Book is available for pre-order now, comes out on June 1st.

—You now see that within you rest the ultimate performance tools: your instincts, inner wisdom, and insights. However, if you happen to get stuck and struggle in the moment, feel free to use the following inside out reminders to help you get back in the game. They will point you away from external “quick fixes” and toward your own natural understanding. 

1.      Only when an athlete feels a sense of cooperation with his teammates, coaches, and even his opponents will he be mentally prepared to compete to the fullest extent possible.

A person’s life experience, or performance, is not the source of his state of mind, it is the effect. Looking at other people or events with disdain, only serves to bind the mind and body of an athlete. When you appreciate the productive possibilities in everyone and everything, your freedom and thus effort will soar.

2.      Struggles only occur when a person is not operating from a clear mind-set. So when he attempts to figure things out, or grind, from this state of mind, his performance will only get worse.

We all fall into the trap of trying to fix a negative feeling or situation in the heat of the moment. But always to no avail. The only purpose in negativity is to tell us that we’re headed in the wrong direction. When our minds are clear, the answers to our wayward performances will easily appear. Stop stepping on the gas when your tires are stuck in the mud—the lone solution to a low mood is to do “nothing” and allow it to pass.

3.      What comes out of a coach’s mouth is much less important than the state of mind from which the words are spoken.

Here’s a simple reminder. Words are merely an echo of a feeling. You might say to a player: “I was really proud of your effort tonight.” But if there is no passion or love behind the words, they might actually have a negative impact. Coaches: Always take notice of your own level of functioning, moment to moment. Positives feelings and words only originate from positive states of mind.

4.      A coaching methodology that focuses on behaviors is mentoring after the damage has already been done.

Poor performances or behaviors are the result of a player’s low level of well-being. Nothing more; nothing less. Rather than holding players accountable to their actions, hold them (and yourself) accountable to recognizing the thoughts and feelings that accompany high levels of well-being—and only acting from this mental state. Then watch what happens to the performance level of your team.

  5.      Recognize the difference between your “life situations” and your “life.”

The quality of your life situations—your performances, your relationships, your finances—will always vary. Your life, however, is a constant. The best athletes understand that their life situations possess no ability to infiltrate their life. As badly as they want win, if they don’t, their “life” will be perfectly okay. This understanding will determine your ability to perform in the clutch.

6.      Keep goal setting in perspective.

The more focused you are on the “prize,” the more you thwart your awareness, shrink the perceptual field, and limit the imaginative possibilities. Achieving your goals will not elevate your level of self worth or happiness. Embrace the journey: the relationships and the experiences. Then the path toward creating exactly what you want will become evident.

7.      Without the free-will to choose, an individual lacks the resources to draw upon personal insights and move through errant emotions.

Freedom is the number one ingredient to contentment and success, and it has nothing to do with your circumstances. The more you realize that external situations have no ability to regulate your independence, actions, and decisions; the more insights will flow and the further ahead of the competition you will stay.

8.      The opportunity always exists to move through any situation successfully; no matter how challenging it might appear.

Everything that occurs in our lives is meant to show us the way, not to get in our way. When we are thinking clearly and our state of mind is high, life’s purpose becomes obvious no matter what we face.  Embrace the challenges by keeping this understanding in mind. The obstacles will make sense to you in no time.

9.      Understand that no matter what you are thinking at any moment in time, there is nothing that you actually “have to do.”

Effective actions are always born from mental clarity and a positive feeling. When these qualities are absent, an athlete will always feel the need to force it: to train incessantly, study game film, or to look for some outside remedy to fuel his success. If you go 0 for 5 in a baseball game, it’s certainly admirable to want to improve. Just remember, your time  in the batting cage will only be productive if it’s applied from the feeling of determination—not compulsion.

 10.   An athlete will perform to the best of his ability from a countenance of ease, simplicity, and peacefulness—not from “the grind.”

External performance techniques will always cloud the thinking and intuitive functioning of an athlete. The only source of “the zone” is your own inner wisdom. If you are not performing well it is only because you continue to obstruct your own insights by relying on the strategies of other people. Slow down and look within—the answers are present, even if you can’t see them at this exact moment.

                                                            Many thanks for reading these words.  Good luck!

Many thanks to Neil Sheehy for a worthwhile two days!

For years, athletes, coaches, parents, pro teams, etc., have searched for the secrets to unlock optimum athletic mental performance.  Today, however, in spite of a myriad of tools, techniques, and theoretical models, consistent success and contentment, on and off the field, are as elusive to the sports world as ever.  We see young athletes pushed so hard that 70 percent quit organized athletics by the age of 13.   It seems like every day a high school, collegiate, or pro athlete, is making headlines for his or her errant behavior.  Not to mention, talented players repeatedly failing to deliver in the so-called ‘clutch.’ 

While many insist that athletics is a great way to learn life lessons and expand life skills, this development is simply not taking place.  Now, in STILLPOWER: The Inner Source of Athletic Excellence, Garret Kramer, the founder of Inner Sports, provides a revolutionarily simple explanation and understanding.  In a fluent and readable manner, Kramer reveals the innate principles behind consistent performance and success, as he highlights the misalignment between the experience of athletes and the strategies of the coaches and psychologists who are trying to help them.  Kramer uses real life examples to explore such questions as:  Where does effort truly come from?  What is the zone and what we must do (or not do) to get there?  Why willpower won’t work?  What is the difference between insight and intellect?  Are goals really useful?  Why the best mentors focus on state of mind and not behavior?  And, what is the connection between competiveness, contentment, and one’s level of well-being?  

Virtually all individuals—athletes and non athletes alike, are looking outside of themselves, hoping to unlock the keys to success and happiness.  In STILLPOWER Kramer shows us to look within to finally find the answers.

http://www.jsonline.com/sports/golf/90182322.html

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1166082/index.htm

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703630404575053551039526156.html

http://www.thestar.com/sports/hockey/nhl/mapleleafs/article/760347–leafs-others-advised-amid-losses-don-t-think

Garret and host Mike Hogan discuss the principles necessary to curb the gun issue, and other issues as well, in professional sports today.

http://www.fan590.com/media.jsp?content=20100111_120547_1368