Rob Bell's Blog, page 25
March 17, 2016
3 Ways to Build Mental Toughness for Golfers
Dr. Rob Bell is a Sport Psychology Coach. His company DRB & associates is based in Indianapolis. Some clients have included: University of Notre Dame, Marriott, and Walgreens. Check out the most recent book on Mental Toughness- Don’t Should on Your Kids: Build Their Mental Toughness
March 13, 2016
{Infographic} Hierarchy of Mental Toughness
Please include attribution to drrobbell.com with this graphic.
Dr. Rob Bell is a Sport Psychology Coach. His company DRB & associates is based in Indianapolis. Some clients have included: University of Notre Dame, Marriott, and Walgreens. Check out the most recent book on Mental Toughness- Don’t Should on Your Kids: Build Their Mental Toughness
Hierarchy of Mental Toughness
Dr. Rob Bell is a Sport Psychology Coach. His company DRB & associates is based in Indianapolis. Some clients have included: University of Notre Dame, Marriott, and Walgreens. Check out the most recent book on Mental Toughness- Don’t Should on Your Kids: Build Their Mental Toughness
March 11, 2016
Sit down here if you want to win.
People will pay top-dollar to sit there while others will do everything they can to actually avoid sitting there.
When people “get-to” pay to sit there, there are often few seats available. However, when one doesn’t “have to” pay, there is always plenty of room. MC’s at workshops or presentations will even announce “there’s plenty of room in these seats”…I know many collegiate coaches who also ensure that their athletes always sit in these seats in class.
It’s the Front Row!
Sitting here requires Mental Toughness. Mental Toughness often means doing the things that we don’t want to do.
HOF baseball coach Tommy Pharr and Collegiate World Series coach Tim Corbin both sit in the front row. I see it at every conference. They even compete to see who can sit there FIRST. That’s the only evidence I needed to sit here as well.
Looking further into the front row culture. It’s a lifestyle.
Some view sitting in the front row as a risk. They see it as stressful because something bad could happen. The presentation may not be very good and what if they have to leave? Can they check their phone up front? They also see a threat because they’ll have to be more engaged, they may get called upon, others could be looking at them, and it may not be considered cool.
Sitting up front does involve a risk, but it also offers a reward.
Those that DO sit in front row however, see it as a possibility. They look at it as something good can happen. It allows them to be more engaged, which means they will retain more information. They want to get called upon and even be a part of the show or presentation, and they think it’s the coolest place to sit.
Research revealed that students sitting in the front, middle, and back rows of class scored 80%, 71.6%, and 68.1% respectively on course exams. I don’t see that as coincidence.
Sitting further back in the audience is safe, but offers little incentive.
There is a game that I play with many of my audiences, where I hold up a $20 bill, sometimes a $100 bill. (I can’t divulge the game) but those in the front row usually win it.
No one can make you sit in the front, just like no-one can pick up the seat and move it to the back.
Dr. Rob Bell is a Sport Psychology Coach. His company DRB & associates is based in Indianapolis. Some clients have included: University of Notre Dame, Marriott, and Walgreens. Check out the most recent book on Mental Toughness- Don’t Should on Your Kids: Build Their Mental Toughness
March 8, 2016
March 4, 2016
When we lose, do this…
Winning is easier to handle than losing. Losing hurts and it is painful, especially when we have The Big Loss! However, we are going to lose in life more than we are going to win. So, let’s get better at it.
Those that have mental toughness actually handle losing better than those who are not as mentally tough. As Bobby Clampett once stated “It’s easier to lift a trophy than it is to lift up one’s head.”
When we lose, we need to do this!
-Perform an Autopsy-
Autopsies are performed by experts for medical and/or lawful purposes. An autopsy provides answers and gives us a cause of death. Autopsy=To see for oneself.
Losing is similar to death, except it is not fatal.
Coaches watch tons of film after games. They are looking for tendencies, mistakes, and how to improve. Often they won’t even give answers to the media for a loss until after they have performed an autopsy.
We can do the same. For instance, Rickie Fowler reflects after every round and goes through it in his mind.
1) Be objective
Losing is an event, it is not a person. If we can’t separate who we are with what happened, it’ll be more difficult to learn the cause. An autopsy requires us to be honest, which is difficult because it requires objectivity.
2) Find the cause
The toughest autopsies are the one’s where the death is undetermined. Truth is, we may have performed the way we were supposed to but the outcome just didn’t work out in our favor. Those hurt! We still need to find the cause, Did we lose or were we just beat?
3) It’s not you, it’s me
I hated that excuse, because it was a way to avoid the real reason! Blame is simple, it’s much easier to move the mirror in front of someone else. While we are looking for reasons why we lost, we must own our own stuff! What did WE control and what could WE have done better? Blame is simple, but it doesn’t help moving forward.
