The document emphasizes the importance of beliefs, visualization, positive affirmations, and storytelling in achieving personal and professional goals. It asserts that a positive self-image and a strong belief system are crucial for motivation and success, drawing on various psychological theories and examples from sports and business. Additionally, the text advocates for the practice of setting clear goals and maintaining a growth mindset to overcome challenges.

1. Enhance Goal Setting through Beliefs, Visualization, Positive Affirmations and Story Telling Welcome to Life Welcome to Life

2. For people looking for an edge In 2004 the PGA listed Tiger Woods at an avg of 68.6 strokes William Wood at an avg of 70.4 strokes Tiger Woods = $9.5 million prize money William Wood=$165,000 prize money Look for a suggestion to pick up a stroke on your game

3. Outline Beliefs Importance Self Image Interpretation of Performance Learn to Fail Visualization and Images Words as Tools Goals Positive Affirmations Life Story and Self Perception Theory

4. Central Theme: Beliefs and Values are important in motivating ourselves to write out Goals . Goals give us a navigation system on the journey to success. Self Image is an important mental framing tool for feedback on performance. “ If one does not know to which port one is sailing, no wind is favorable.” - Seneca (Roman philosopher, mid-1st century AD)

5. Why am I presenting this? Early in my career I did not sign up for human resource or self improvement classes A couple things changed in my career Given larger responsibility (i.e. put in charge of 100 people where I lost direct control) Involved with the operations of over 20 mergers and acquisitions (fear factor and change) Hired over 1000 employees (how do you pick success) Became a parent and youth coach Bottom line - I wish I had been given this material earlier in my career

6. This talk is NOT Suggesting you are doing anything wrong today All encompassing “life system” Something I thought up myself Recommending that you become Pollyanna (foolishly or blindly optimistic) A positive attitude may not solve all your problems but it will annoy enough people to make it worth the effort” – Herm Albright Replacing Hard Work and Perseverance as the 2 critical factors in success

7. The following is a synthesis of the following material Harvard’s Positive Psychology E-1504- Tal Ben-Shahar Corporate Program “Increasing Human Effectiveness”- Edge Learning Institute Psyching for Sport: Mental Training for Athletes Terry- Orlick The Power of Story - Jim Loehr The Redemptive Self – Dan McAdams Blink: The Power of Thinking without Thinking – Malcolm Gladwell

8. History of Studying Success What do successful people do RIGHT? Emotional Intelligence Positive Psychology Sports Psychology Pain management Success in Business Stephen Covey’s “7 Habits of Successful People” Negotiate to Win Sales Quota Achievement

9. Section I: Beliefs

10. Section I: Beliefs "Champions aren't made in gyms. Champions are made from something they have deep inside them - a desire, a dream, a vision. They have to have last-minute stamina, they have to be a little faster, they have to have the skill and the will. But the will must be stronger than the skill." - Muhammad Ali

12. “ You will perform consistently in alignment with your dominant belief about yourself and others and how the world works” – Bob Mowad from Edge Learning Institute

13. Why are your beliefs so important? Beliefs develop a self image Critical factor in how you frame your world You see the world as it is filtered by your mental framework Critical in how you interpret failure Critical in how you deal with the constant hassles of life

14. Self-Image Stored in your subconscious An accumulation of you attitudes, beliefs and thought patterns-real as well as imagined. You have a self-image in every area of your life. Increasing Human Effectiveness Edge Workbook 6-3

15. 1950’s the general belief was that the 4 minute mile was not medically possible May 6, 1954 at Iffley Road Track in Oxford 3 min 59.4 s 46 days later John Landy of Australia, time of 3 min 57.9 s 1955 37 runners broke the record 1956 300 runners broke the record Roger Bannister

16. Harvard Positive Psychology E1504 slideTal Ben-Shahar

17. How you filter the world “ Concerning all acts of initiative (and creation), there is one elementary truth the ignorance of which kills countless ideas and splendid plans: that the moment one definitely commits oneself, then providence moves too. A whole stream of events issues from the decision, raising in one’s favor all manner of unforeseen incidents, meetings and material assistance, which no man could have dreamt would have come his way” - W.H. Murray (Scottish Mountaineer)

18. Beliefs as Self-fulfilling Prophecies Beliefs Self Image Performance Consistency Interpretation Objective Subjective Harvard Positive Psychology E1504 slide Tal Ben-Shahar

