SELF DEVELOPMENT Champions Evolve from Competing to Creating
Average performers live their lives in first gear, resisting change and avoiding risk. The masses have the same talent and opportunity as the world class, yet choose to play it safe to avoid the pain of failure and the agony of (temporary) defeat. At Mental Toughness University, we have a scale called The Five Levels of Mental Toughness, which is a tool to help people determine at what level they are performing.
The first level is called Playing Not to Lose, which is doing just enough to avoid getting fired. The next level up is called Playing to Cruise, which is mentally cruising through the job without really engaging in any serious thought. The next level is Playing to Improve, which is when performers begin
to actively engage their thoughts and feelings in the task at hand, attempt- ing to get better.
The level above this is Playing to Compete, which is when performers begin to believe they are capable of beating out their competition and being the best. This level is primarily ego driven where winning is the main objective. Performers operating at this level often become very success- ful and powerful, but are sometimes left with hollow feelings of “Is this all there is?”
The highest level is Playing to Win, which occurs when the performer moves from competition to creation, where the primary goal is to be the best they can be. Knowing that creativity and fear cannot coexist, these people are competing only
The Five Levels of Mental Toughness
PLAYING TO WIN “I cannot fail; I can only learn
and grow. The only person I’m compet- ing with is myself. I no longer feel fear, because it’s impossible for me to lose. I feel so grateful just to have an opportunity to be the best I can be. I see my perfor- mance as the primary catalyst of my self-actualization. I don’t have to be who I’ve always been. I learn and I grow; that’s how I win.”
PLAYING TO COMPETE ”I think I can be the best!”
PLAYING TO IMPROVE “Maybe I can accomplish more than I thought. Maybe I’m better than I think I am.”
PLAYING TO CRUISE “As long as I continue to perform, I can cruise.”
PLAYING NOT TO LOSE “I’d better perform or I’ll be in trouble.”
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The great champions have all come back from defeat. SAM SNEAD
— TEXT AND CHART EXCERPT FROM 177 MENTAL TOUGHNESS SECRETS OF THE WORLD CLASS BY STEVE SIEBOLD
with themselves – with the objective of being better today than they were yesterday.
The Playing to Win philosophy is
rooted in a spirit-based conscious- ness operating from thoughts of love and abundance. Fear and scarcity have no place at this level of think- ing. These performers are fearlessly seeking what Dr. Abraham Maslow referred to as Self-Actualization, or becoming all that one has the poten- tial to become. The most powerful belief performers operating at this level possess is that they cannot fail; they can only learn and grow. With their potential in front and their fear behind them, champions are able to move beyond the boundaries of competition and create what the masses believe is impossible.
HOW MENTAL TOUGHNESS CONQUERS APPROVAL ADDICTION
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