4) Don’t forget to bury the body
Coach Tom Griffin at Carson-Newman once had a bad loss heading into the post-season. He bought some meat, brought the entire team to the field at night at night, dug a hole, and buried the loss!
We need to MOVE ON, bury the loss, and hit the reset button. If we keep bringing up the loss after the autopsy, we haven’t buried it. Why would you want that dead body lying around?
It’s okay to look at the past, just don’t stare it.
Dr. Rob Bell is a Sport Psychology Coach. His company DRB & associates is based in Indianapolis. Some clients have included: University of Notre Dame, Marriott, and Walgreens. Check out the most recent book on Mental Toughness- Don’t Should on Your Kids: Build Their Mental Toughness
February 19, 2016
6 quick videos that will re-ignite confidence…
Isn’t it interesting how things seem to get better when it’s going well, and worse when things are going bad?
What if we can break the cycle of negativity? I hate losing confidence, but it happens from time to time. However, too often I meet successful people that simply don’t have the inner self-belief in themselves. We can’t afford to lose confidence! It’s NOT about motivation, it’s about belief. Nothing can stop an inspired person whose time has come!
Confidence is contagious… Watching others have success automatically builds confidence in ourselves. If strengthens the belief that “Hey, if they can do it, so can I.” CLICK ON IMAGES TO PLAY
Larry Bird~ “I make all of those shots ALL of the time.”
Arnold Schwarzenegger~ “Who do you want to become, not what, but who?” 
Will Smith~ “You don’t set out to build a wall, You say ‘I’m going to lay this brick.’ ” 
Billy Mills ~ Every Passion Has It’s Destiny! BEST ATHLETIC PERFORMANCE OF ALL-TIME.
Susan Boyle- “I Dreamed a Dream!” Watch to the laughter turn to tears…
Capt. Sully~ “It was the worst pit of your stomach feeling” Miracle on The Hudson
Dr. Rob Bell is a Sport Psychology Coach. His company DRB & associates is based in Indianapolis. Some clients have included: University of Notre Dame, Marriott, and Walgreens. Check out the most recent book on Mental Toughness- Don’t Should on Your Kids: Build Their Mental Toughness
February 12, 2016
When You Lose, Do This…
Winning is easier to handle than losing. Losing hurts and it is painful, especially when we have The Big Loss! However, we are going to lose in life more than we are going to win. So, let’s get better at it.
Those that have mental toughness actually handle losing better than those who are not as mentally tough. As Bobby Clampett once stated “It’s easier to lift a trophy than it is to lift up one’s head.”
When we lose, we need to do this!
-Perform an Autopsy-
Autopsies are performed by experts for medical and/or lawful purposes. An autopsy provides answers and gives us a cause of death. Autopsy=To see for oneself.
Losing is similar to death, except it is not fatal.
Coaches watch tons of film after games. They are looking for tendencies, mistakes, and how to improve. Often they won’t even give answers to the media for a loss until after they have performed an autopsy.
We can do the same. For instance, Rickie Fowler reflects after every round and goes through it in his mind.
1) Be objective
Losing is an event, it is not a person. If we can’t separate who we are with what happened, it’ll be more difficult to learn the cause. An autopsy requires us to be honest, which is difficult because it requires objectivity.
2) Find the cause
The toughest autopsies are the one’s where the death is undetermined. Truth is, we may have performed the way we were supposed to but the outcome just didn’t work out in our favor. Those hurt! We still need to find the cause, Did we lose or were we just beat?
3) It’s not you, it’s me
I hated that excuse, because it was a way to avoid the real reason! Blame is simple, it’s much easier to move the mirror in front of someone else. While we are looking for reasons why we lost, we must own our own stuff! What did WE control and what could WE have done better? Blame is simple, but it doesn’t help moving forward.
4) Don’t forget to bury the body
Coach Tom Griffin at Carson-Newman once had a bad loss heading into the post-season. He bought some meat, brought the entire team to the field at night at night, dug a hole, and buried the loss!
We need to MOVE ON, bury the loss, and hit the reset button. If we keep bringing up the loss after the autopsy, we haven’t buried it. Why would you want that dead body lying around?
It’s okay to look at the past, just don’t stare it.
Dr. Rob Bell is a Sport Psychology Coach. His company DRB & associates is based in Indianapolis. Some clients have included: University of Notre Dame, Marriott, and Walgreens. Check out the most recent book on Mental Toughness- Don’t Should on Your Kids: Build Their Mental Toughness
January 29, 2016
Palms Up for Mental Toughness
I’ve been to many different churches, Church of Latter Day Saints, Jewish Synagogues, A.M.E. Zion and Unitarian Universalists. I wanted to learn more about other’s beliefs, so I was fortunate to be able to explore. I was more into Whose your master rather than whose your pastor.
