me, it makes little sense to add thought (even positive thought) or try hard when we are not in this state.

Again, finding the zone (becoming conscious) is part of our innate functioning; if we interfere, we only go backward. Think of it this way: We’ve all witnessed very young children have meltdowns, even tantrums. But with no trying, technique, or strategy, they quickly return to a high level of well-being—to the zone. This happens by design with no effort at all.

There have been many scandals surrounding sports and coaches in the news recently. How do you see Stillpower revolutionizing the world of sports?

Stillpower stops the cycle of athletes (or anyone) playing victim to their circumstances and, thus, behaving badly. Rather than tell athletes what to look out for and what not to do, in the book, I remind them that their state of mind creates their experience; their experience does not create their state of mind. In other words, you are free to act as you see fit; remember, however, that productive actions are the result of acting from high mind-sets and pulling back from low mind-sets.

You’ve worked with many professional athletes, including Olympians, and NFL and NHL players. Can you share a particular example of one of your athletes using stillpower to achieve athletic excellence?

This is a funny story. I was scheduled to meet with an NHL player on a Tuesday afternoon, but on Monday he frantically calls me and wants to come in and see me. I agree. He sits down and starts ranting about what an SOB his coach is and tells me that he wants to ask for a trade. I tell him that his perceptions of his coach are based on his own state of mind—I insist that it’s got nothing to do with the coach. He doesn’t necessarily agree, but he does start to feel calmer.

The next day he comes in for our scheduled meeting and his perceptions had turned 180 degrees. He tells me how respectfully he was treated by the coach that morning—and what a great guy his coach is. Now, obviously the coach hadn’t changed overnight.

This was all the proof I needed to teach this player that our perceptions of others are created from the inside out. Not outside in. So when we are low, and it’s normal to get low sometimes, stillpower (allowing your state of mind to rise) and not willpower (fighting through the low state of mind) is always the best option.

While your book is clearly aimed at athletic excellence, its lessons seem to be applicable to performance in business, careers, relationships, and personal growth. How would you apply stillpower to life off the field?

All of us live in a continuum of moods, of states of mind. From the penthouse to the basement, we all ride the mood elevator moment to moment. When in the penthouse our thoughts are loving, resilient, compassionate, determined, secure, and understanding. When in the basement, our thoughts are resentful, vulnerable, judgmental, anxious, and insecure.

Once this innate “system” is understood, people stop taking their own state of mind, and the state of mind of others, as a given. Preaching about what is right or wrong no longer seems like a productive option. In any walk of life, stillpower points people inward. It promotes acting on instincts and freedom. When people act instinctively and freely their actions tend to be productive and empowering—not just for them, but for their teammates, coworkers, family, and community as well.

There you have it. I hope these questions (and answers) will spur more form you. So please reach out to continue the discussion.

Garret

 

P.S.   For my New York area friends—I will be giving a talk and leading a discussion about Stillpower, and my work,  at The Bergino Baseball Clubhouse this Thursday, June 14th, at 7pm. The address is, 67 East 11th Street, New York, NY 10003.  Hope to see you there!

 

 

The Stillpower Guide to Productivity

With today being the day for the release of Stillpower: Excellence with Ease in Sports and Life, I thought this article would be fitting. Many of us believe that going for a walk, a vacation, or taking any type of break when we feel low, and we are struggling, is a key to productivity. I’m not so sure….  

There are hundreds of books, manuals, and articles written today about how to be more productive. Yet, no matter how well thought out or helpful some may be, in my experience, all of these resources make one essential mistake: they take the state of mind of the reader as a given. From a clear mind-set, people easily get things done; from a cluttered mind-set, just the opposite. So before we discuss strategies for improving productivity at work, at home, in training, or on the field, we need to answer one key question:

“What can we do to clear our minds in order to be more productive?”

The answer, believe it or not, is—nothing. Left alone, a disquiet or inefficient mind-set will return to its most productive state. However, if you are unaware of this fact and try to fix a lull in productivity by following the latest advice on the subject, your level of productivity will continue to decline.

While most productivity factors vary from person to person, every person’s ability to produce is established by his or her state of mind in the moment.

A colleague of mine recently put my perspective on productivity to the test. He and I have spent many an hour talking about the fallacy of productivity strategies, so when Monday morning rolled around and he had errant thoughts about his lengthy to-do list—he felt like taking a break even though deadlines were looming—my colleague decided to give stillpower (allowing his errant thoughts to settle and his level of clarity to rise on its own) a try.

