Christmas has been a busy time in terms of the national press. Managing Director, Sam Kotadia completed a series of radio interviews. These included Talk Sport radion, West Midlands, BBC London, and for good measure, Melborne SENtral Radio. The interviewer in Australia, played at Sam’s first club; Colchester United FC….What a coincidence!!! The radio interviews focused on the Mindcard Sport decks, and how athletes use them to get a winning edge in their sport.  

What a thoroughly enjoyable session. We delivered a session for the sixth formers at City Academy Bristol on how to prepare for exams. With their January exams looming, Claire Stewart (Assistant Principle) felt it appropriate to get the group ready for the challenge. The session was developed from our Mentally prepare for exams card deck, and it started with myself tlaking about my top-ten tips. We then broke out into groups to allow all the students to ”create their own” positive reminders, and short-list their favourite strategies from the card-deck. Take a peek at some of the exam-preparation tips here.

Fingers cross they all walk away with pleasing grades!

Great to be working down at the Valley again, and always a joy to see your clients on match-day performing well. Lets hope the team can stay process-orienated, as they mount a strong push to win promotion.

In midst of a global recession, and in the advent of the digital-age, the Book-trade has had to weather an almighty storm. Will the book survive? Is undoubtedly the question on many publisher’s minds. Although most commentators are particularly bearish on the book’s future, I adopt a slightly different stance. Here is my rationale behind the immortal position of the book:

1. Books are expression of our social-identity and we enjoy displaying this in public and private space.
2. The physical experience of reading a book will never be completely replicated by Electronic readers.
3. Some argue humans have an intrinsic desire to collect
4. Despite the fast rise of downloadable music the CD is still bought by many retailers. Remembering that the user-experience is purely auditory, unlike the book which is involves a tactile, and sometimes an olfactory experience.

The future of the book still remains clouded, but I certainly have hope.

Delivering sport psychology in high-performance will always be my passion. The company’s publications www.Mindcards.com is just a system of allowing us to work with an International audience. Through an intricate network of reputable distributors and sales representatives, I look forward to the day that the Mindcard range can be purchased in every country world-wide.

We are getting there!!

Due to the excellent response after exhibiting at the London Book Fair, I booked myself on a flight to attend the New York Book Fair. What an amazing City……I can imagine it being a fantastic place live. The trip was a lot of fun, The Meat-packing district was a highlight. I would recommend visiting this place, even if it just involves a drink in their terrace-bar which scans the Manhattan sky line  www.hotelgansevoort.com.

I will hopefully be back there soon!

This was our first international Book Fair. After the panic of getting the stand ready and looking acceptable, we were all pleasantly surprised by the positive International feedback on our Mindcard range. Hopefully we can leverage this momentum and move forwards with an eye to travel to the Frankfurt Book Fair in October. Check out our psychology card range at www.Mindcards.com.

Mindsport Ltd wants to encourage everyone we work with; either through seminars, one-2-one consultancy, or through the distribution of our publications, that we can control how we feel on a day-to-day basis. Often controlling our minds to think positively is not always easy, but certainly possible. As long as there is possibility their will always be an element of choice. Choose to make skilful decisions in your best interest, and levels of confidence and autonomy in life will rise. Start by generating internal positive pictures, dialogue, and feelings, and your behaviour will benefit.

Visualisation and Reality

The brain does not distinguish between reality and fantasy. In other words your imagination can be as vivid and as life-like as your day to day experiences. Intense dreams during deep-sleep pays testament to this.

Regularly exercising the power of your imagination in a positive way can enhance your quality of life by allowing you to;

• Generate positive internal states at will
• Plan and design a more compelling future
• Make better decisions by playing out potential scenarios in your mind
• Improve technica skills by rehearsing and practicing them in your mind

Don’t be misled by the term visualisation because it’s not only visions and images that your brain can recreate. Your brain does not only generate internal visions, but also sounds, feelings, smells and tastes as well.

Imagination has limitless potential. There are no rules, which mean you can recreate, manipulate, enhance, and reduce whatever subject matter you chose to mentally conjure-up. The only rule I would abide by is to recreate positive material.

One of the best times to tap into the power of your imagination is just before you fall asleep. During this sleepy state your brain is more susceptible to suggestion.

Have you ever said to yourself mentally; ‘I must get up at X o’clock in the morning’, set your alarm, and woken up a split second before it goes off?

That’s how suggestible your mind is during this state!

If you fill the mind with powerful and positive imaginings during this time, it will leave a stronger impression on your mind and your subsequent behaviour.

As the creator of Star Wars famously said George Lucas; ‘your focus determines your reality.’

Nancy Kline, the world renowned performance coach famously said:

‘A question works because, unlike a statement which requires you to obey, a question requires you to think. The mind seems to prefer to think, not to obey.’

Questions are powerful instruments that encourage self-reflection, and the opportunity to discover your own solutions to life’s challenges.

Here are list of some of my favourite self-searching questions that will get you thinking!

1. Who are you at your best?
2. What would you do if you knew if you couldn’t fail?
3. If a miracle had occurred overnight, bringing you everything you have ever wanted in life when you awake, what you would you do to discover that a miracle had occurred?
4. What do you value most in life?
5. What is your personal barometer of success?

Pick 1 or 2 of the questions to answer, and compare your responses to how you are currently living your life. If there is any discrepancy between the 2, focus on ways to bridge the gap, and start living life at your best.

I and the other Mindsport users would be interested to read your answers to the questions you decide to answer. Send them to sam.kotadia@mindsportlive.com, or alternatively leave them as a comment on the blog.