Conscious autosuggestion, the key to superior performance under pressure

I´m a Mental Golf Coach, but Conscious Autosuggestion is key to good performance under pressure in any sport.......and in life.

And what is conscious autosuggestion ?

It is the process by which a person induces self-acceptance of an opinion, belief, or plan of action.

The father of conscious autosuggestion is the French pharmacist, Emile Coué, who lived from 1857 to 1926. Also know as the father of psychotherapy.

Coué believed that between will (conscious mind) and imagination (unconscious mind), imagination will always win.

He developed the four laws of conscious autosuggestion, as follows:

1. CONCENTRATED ATTENTION OR REPETITION:

Every time that attention is concentrated on one idea, again and again, this idea spontaneously tends to become a reality.

2. REVERSE EFFECT:

The more effort we put into trying to make something happen, the lower the probability of  achieving it with success.

3. DOMINANT EFFECT:

A strong emotion or suggestion tends to replace a weaker one.

4. UNCONSCIOUS FINALITY:

When the objective or finality has been suggested, the unconscious finds the way to make it happen.

The foundation for conscious autosuggestion, then, is cemented in the tremendous power of the unconscious mind.

Let´s remember that the unconscious mind is 90 % of our total mind, that it is always in operation (as opposed to our conscious mind that does not operate when we sleep), and that it runs all our body organs and manages our physical movements.

The unconscious mind is one million times more powerful than our conscious mind (it processes information at 40 million bits per second, versus the conscious mind that processes information at "only" 40 bits per second).

Of the six million connections that each sense has with the mind (our eyes, for example), only 50 thousand connect with the conscious mind.........the rest, or, 5 million 950 thousand are connections to the unconscious mind.

The key, therefore, is to consciously "suggest" an opinion, belief or action plan that we want to become a reality to our unconscious mind, on multiple occasions (concentrated attention).

This suggestion, or affirmation, must always be positive and in the present tense, and hopefully with a good deal of positive emotion (dominant effect). The suggestion can be general in nature and the end objective should be stated, so that the powerful unconscious mind will do everything it can to make it happen (unconscious finality).

Coué´s only word of caution regarding his Method is the absolute need for the person who is doing a suggestion, to do it with care, without aggressiveness or pressure. It so happens that the unconscious mind reacts negatively to impositions and aggression. (reverse effect). On the other hand, it reacts very well to care, nurturing and to suggestions that aren´t too pushy. The most successful suggestions are the ones we don´t really try and push too hard. The amiable and positive ones.

In golf history, in my opinion, we can find two great examples of the "reverse effect".

The first is Sam Snead, still the golfer that has won the most PGA Tour events, and his obsession to win the US Open (the Major he was never able to win). He was close several times but he "choked" on the final hole the time he seemed to have it won.

The second is Greg Norman and the Masters. It became an obsession for him. He announced to the world that it was the tournament he really wanted to win. Unforgettable and painful to watch,was his final round collapse in 1996 after playing three great rounds and holding a comfortable lead. He shot 78 that day, and lost to Nick Faldo by five strokes.

In both cases the effort to win was so intense that the "reverse effect" came into action.

The process of "reverse effect" in golf works as follows:

The excessive effort and excitement of being on the verge of a greatly desired personal accomplishment generated too much tension that rigidized both golfers´ swings. Because of this, Snead and Norman hit a couple of bad shots, and those couple of bad shots consciously generated a doubt about their ability to keep playing well . The unconscious mind suddenly received a message of  "I can´t play good golf" and immediately did everything possible to do just that.

Other general examples of  the "reverse effect" are insomnia and when we can´t remember a person´s name, even though we know that person fairly well.

The harder we try to remember the forgotten name, or the harder we try to go to sleep, and the excessive effort and tentativeness involved, impedes success, as long as the instruction provided to our unconscious mind  is "I cant remember" or "I cant sleep". The problem is only resolved when the conscious message changes to "I will remember in a couple of minutes" or " I´m just going to relax, sleep will come".

Coué´s rules of Conscious Autosuggestion have an enormous impact on elite atheletes´ performance under pressure.

The athlete must frequently "feel" and "see" him/herself as a great competitor. He/she must never get angry or frustrated when things aren´t going well. In specific competition, she/he must never be obsessed with winning, but must concentrate on just doing the job to the best of his/her´s ability, with  the highest confidence level possible and focusing on those things she/he can control.

Self talk like "yes I can", "it can be done" and "come on, let´s just do it" are extremely recommendable in these competitive situations, and send a positive message for the unconscious mind to act.

On a final note, I really recommend Coué´s famous suggestion or affirmation, that he wanted repeated daily, and that can be adapted for any sport and which is the following:

“Every day, in every way, I am getting better and better”.