Mental Paralysis
Hello Ninja Fans!
It has been a while since I posted a new article here, so I thought it might be a good opportunity to start focusing on developing a stronger mental ninja view to surviving and thriving in combat and life! The first is focusing on Mental paralysis.
Too often in combat the “loser” was stuck in a loop of mental paralysis. This lesson quickly extends to life in the corporate world and as a senior manager in a large organization I see this same issue at the corporate level.
Mental Paralysis has a few basic phases:
Anxiety – The stress of a new situation, problem, decision, or combat situation hits and the adrenal response kicks in.
Panic – The “oh shit” response is in full gear now, what to do next, have you adequately trained yourself to deal with this moment? I have seen this in action with a lost person where they just start running as they haven’t controlled the adrenal response.
Mental paralysis – Your mind running in circles, asking hundreds of what if’s, you are unsure what to do, some just stop and sit down giving up all hope, is this you in life?
Failure to survive – Here it is without breaking this chain you FAIL to SURVIVE! This may be ok in a corporate or career move but in combat you are or potentially are dead.
How do you learn to change these phases? Well you have to break the chain!!
1) Start training hard and under pressure each session. It doesn’t matter if it is in a martial arts session, running, weight training whatever! You need to push yourself beyond what you think you can do, it is possible but our brains don’t often cooperate so you have to take control and do it!
2) Break the chain! When panic starts, breathe and control it, don’t run, face the fear and deal with it, move through it and you will come out the other side with confidence.
3) Trust in your training!! If you have been training hard and long you need to trust in your training to get you through this event and any that may come in the future, you can do it.
So I started here with a little information on fighting through the mental paralysis, but this is not an easy task. It will take a lot of work on your individual part, pushing yourself, testing limits and finally realizing most limits are just something you placed in your mind but you can break this, it will just take some time and effort.
Bufu Ikkan
Airyu
ps: We are on week 11 of the financial challenge, how are you doing?
