The past 3-4 weeks since the accident, my back has been giving me some pretty scary flash backs to what I experienced 10 years when I ruptured 2 discs in the my lower back. I was told back then that I would walk with a walking stick and possibly be in a wheelchair, those memories and experiences of lying on the ground for 15mths came flooding back into my mind.
As you imagine, the state of mind that these type of thoughts patterns were going to place me in were never going to be empowering, but as I was in the US and Jackie had just had her career best result in poker, I think the adrenalin was allowing me to distract my mind enough to deal with it all.
The first week we got back from the US, I spent the week seeing the Physio, trying to rest and spend as much time with Jackie before she went off on a girls trip to Bali for 10 days with her best friend, Kaz.
Luckily for me I had my Dad stay with me for a few days, which was great company but also such a great help around the house, as there were days there that made it tough to do any daily chores, I couldn't imagine the condition the house would have been in if he wasn't there to help out so much!! LEGEND!!
Once Dad had left, I found the next few days really tough, both physically and mentally, as my back started to flare up again and give me more grief that it had been. This was when a lot of those flash backs started to come back and began to take over my state of mind a whole lot more than I would like!!
The great thing about these flash backs, was that it took me back to a time that I realised how strong my mind (Our Minds) can really be, as I recalled training my mind during the 15mths of lying on my back like I had never trained it before.
One of the most important things for me during that 15mths was too train my mind completely on the HERE & NOW! Where am I and what can I do RIGHT NOW that is going to help me get back to full health?
This is where I first began to understand the power of 2 things-
1. Micro Steps.
2. Isolated Focus.
Micro steps where such a powerful thing for me as some days, my goal for the day was to get from my bed to lounge floor so I can lie down to eat breakfast. As you could imagine, truly a Micro Goal! This was one of the hardest things for me to understand as being an elite athlete and chasing a career as a Pro Golfer, I had always set such high goals. It was during this time, that in my process of trying to achieve such high goals, I had unconsciously set myself up for failure more times that my mind could handle. When we set a goal, no matter how Micro it might be, when we achieve it there is a certain sense of pride and confidence that helps empower us, the opposite goes for when we fail to achieve a goal. Unfortunately one part of human nature that has a negative impact on this is our impatience. Like any strong foundation, it needs to built from the ground up, the first levels of the foundation needing to be the strongest as they are the one's that hold the most weight! So for me again, just like 10 yrs ago, I am focused on Micro Steps to get my back in great shape, so I can get back to living the lifestyle I love!
1st Micro Goal- Walk on tready for 10min at 3KM/H! Gold Medal:)
The other component that I built so well many years ago was my ability to create what I call "Isolated Focus". Isolated Focus is just what is sounds like, focusing on 1 thing at a time and 1 thing only! For me, I triggered this process again a few days after achieving my first Micro Goal above. I woke one morning at approx 5am in some decent pain. I lied in bed for about 30-45mins trying to figure out how to deal with it. Obviously I thought, lets just go and get some pain killers and stay rested in bed, that's the best thing!! So I lied in bed for approximately another 5mins before I realised that the conversation in my head was being controlled by my Self 2, the negative person inside ALL of us. I then asked myself, if my Self 1 was controlling to conversation, what we he be saying?
Well when I asked that question and came up with the answer, I decided to pull myself out of bed, have some breakfast and get to the Gym to start my daily rehab! Easy!!
Well all I can say, like most things in our life, sometimes the hardest and most painful things we have to face, make us stronger. It took me twice as long to get breakfast and get to the Gym, hobbling like a cripple and barely being able to walk at 1KM/H on that darn treadmill! I was in so much pain that I began to get hot sweats and it was at this point that I realised I needed to practise the Isolated Focus, as my mind was running around in circles with thousands of thoughts and outcomes, not many of them pretty!!
So I asked myself the same series of questions I did over 10years ago-
Where am I and what can I do RIGHT NOW that is going to help me get back to full health?
I knew the treadmill was the Micro Step, so I begun to clear mind or what I say, take out the trash. As soon as I was able to take out all the trash & clear my mind, I began to Isolate my focus and attention on my lower back. With every step, focusing on feeling the lower back move a little more freely with every step. I focused on this and this only, feeling strong through the core and being totally fixated on freeing up my lower back. Well even I was surprised at how great my back felt within 10mins. At that point, I realised that although I am currently going through physical rehab, I also need to focus on using my mind in a lot more empowering way. Even though I train people everyday about Mental Performance, I pride myself on being able to practise the same techniques and strategies I ask of my clients. I can honestly say that this past week, even though I haver had some rough patches, my mind has helped me and showed me once again how powerful it can be when Isolated to Focus on 1 thing at a time.
My next Micro step was achieved a few days later, being able to bend forward and touch my knee caps, now every few days I can see another Micro step being achieved and the positive momentum I have created the past 3 days has put me in such a great state of mind that I know it wont be too long before I am back to 100% health. It will take as long as it takes and not a day before and I am completely patient and focused and allowing that to happen.
So, the 2 key messages in this Blog are-
1. Be careful when setting goals that you dont skip the Micro stages, as they are the foundation builders. Start with small Micro Goals that will in time lead you to your ultimate goal.
2. Begin to clear your mind and allow it to focus on the 1 small thing you are doing RIGHT NOW! Isolated Focus is one of the most powerful ways to use the mind, so take out the trash and get ISOLATED!
Focusing on 1 Micro Step at a time with Isolated Focus, you can ACHIEVE ANYTHING!!
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