ThrivingOutsideYourComfortZone.mp3 - powered by Happy Scribe

You're listening to the MentalNotes podcast. In this episode, MentalNotes founder Scott Dow shares six strategies for personal development.

So what do Oprah Winfrey and Arnold Schwarzenegger have to do with your success? Or what about the Pilot Sully Sullenberger and former President George W Bush? Let me explain about them and a few others. And I'll start with champion Golfer Phil Mickelson.

Phil Mickelson learned to play golf by mimicking his father's swing. That's why the right-handed Mickelson plays golf left-handed. He became a mirror image of his father's right-handed swing. Sally Sullenberger landed a commercial airplane on the Hudson River with 155 people on board using a mental image of what would work. Arnold Schwarzenegger became a successful bodybuilder, actor and politician by mentally rehearsing over and over his poses, his scenes and his speeches.

On 9/11, George W bush managed his emotion so he could make the rational decisions needed to lead the country. Kobe Bryant set practice goals that included 800 shots a day. Joe Damasio swung imaginary pitches in the basement of Yankee Stadium and kept a record of every one of his practices. Oprah Winfrey practices empathy, gratitude, and mindfulness, and says that you can't have a meaningful life without having self-reflection.

So what do these people have to do with your success? Well, here's what. If you want to get on and stay on the road to success, you need a plan. And that plan needs strategies that work. And I just shared six strategies that work. I know they work because I've spent 20 years, my company has spent 20 years researching high performance across all walks of life.

So here's what the research says. Most learning, like watching and mimicking others, is done informally. That's how Phil Mickelson became a left-handed golfer. Skill development starts with a mental picture, a mental image of what good looks like, of what works. That's all Sully Sullenberger had that day when he landed in the Hudson. Mental practice like the visualization exercises Arnold Schwarzenegger did are nearly as effective as actual physical practice.

Emotional thoughts are five times faster than rational thoughts. But George W Bush knew that and manage that on 9/11. Your practice has to be focused, planned, and measured against the goal, just like Kobe Bryant and Joe Damasio did.

Optimism is fueled by gratitude, empathy, and mindfulness, which are all forms of the self-reflection that Oprah Winfrey practices. The MentalNote self-coaching model is based on all these strategies. It's a plan you can follow to not just find the road to success, but to stay on the road to success. Whatever your professional goals are, self-coaching will help get you there.