The Psychology Of Self Denial

Getting to grips with your negative thoughts is the one major attribute of a winner, espcially in combat sports where fear of injury is a real and present danger.

How do you develop a mind that shuns defeatists thoughts? You start as with any other skill by practising the technique, over and over and over again, until it becomes almost a reflex action.

You do not switch immediately from one frame of mind to the other but develop it gradually over time. It is not magic or miraculous. And above all, IT HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH "FAITH". It is simply an acquired mental skill. You don't have to "believe" anything. It is all down to continual mental conditioning.

So how does it work? First of all, you must realise that with any thought that pops into your mind, you have a choice on how to deal with it. You can repeat that thought over and over again in your head.

Let us take dieting as an example. You walk past the fast food joint and you think, I could really do with a fat greasy cheeseburger. But you are currently on a diet. Do you repeat the thought? If you do, you will eventually act on it and enter the fast food joint. But you still have a choice. You could walk out. But now the smell of the cheeseburger has wafted into your nostrils - AND INTO YOUR BRAIN PHYSICALLY.

The clever dieter does not allow this level of temptation to arise in the first place. He shuns the thought and replaces it with a better reward that coincides with his overriding goal of dieting and obtaining a fit body. He projects into the future, when he knows his next healthy meal is coming. The cheeseburger is then seen as the enemy, and the thought of having it, a stupid one that is automatically rejected.

It is the same with fear in boxing and MMA, in the ring or octagon. You can cower or continue to defend properly and attack when you have the chance. You KNOW that if you cower, your stance, head position etc., WILL MAKE YOU MORE VULNERABLE TO ATTACK. So logic must override the emotion of fear as it makes sense not to give into it because it will make you more prone to the very thing you feared!