The Mental Practice book series evolved out of Dr. Chandon's experience coaching athletes. He found that athletes develop in their mental games in predictable stages. The speed of their development depends on how vigorously they apply themselves in their mental practices, physical practices and competitions. When motivated athletes are open to learning, practicing the right things in the right sequences and in the right ways, they rapidly progress.
The Mental Practice series reflects the ideas of progressive development modeled by the martial arts. Mental Practice I-X have different color covers to signify that they are modeled after martial arts development and the wearing of different color belts. The different color belts in the martial arts indicate mastery levels of the students and teachers.
The Mental Practice book covers are yellow, orange, green, blue, purple, brown, black and red. As you develop in your mastery of each book, you earn that color "belt" in Mental Practice. You'll find that as you progress through the books, you'll be challenged to use your imaginative and creative abilities more. Imagination and creativity are key components of a well-developed mental practice.
Mental Practice II includes an expanded assessment, more tools, and mental practices. You'll learn to develop and use your Power Word Chart that will guide you in your mental and physical practices, and while you compete. You'll learn how to do One Minute Mental Practices that can significantly increase your mental practices. You'll take your mental practices with you throughout your day.
Most athletes understand the need for physical practice. Reasonable athletes wouldn't expect to improve their performances without the right kinds of consistent practice. However, the idea of mental practice is much less understood and effectively practiced. Even if athletes are self-aware enough to know that they are limiting or sabotaging their performances, they often don't know how to fix the problem. If they knew how to fix themselves, they would.
This book gives you a powerful way of working on your mental approach to athletic performance. The essence of a strong mental approach or" mental game" is when we correctly manage our thinking, emotions, and physical body in ways that work the best for us as individuals. We do that by regularly working on improving our mental game. We mentally practice.
Now you have a simple and effective way of mentally practicing. You have a way of discovering and correcting the ways in which you are limiting or sabotaging yourself. You can start to mentally practice in as little as 15 minutes per day.
This book is for athletes who are serious about fulfilling their potential. Development of a strong mental game takes practice and persistence. Development of a strong mental game is similar in scope to the development of physical skills in sports. Think of this book as working out. You're working out your mind and training yourself to perform your best.
The individual mental practices are grouped by chapter.
- Mental Toughness
- Developing Mental Skills
- Being a Champion
- Handling Challenges
- Planning for Success
- Being Healthy
- Training Well
- Confidence and Motivation
- Being a Leader
- Being a Free Spirit