19. Beliefs as Self-fulfilling Prophecies Beliefs Self-Image Performance Consistency Interpretation Objective Subjective Harvard Positive Psychology E1504 slide Tal Ben-Shahar Belief System impacts Interpretation of Performance Lock out the Critics Control your self talk Motivation Visualization Realism

20. "I've missed more than 9000 shots in my career. I've lost almost 300 games. 26 times, I've been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed. I've failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed." - Michael Jordan

21. Learn to Fail or Fail to Learn The bravest sight in the world is to see a great man struggling against adversity. - Seneca (Roman philosopher, mid-1st century AD) ”

22. The Path of Failure Age 22: Lost job Age 23: Defeated for state legislature Age 24: Failed in business Age 27: Nervous breakdown Age 34: Ran for congress and defeated Age 39: Defeated again Age 46: Ran for senate and defeated Age 47: Defeated for nomination for vice president Age 50: Defeated again for senate Age 51: 16 th US President Harvard Positive Psychology E1504 slide Tal Ben-Shahar

23. “ I failed my way to success” Thomas Edison I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work. Thomas A. Edison Harvard Positive Psychology E1504 slide Tal Ben-Shahar

24. Time-out

25. What about unrealistic beliefs? “ You must never confuse faith that you will prevail in the end – which You can never afford to lose – with the discipline to confront the most Brutal facts of your current reality whatever it may be”. – Jim Stockdale Stockdale was asked who didn’t make it out of prison camp and Stockdale replied: "Oh, that’s easy, the optimists. Oh, they were the ones who said, 'We're going to be out by Christmas.' And Christmas would come, and Christmas would go. Then they'd say, 'We're going to be out by Easter.' And Easter would come, and Easter would go. And then Thanksgiving, and then it would be Christmas again. And they died of a broken heart.”

26. What about unrealistic beliefs? “ False optimism sooner or later means disillusionment, anger and hopelessness.” Abraham Maslow "I never lost faith in the end of the story, I never doubted not only that I would get out, but also that I would prevail in the end and turn the experience into the defining event of my life, which, in retrospect, I would not trade." - Admiral Stockdale

27. Avoiding the 3 M’s… Magnifying (exaggerating) Permanent and Pervasive (over-generalizing) All-or-nothing thinking Minimizing (underplaying) Tunnel vision Dismissal of positive or negative Making up (fabricating) Personalization or blame Emotional reasoning Harvard Positive Psychology E1504 slide Tal Ben-Shahar

28. Get Real! Is my conclusion tied to reality? Is my conclusion rational? Am I ignoring something important? What important evidence do I still need to take into consideration? What am I magnifying? What am I minimizing? Am I ignoring anything that is going well? Am I ignoring anything that is not going well? What is the big picture? Harvard Positive Psychology E1504 slide Tal Ben-Shahar

29. Self-Defeating Beliefs You must always have love and approval from all people in your life You must always prove to be thoroughly competent, adequate, and achieving Emotional misery comes from outside circumstances and you have little control If something is fearsome you must preoccupy yourself with it Your past remains all-important In Pursuit of Excellence Terry Orlick p34

30. We have established that beliefs are important!!! How do I establish, change or reinforce my beliefs? Images and Visualization Goals and Positive affirmations Stories and journaling exercises Choosing a social network/organization Religion and meditation (not covered today)

31. Section II: Evolution of Visualization Techniques History with Martial Arts Eastern block began using mental techniques in sports training the 1960’s; soon followed by the West. Business borrowed techniques in the 90’s (sales training at IBM) Pain management through meditation 90’s (Jon Kabat-Zin Phd in Molecular Biology from MIT) Economics of fMRI, PET technology made research possible from late 90’s onward

32. Images and Visualization Stephen M. Kosslyn Head of Psychology Department at Harvard Use of fMRI, CAT, PET in mechanics of forming mental images Coined the “Reality Simulation Principle”

33. Reality Simulation Principle Use mental images as stand-ins for actual objects GITI: Generate, Inspect, Transform, Inspect Memory is enhanced by visualizing 3 dimensional objects Remember objects better than pictures better than words. Imaging a physical task “recruits most of the brain mechanisms that would guide the corresponding movements”

34. Terry Orlick – Olympic Trainer

35. In Pursuit of Excellence – Terry Orlick

36. Psychological Separators Orlick and Reed studied identifiers or common characteristics for excellence in sports Wide variety of athletic skills Belief and Commitment Self Control Accept constructive criticism Leaned how to Fail Maintain Composure and Focus In Pursuit of Excellence Orlick p11-12

