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Doctor Craig Manning here with The Fearless Mind.
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I was meeting with an athlete yesterday that has been a
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young and up and coming athlete for a while
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now.
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As she's progressed to the point of competing with some
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of the best in the world in her respective sport,
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she had
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a
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couple of big challenges in her life, external challenges,
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challenges that had nothing to do with her actual
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athletic endeavors, but it really derailed her mentally and emotionally
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and had an impact on her performance.
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And then
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not long after that,
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she suffered a season ending injury that she had to go and get surgery and
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put her off significantly going into an Olympic year.
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She's worked well. She's worked hard. She's recovered rapidly.
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The coaches are raving about how quickly she's come back.
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They're excited for her prospects this year.
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Well, I sat down with her yesterday, and as I'm working with her, I asked her,
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"What is singly the most important thing you've done
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to help you with this recovery and overcoming these challenges
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and particularly overcoming this injury?"
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She said without hesitation, just came out immediately, which is a sign.
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I'm looking for people
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to see if there's hesitation there. I want to see how tight
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their mind is,
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meaning not intense and uptight,
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but how
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controlled they have it. "How dialed in." I'll often use that phrase.
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How dialed in.
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How dialed in is the athlete?
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Without any hesitation, she responded with "Being strict about using the journal."
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She said that has been critical in her
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overcoming these challenges and overcoming the injury.
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She said, "when I use that journal, I'm so much more focused every day.
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I feel like I'm in control of my own life's destiny, particularly the 3 to 1."
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When I evaluate three things, I do
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well.
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I'm constantly looking at what I'm doing well and what's going well in
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my life and other people's lives instead of looking at what's going wrong.
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She said, "In contrast to where I was 6-8 months ago,
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it's just amazing the difference that's made."
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She then said, "I'm using every day, seven days a week. I use it all the time.
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That has been the key for me to help me to get back as quickly and as strong as I am."
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And she said, "I'm just feeling so much more free.
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I feel like I am in control of my own life."
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Now, I love that.
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It's a journal. It's a tool.
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It's a
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tool to help us to do research on our own performance, our own life.
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If we're strict to use this athlete's word,
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I'd rather use the word "discipline." If we discipline ourselves,
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that's what self-mastery is.
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We discipline ourselves to use the journal.
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It's amazing what that can do for us. Have a great day.