What exactly did he do? He remembered that it’s never productive to take a break because of the content of one’s thoughts, but always productive to take a break as the result of one’s instincts. That is, our feelings are the perfect barometer for the value of our thinking and mood. A low feeling means our thinking is contaminated, a free feeling means our thinking is pure. Hence, rather than take a break that Monday morning—which would have only legitimized and energized his low-quality thoughts—he poured into his to-do list.

The result? As he applied himself, his thinking cleared and his state of mind ascended. So much so that he completed all of his tasks by lunch, and he had the afternoon open to enthusiastically start a new project.

When you use willpower, you try to fix the content of your low thoughts. Stillpower recognizes that your low thoughts are meaningless, random, and temporary, so they don’t need fixing.

The bottom line is that my colleague chose stillpower over willpower because he understood that the content of his thoughts wasn’t (and is never) real. Coping with his thoughts (by taking a break) would not make him more productive. Letting his mind-set ascend naturally was the only productive way to approach his list of things to do.

Therefore, the next time you want to be productive, but just can’t seem to get out of your own way, consider these seven fundamental reminders about productivity. They will direct you inward (not to external strategies), where your most productive self rests.

1.    Your ability to be productive is only as good as your state of mind.

2.    All productivity strategies are ineffective from a low mind-set.

3.    If you stay on task, your state of mind, and productivity, will usually improve on its own.

4.    If you wonder whether or not it’s time to take a break, it’s not time.

5.    If taking a break is automatic and obvious (instinctual), take it.

6.    Your perception of a task is based on your state of mind at that moment. The same task will appear challenging from a low mind-set; simple from a high mind-set.

7.    Your state of mind, not your behavior, determines the productivity of all of your actions. No matter what  you do, do it from a perspective of inspiration; never desperation.

 

Thanks for reading, and for your continued interest in my work—go get ‘em!

Garret

 

 

My New Book and a Special Invitation

I am enthused to announce the release of Stillpower: Excellence with Ease in Sports and Life on June 5th. This book is an updated and improved version of Stillpower: The Inner Source of Athletic Excellence. While many of you have read the original Stillpower, I am hoping that you take the time to read the new version, too.

One of the main reasons I wrote this book is to help families, teams, and organizations learn how the principles behind Stillpower can change their lives. To help make this happen, I’d like to offer a special invitation to you, my newsletter subscribers. If you order ten or more copies of the book before June 5th, I’ll jump on the phone with you for thirty minutes, or so, to offer advice on how you can apply stillpower to your life, and to the lives of those around you.

To take advantage of this opportunity and join me on a call, here are the two simple steps:

Pre-order ten or more copies of Stillpower at your favorite online retailer (Amazon and BN links are below, or on the home and book pages of my site).Forward the receipt to gkramer@innersports.com.

Let me know if you have any questions. Thank you very much for your continued support of my work.

 

All best,

Garret

 

P.S.  Here are the links to the book’s video trailer, and to a video Q and A with me about the book:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oy-UxJPdZNk

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kY9raEX1AJg

 

 

Ten Things to Remember When Your State of Mind is Low and You Want to Feel Better

“What can I do to raise my state of mind?” is a question that I have been asked quite a few times since my “…Signs of a Low State of Mind” article.

As I have said before, to me, there’s nothing specific that you can do to raise your mood. But perhaps, when you feel low, these ten reminders will help you get back on the road to the clarity and consciousness that you’re looking for.

 

1.   Stillpower is always better than willpower.

From a clear mind-set, we see that life is leading us in a productive direction—no matter what obstacles cross our path. From a cluttered mind-set, we feel the urge to will ourselves through the same obstacles. Don’t forget, if you act from a low state of mind, you are giving wayward thoughts the attention and belief they need to grow. When you don’t tend to your lows (rely on stillpower), they wither away on their own.

2.   You must stay in the game.

The human mind is designed to regulate to clarity; to freedom. But only if you stay in the game. If you stop living your life to address negative feelings and moods, you are addressing—and fortifying— problems that don’t really exist. Keep in mind, from a low mind-set human beings don’t see life clearly, so taking the time to correct problems when you feel low always leads to trouble.

3.   Someone else’s self-help strategy will not help you.

If you take an external tip or technique, and mix it with your own inner wisdom, what you get is bound-up psychological functioning. The answer to any dilemma rests within you—so don’t become a follower. When you are struggling, simply look to the innate principle of thought and how the quality of your own thinking creates all of your perceptions.

 4.   The potential always exists to see life differently.

No matter how bad life appears, your “issues” will soon look different from a different level of consciousness. Remember, your state of mind is always in flux. It’s a given that, left alone, your feelings and perceptions will improve.