37. Athletes fail to perform in the Olympics Not well enough practiced to overcome distractions Cannot stay focused on task through entire performance or event Not skilled with competition simulation (imagery) required to excel in competition Not well rested for competition or inability to establish the habit of recovery In Pursuit of Excellence Orlick p14

38. Imagery Vivid imagery allows slight firing of neural pathways that are involved in the performance of the skills The worlds best athletes use imagery skills See yourself from the inside performing task Persistent daily practice How vivid or clear are your images? 1-10 scale World Cup winners 9.0 Remaining National team 7.4 Orlick Psyching for Sport Mental Training for Athletes page 117

39. Bill Russell at age 18 “ Every time one of them would make a move, I’d close my eyes just afterward and try to see the play in my mind….since I had an accurate vision of his technique in my head I started playing with the image right there on the bench running back the picture several times and each time inserting a part of me for McKelvery. When I went in the game I grabbed an offensive rebound and put it in the basket… It seemed natural almost as if I were just stepping into a film and following the signs … I transferred something from my head to my body.” – Bill Russell (11 NBA championships) Orlick In Pursuit of Excellence P70

41. Orlick’s practical imaging tips Every day during training visualize the course and then feel yourself skiing the course or sections of it On the way up the lift in training imagine yourself skiing a section of the course as you would like to in competition Three evenings a week before going to sleep try to feel yourself skiing the course as you like to. If a problem arises (negative image) stop the image and go back up the hill above the problem and continue correcting the problem. Do not focus on mistakes in mental image or videos. Off-season when relaxing look at various images and close your eyes and see them clearly. See and feel yourself doing other activities like jogging or biking Recall the good feelings that you have had before and after good performances. Psyching for Sport Mental Training for Athletes page 117

42. Visualize Correct Form Crookenton(1982) had a group hit tennis balls. If person in front hit the ball into the net then… Watch video for mistakes but always mentally re-run corrections Watch correct video form “ Practice does not make Perfect – Perfect Practice makes Perfect” “ Going through it mentally is almost like having an extra practice” – Brian Orser gold medalist

43. Sales Calls and Presentations Image nervous and stumbling performance in black and white that you can’t see and is fading with bad reception Image a confident clear speaking person. Good posture with brilliant smile and personality – image with vivid strong colors (HDTV) with a feeling of excitement

44. Section III: Goals and Positive Affirmations

45. Advertising Campaign How do you use words as tools? Can we use words and images to create our own advertising campaign

46. Research John Bargh from “Blink” Him was worried she always From our Florida oranges temperature Ball the throw toss silently Shoes give replace old the He observes occasionally people watches Be will seat lonely they Sky he seamless gray is Should now withdraw forgetful we Us bingo sing play let Sunlight makes temperature wrinkle raisins

47. Research John Bargh from “Blink” Him was worried she always From our Florida oranges temperature Ball the throw toss silently Shoes give replace old the He observes occasionally people watches Be will seat lonely they Sky he seamless gray is Should now withdraw forgetful we Us bingo sing play let Sunlight makes temperature wrinkl e raisins

48. Goals bring Focus Written down Long term and short term Not only the end result but the process First Person and Present Tense Goals are stated positively Use metaphors to tie to positive emotion, images, touch or smell ( http://grammar.about.com/od/words/a/similemetaphor1.htm ) Self-Concordant Develop Daily “To Do List” tied to Goals Learning based goals versus performance based Review, update and evolve Remember this is a common characteristic of Successful People

49. Learning based vs. Performance based Goals (Grant and Dweck 2003) Learning goals emphasize growth and process (i.e.. Improve shooting technique) = persistent in the face of obstacles Performance goals whose purpose is to validate ability (i.e.. Score 30 points) = subject to debilitation after a setback or negative feedback

50. “ Emphasizing effort gives a child a variable that they can control. They come to see themselves as in control of their success. Emphasizing natural intelligence takes it out of the child’s control, and it provides no good recipe for responding to a failure.” Intelligence versus Effort Harmful Praise? (Dweck, 2005) “ When you praise kids' intelligence and then they fail, they think they're not smart anymore, and they lose interest in their work. In contrast, kids praised for effort show no impairment and often are energized in the face of difficulty.” Fixed versus Malleable

