The Power of Tension for Personal Performance

In lifting – weights that is, not beer 🙂 – there’s a principle of ‘tension.’  Before a lift you tense your entire body. This does a couple things

• Protects the body from injury
• Provides more energy for the lift

Imagine going to perform a deadlift…you approach the bar but you’re relaxed…you grab the bar and give a big heave…nothing happens.  You take a step back and regroup. Again you approach and grab the bar, this time you tense your lower body and give a big heave and you struggle, but you lift it.

You again regroup, but now as you approach and grab the bar you think about tensing EVERY muscle in your body.  You go to lift the bar and it’s easy!  By creating complete and total tension you’re able to lift, what you couldn’t, with ease.

I know I’m over simplifying this principles, so for all the experienced lifters out there forgive my encapsulated version.

The purpose of the explanation is to demonstrate the use of mental strength to create full tension so that you can enjoy a peak performance experience.

So, what does this have to do with personal success you might be asking?

Everything!

I have yet to find a principle that works in the physical realm but doesn’t work in the mental realm as well.  Here’s how the ‘law of tension’ works with mental strength for personal success.

The subtle energies associated with our consciousness and unconsciousness mind like things just the way they are.  In fact, unless the future is extremely compelling your ego will do everything in its power to NOT let your future happen.  After all, it is an unknown and its job is to protect you from the unknown.

So how do we change this?

By creating internal tension or ‘in-tension’ if you will.  You do this by creating an extremely compelling future, write it down in the Achievable Outcome format and create several SMARTER goals to get you there.

Then, when you have detailed image along with the sounds, feelings, smells and tastes associated with your vision, you ‘place’ this image out in the future along your timeline, making sure you are disassociated with it (like watching it as a movie).

Now you’re created tension between your unconsciousness mind (it wants to go after your vision) and your ego (it wants to keep things the same).  You can think of this tension like a rubber band.  The more it’s stretched, the greater the tension.  The greater the tension, the better the opportunity for movement, strong tension = big movement; weak tension = little movement.

By creating complete and full ‘in-tension’ you’re chances of reaching your peak performance and personal success increase dramatically!

So, next time you go to lift something, remember to tense your entire body.  And the next time you’d like to hit peak performance and personal success, use your mental strength and create a powerful ‘in-tension.’

OK…what are you going to do with this info? Let me know in the comments below.