 5.   You can excel when your state of mind is wayward.

This reminder is almost always misunderstood. You don’t have to be in “the zone” in order to kick butt on the field or in life. In fact, chasing the zone will lead you further from it. Regardless of your mind-set in the moment, get out there and play—leave becoming conscious up to nature.

6.   It’s THAT you think, not WHAT you think.

Human beings are always thinking. When we struggle, we notice our thoughts; when we prosper, we don’t. So, the next time you are thinking negatively and are tempted to force positive thoughts into your head, consider this: Peace of mind occurs absent of intellect. If you’re willfully fixing your thoughts, you’re going about things backwards.

7.    Your circumstances are not the reason for your strife.

Problematic circumstances are not the cause of your strife; they are a symptom of your strife. From a low state of mind, everyone perceives their circumstances as challenging. From a high state of mind, the identical circumstances are a breeze. It won’t feel like it when you are struggling, but the conditions of your life are always neutral.

8.   There’s no need to cope.

Your innate resilience is always at work. Just like your body is designed to heal on its own when sick, your mind operates in the same fashion. Coping with problems thwarts your own intuitive functioning by placing blame for your feelings on something outside of you. Stop coping with temporary perceptions that are bound to change. If you take your foot off the gas for just a minute, positivity will flood the system.

9.   Remember that lows are normal and random, too.

Because we think, at times we will overthink and feel low. Feeling low does not constitute a problem, though; believing that feeling low is a problem constitutes a problem. I realize that the self-help world overwhelms us with what we’re supposed to do to counteract our wayward thoughts and states of mind, it screams at us to take action. What I am saying is the reverse: your lows are normal and there is nothing you need to do about them. In other words, your level of consciousness is not a runaway car; it’s a roller coaster so embrace the ride.

10.  Even when it’s dark the sun is still shining.

In ancient times, people became extremely distraught when nighttime fell. They had no proof that the sun would rise again, so they looked for all sorts of strategies and tricks to help them manage their fear of darkness. Then, an insightful astronomer named Copernicus came along and proved that the sun, not the earth, was the center of the universe—it was a sure thing that the sun would appear every morning. Hence, knowing how the system worked paved the way for contentment and success.

Yes, your thoughts will sometimes darken your day. But your innate clarity and consciousness are always present. Provided you don’t interfere with the system, the sun will be shining in no time.

 

Thanks for reading. I look forward to hearing from you,

Garret

 

Insight, Worry, and Why You Need to Know the Difference

 

Insight: The act of grasping the hidden nature of things.

Worry: The act of feeling persistently uneasy about things

Most people believe that worry is a conscientious state of mind. As a result, they mistake their worries for insights. They have a thought about upcoming events, the thought produces an uneasy feeling, and they assume (because of the uneasy feeling) that the thought has merit and needs consideration. In my experience, however, the opposite is true: An uneasy feeling—a worry—is a sign that one’s guess about upcoming events has no merit and needs no consideration. And if a person thinks it does, his or her peace of mind and performance level will decline.

Worries build when we ponder the future from an insecure mind-set.

All people possess the capacity for both worry and insight. People worry when, from a low state of mind, they make assumptions about the future and imagine what will happen if these assumptions prove accurate. Insights, on the other hand, do predict the future. Insights are the opposite of assumptions and, since they are the byproduct of an elevated level of consciousness, they feel free and uncomplicated. Insights are responsible for all of your productive decisions and actions.

Why, then, is it so important to know the difference between your insights and worries? Well, we all know how our worries can grow—if we feed them with attention and belief. For example, let’s say I schedule a lunch date with my wife and she’s late. I conjure up the harmless thought, “I hope she didn’t get into an accident.” But the thought makes me feel anxious, so I get hoodwinked and mistake the thought for an insight. Then I start to worry, “I told her she needed to leave on time; she was probably rushing; when she rushes, she loses concentration; when people lose concentration, they get in accidents; oh my God, I hope the accident isn’t serious.” Have you ever found yourself in one of these thought-created chain reactions?

Worrisome thoughts are innocent; when we confuse them for truth (insights), that’s a different story.

You see, my pre-worrisome thought, “I hope she didn’t get into an accident” was not my issue—confusing it for an insight is what led me down such a dysfunctional road.

In other words, the feeling of insecurity produced by my initial thought was actually a sign that my guess about the future was unreliable. It was a false impression—not an insight. If I merely understood that worry and its uneasiness = illusion, while insight and its calm = truth, my worry attack would have ended right then and there.

So, my simple suggestion is to grasp the difference between these two modes of thinking—worry and insight. If you do, thoughts won’t become worries and your inner wisdom, and not fate, will start determining the quality of your life experiences.