51. Definition of Affirmative Reminder Statement of fact or belief designed to prepare me for reaching a predetermined outcome or goal. A statement of my goal describing myself as though my desired goal has already been achieved. Increasing Human Effectiveness Edge Learning Institute Unit 7

52. Guidelines For Designing Affirmative Reminders Personal Positive Present Tense Positive Emotion Realistic Specific “ I” compare only with my own best self. Describe what you want. Express it as though it’s already happened Use words like enjoy, terrific, happy. Use words like consistently and regularly. Use measurable terms and words. Increasing Human Effectiveness Edge Learning Institute Unit 7

53. Affirmative Reminders I will become dedicated to my training and development. I don’t . I always learn from failure and it will be exciting when I overcome an obstacle. I am dedicated to my personal and professional growth and take all setbacks as temporary. I feel tremendous excitement (like a bolt of lighting) when I am overcoming obstacles and learning how to succeed. Increasing Human Effectiveness Edge Learning Institute Unit 7 I will become dedicated to my training and development. I don’t see what is wrong. I always learn from failure and it will be exciting when I overcome an obstacle.

54. Section IV: What is the Story of your Life Successful (generative) people create a mental story of their life that gives them an ultimate mission that allows them to become resilient to obstacles that get in their way.

55. What is your story? Successful people have common themes in the stories they tell about themselves

56. Four main buckets of themes from the Redemptive Self Gratitude for early life Overcame adversity and turned it into something positive Had a desire to build connections with people Attitude that the Future will be positive

57. Common theme “The protagonist will encounter friends and enemies, heroes and villains. There will be scenes of joy, excitement, sadness, fear, shame and almost any other emotion that may be imagined. But a recurrent pattern will hold: Negative emotional scenes will often lead directly to positive outcomes. Suffering will consistently be redeemed.” – Dan McAdams The Redemptive Self page 9

58. “ the most important story that you tell about yourself is the story that you tell to yourself” -Jim Loehr The Power of Story Jim Loehr p14

59. Your ultimate mission How you would like to be remembered is the most fundamental point of your life’s navigation system Imagine you are Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn listening to their own eulogy at the back of the church What would you like to hear at your eulogy? What does it say on your tombstone? What would you die for? Write it down and say it out loud Challenge and Interrogate Yourself I want to be number one in my sport I want to be an inspiration to anyone who has seen me play

60. The 3 critical components of your life story Purpose Truth Action Journal your story Re-read your story Reflect on your story Visualize your story Talk about your story Act out your new behaviors

61. An Embedded Story Ritualized Requires less conscious energy Requires less will power Direct energy elsewhere

62. Summary Spend the time to reflect on your beliefs and values Write down goals and positive affirmations to develop positive habits Practice visualizing successful outcomes Re-frame failures as great opportunities to learn Develop your own personal story Review , change and evolve as you grow and develop

63. References Jim Loehr The Power of Story Free Press 2007 Increasing Human Effectiveness Workbook Edge Learning Institute, Inc, 2007 Dan P. McAdams The Redemptive Self Oxford University Press 2006 Terry Orlick In Pursuit of Excellence Leisure Press 1990 Malcolm Gladwell Blink Little, Brown and Company 2005 Heide Grant and Carol Dweck “Clarifying Achievement Goals and Their Impact.” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 2003, Vol 85 No. 3, 541-553

64. References Kosslyn, “What Shape are a German Sheperds Ears?”, http://www.edge.org/3rd_culture/kosslyn/kosslyn_print.htmlJim. 3, 541-553 Zimmerman, Bandura, Martinez-Pons “Self-Motivation for Academic Attainment: The Role of Self-Efficacy Beliefs and Personal Goal Setting.” American Educational Research Journal, Vol. 29, No. 3 pp. 663-676 Terry Orlick Psyching for Sport Leisure Press 1986 Cron, VandeWalle, Fu “The Role of Goal Orientation on Negative Emotions and Goal Setting When Initial Performance Falls Short of One’s Performance Goal.” Human Performance, 18(1), 55-80

65. Exercises Gratitude Letter 5 Values and Beliefs Identify metaphors in MLK’s I have a Dream Speech Strength test http:// www.authentichappiness.sas.upenn.edu/Default.aspx Positive Affirmations Word Completion Fault finding and Benefit Finding Story Craft your own mission statement and draft an outline of your story