Zach Brandon, Mental Skills Coordinator for the Arizona Diamondbacks, on self-talk for major league success
About Zach Brandon
Zach is the Mental Skills Coordinator for major league baseball’s Arizona Diamondbacks, and prior to that, he was a mental skills coach at the elite and legendary athlete development school IMG Academy. He is currently also the Director of MVP Mindset Consulting. He is a certified mental performance coach (CMPC)
Concepts
Thoughts and mindset impact performance
Our minds play a major role in our performance—your body may set a bar for what you are physically capable of achieving, but your mind influences how close you get to that bar.
When it is time to execute, you want to have conviction in your strengths in order to be successful and execute at your highest potential
“Our words, both internal and external, are the wardrobes of our beliefs”
Self-talk is the internal soundtrack that is always playing in the back of our minds, and it can work for or against us. You can’t turn it off, but you can develop new, healthier, and more productive ways of thinking.
Distinctions impact performance
Work quality correlates to the quality of your questions
Capability and capacity are not the same concept
“People don’t fail—actions fail.” It’s important to separate what occurred vs our judgement of the event.
When you experience setbacks, you can either be defined by them or develop from them depending on your perspective and how you choose to respond.
Stay aware /mindful of specific biases
Our brains want to avoid humiliation, embarrassment, and inadequacy, so experiencing these things can activate our negativity bias and make us see things—or ourselves—in a more negative light.
When focusing on what to improve (i.e. weakness etc.) value your strengths; this is necessary to accurately assess where you are, which tools you already have, and how you can get where you want to go
Growth occurs outside of your comfort zone, but it only occurs if you’re willing to take risks that will likely threaten your emotional securities. The important thing is that you still perform well even in the absence of those securities.
Keep your values clear to ensure you can enjoy the process
“The need for progress often threatens our joy of the process.”
To be a high achieving performer in any context, it's important to not lose joy of the process and in the mundane. This will also help you feel more fulfilled along the way regardless of the result.
“Perspective is one of the only things that can change the outcome without changing any of the facts.”
Setting goals based on your values will help ensure that you understand and focus on what is most important to you and experience success in the moment.
Links
Other Sessions
Cameron Herold, Founder of COO Alliance, successfully scaled 3 companies past $60mm
TK Kader, Founder and CEO of Unstoppable, ToutApp (A16z), SVP Strategy at Marketo, Adobe;
Jason McCann, CEO of Vari
Will Bunker, Co-founder OneAndOnly (now Match.com), VChatter, President; GrowthX co-founder; investor in 160+ tech companies, 5 exits
Arjun Dev Aurora, Founder and CEO Retargeter; Founder, Valence; Nike, Investment Committee