Turn Self-Awareness into Mental Toughness
“I failed, but it’s one of the greatest things that ever happened to me.” -Matt Phillips describes his last ultramarathon
Matt Phillips is a former professional baseball player and now CEO of ProAthlete Advantage. Matt trains professional athletes, executives, and corporate teams to master their minds and become tougher. In this article, I share the story of how Matt overcame the painful doubt that plagued him and found his calling in training others. To watch the full interview check out the video below.
“I discovered… through writing, that I know exactly where my confidence issues started.” -Matt Phillips
When Matt was a freshman in high school, he tried out for the baseball team. He made the cut for the freshman squad. As he and some friends were leaving tryouts, they saw the coaches notebook lying open. They couldn’t resist the temptation, they looked at the coaches notes. Every tryout cut from the team had a line drawn through their name. Matt’s name was followed by three question marks. A friend said to him, “Huh, I wonder if you were actually supposed to make the team?”
Matt doubted his worthiness to play for the team. This doubt continued to follow him in ways that he admits still carry into his marriage, business, and parenting. He explained that the key isn’t to make it go away, but to recognize doubtful self-talk and come back to center in 5 minutes instead of 5 days.
“When you feel that pull, it’s something to pay attention to.” -Matt Phillips
It surprised me to hear that Matt’s biggest professional turning point came from self-talk of certainty, not doubt. Matt was in a leadership training at his corporate job when he started to imagine himself leading the training, “I could do that,” was his new, refreshing self-talk. From there, he made the bold leap to start his own business. He’s still at it 7 years later, which goes to show, as he explained, “When you feel that pull, it’s something to pay attention to.”
To master your own self-talk for greater mental toughness, try this two step process that Matt uses with his clients.
1. Put it on paper. Awareness is the key to Matt’s process. He has clients carry a piece of paper everywhere and record any unhelpful self-talk. Write down what pops into your head when you get down on yourself. Just the act of naming your self-talk increases your control of it.
“Humility doesn’t mean show up weak.” -Matt Phillips
2. Get some humility. Get to the truth of your self-talk. The reality of a situation is often much better than the self-deprecating messages we send ourselves. So, if the truth is better than your self-talk, lift yourself up. That’s still humility. Humility is all about living in the truth, not cutting yourself down. Matt explains that, “Humility doesn’t mean show up weak.”
For more with Matt Phillips, check out our conversation on video