I’ve been to rock-star pastor services, those are creepy.
As a kid, I grew up in a Lutheran church. Many, many rituals. Conservative.
So, whenever I attended services where people held up their hands in praise, I was out of my comfort zone. I internally applauded them though, I thought it was courageous.
I’m obsessed with helping athletes, coaches, and teams with mental toughness. Every book I read can be applied to getting better. I want my clients to be THE BEST AT GETTING BETTER. In LOVE DOES, author Bob Goff provided a huge mental toughness technique.
Bob used to walk around all day long with his fists clenched, defensive, and angry. When we are defensive all the time, we can’t win. He made one adjustment and everything changed. PALMS UP.
Sit right now with your hands on the back of legs and turn your hands over with your palms up! Do it for a minute. One of my tennis players told me this made a huge difference in resetting himself during change-overs. He won a big tournament, maybe it helped, I’m not sure.
It’s about controlled aggression, not aggressive aggression, that burns us up. CONTROLLED AGGRESSION… Being in control of our emotions, responses, and energy. If we are not in control of ourselves, something else is in control of us.
Whatever our office, there are times to flip the PALMS UP! In the courtroom, time outs in basketball, in the dug-out, in the car, at the poker table, wherever. Embarrassed by it, or think people will look? More mental toughness is needed then. Heck, put a towel over your lap or hold something small in your hands. PALMS UP.
It’s unbelievable how our mood, focus, and confidence change with our PALMS UP. And if you like that or it is too much, try this technique.
Dr. Rob Bell is a Sport Psychology Coach. His company DRB & associates is based in Indianapolis. Some clients have included: University of Notre Dame, Marriott, and Walgreens. Check out the most recent book on Mental Toughness- Don’t Should on Your Kids: Build Their Mental Toughness
January 22, 2016
The Ed Sheeran Technique of Mental Toughness
Courtesy of Valleycrest Productions.
Ogi Ogas is a genius who was on the show, Who Wants to be a Millionaire. He actually knew the answer to the Million Dollar question, but couldn’t PULL the trigger. His focused switched from knowing the answer to the wobbly chair, the audience, and the stakes…He became too focused on walking away with $500,000 instead of the answer.
It’s why I hate Alex Trebek, I’d look smart if I had all of the answers in front of me as well. I forget my neighbors names sometimes.
Pressure can burst a pipe because there is no space for the water to go. Our capacity for attention under pressure is similar. When we are in those “have-to” moments, and with time to think, the pressure can get to us, and we can only focus on one thing. It is so much easier to just play and react with no time to think.
Under pressure, since there is so much attention on the task at hand, very little mental energy can be consumed for anything else. It’s like if you are freezing, the body will conserve all warmth to the major organs first, good bye fingers. Communication is the first limb to go.
Whenever I’m stressed, I stop communicating. When teams get tired, all communication stops. Fatigue makes cowards of us all.
The Ed Sheeran Technique of Mental Toughness
Airlines and pilots discovered a better method for pilots and co-pilots to communicate. Some pilots were so head-strong that they operated under the guise of “When I want your opinion, I’ll give it to you.” Not the best way to operate in a team setting.
Airlines changed their way of training, they introduced the Ed Sheeran technique. Pilots were trained to Think Out Loud! They had to verbalize all of their maneuvers before take-offs and landings.
Communicating by thinking out loud accomplishes two goals. First, it makes pilots better by including the co-pilot into the actual thinking process and it eliminates the mind-reading. Second, co-pilots were trained on how to also think out-loud and address a pilots decision.
State the facts- Co-pilots were instructed to merely state the facts. “Our angle is incorrect.”
Challenge- They stated the pilots name and added a qualifier. “Mike, our angle is incorrect, Check the angle. “
Assume control- If unsuccessful at the 1st two, The co-pilot stated “ATC, we are coming around again.” Once the Air Traffic Control heard the message, they canceled the order and the pilot had to comply.
Rarely, did it make it to point #3.
The Ed Sheeran technique of Mental Toughness forces us to be confident. When we verbalize our thoughts, it ignites the dominant force of commitment. Thinking out loud makes us commit to the process. Thinking out out loud also opens us up to feedback and makes us think through any ideas or strategies. Thinking out loud is why people have accountability partners and why we share our goals. It forces us to execute.
I was thinking out loud with two coaches last week that this was going to be the next newsletter, so I had to commit.
Dr. Rob Bell is a Sport Psychology Coach. His company DRB & associates is based in Indianapolis. Some clients have included: University of Notre Dame, Marriott, and Walgreens. Check out the most recent book on Mental Toughness- Don’t Should on Your Kids: Build Their Mental Toughness
