Develop the Winners Mentality

Book excerpt: Develop the Winner ́s Mentality: 5 Essential Mental Skills for Enduring Success Bob Reese, Ph.D. In the genre of psychological self-help and success literature, Bob Reese has contributed a most valuable addition with his Develop the Winner ́s Mentality. He has taken the essentials of cognitive-behavioral, motivational, and sport psychology and integrated them with an energy component that not only explains why they work, but accelerates their outcomes. The technique of Feelazation, which is the addition of powerful emotional energy to visualization, is also introduced. Reese says, "There ́s nothing really new about goal setting, visualization, stress management, and how to think effectively. They are all important and effective for promoting success. What I bring to the party is adding the emotional and energetic components to the other skills so that with proper integration you can cause enduring success." The 5 Essential Mental Skills are goal setting, visualization, energy management, effective thinking, and mental toughness. As stand-alones, each of the five mental skills can have a positive impact on performance, behavior, and success. According to Reese, when these skills are integrated, there is a synergistic effect created in which the result (enduring success) is much greater than the sum of the parts. He also posits that the integration of the first four essential mental skills can encourage mental toughness, a trait that many feel you have to be born with. In his Ph.D. dissertation Reese showed that a Div. I Volleyball team enhanced both individual performance and mental toughness when the program was implemented. For 25 years Reese served as an athletic trainer in the NFL. Develop the Winner ́s Mentality is replete with both humorous and poignant stories of how some of the athletes he worked with utilized these skills to ensure their success. The most moving example is that of Dennis Byrd, a New York Jets player who was quadriplegic from a broken neck and who had a grim prognosis - he would be confined to a wheelchair for life. Byrd ́s use of emotive goal setting to walk out of the hospital only three months after his injury leads Reese to refer to him as the Ultimate Goal Setter. Forewards for Develop the Winner’s Mentality are provided by two time NCAA National Champion University of Southern California Head Football Coach Pete Carroll, and former NFL All-Pro wide receiver and TV Celebrity Ahmad Rashad. Both high performers, Carroll and Rashad discuss their use of the mental skills and their personal relationship with Reese. The book is sectioned into 15 chapters that are written in a manor that facilitates the novice in the learning and application of each of the 5 Essential Mental Skills. Winner ́s is also interesting enough to keep the successful veterans of mental skills training engaged so that they can enhance the skills they already possess. Included in Develop the Winner ́s Mentality are many exercises for the reader to apply, which makes it a workbook within a text. Adjunct materials such as a voiceover PowerPoint and web support are in development so that Develop the Winner ́s Mentality can be used as continuing education for executive, life and success coaches; athletic trainers, physical therapists and physical therapists assistants; strength and fitness coaches; and anyone else interested in enhancing performance with individuals or groups. Winner ́s is well researched from both popular and scientific literature, and may be used as a primary or supplemental text for college courses such as introductory psychology, college success, and sport psychology.