The military has a saying: “Train Hard, Fight Easy”
If you train in harder, faster, or more stressful conditions, your actual competition / performance / battle will be EASY.
If you are trying to improve any facet of your life…
- Runner
- Competitor
- Athlete
- Performer
- Public Speaker
You can make your performance seem like a piece of cake.
Here’s how I did it:
When I competed in my first memory competition (the 2014 WORLD Memory Championship), I was a mess.
My heart rate must have been over 120 beats/min for the entire half hour of the first event. My nerves were shattered. I almost gave up and walked out a few times.
My training had always been in peaceful settings. I had never experienced stress like this.
A few years later, I started (what I call) “CHAOS training”.
In preparation for a memory competition, I would practice in DISCOMFORT (noise, heart rate up, stress).
Before or during my memorizing, I would do things like:
- Not do my mental warmups
- Do 20 pushups
- Play a Youtube video of people talking loudly
The results:
In the next World Championship, I broke personal records in all the events.
In the next US Championship, I became the champion.
It was painfully obvious during the competition that all the CHAOS Training I had done was making this easy.
How can YOU apply this philosophy to improve?
First of all, attack/challenge what gives you trouble when you perform or compete.
Is it a mental aspect? A physical aspect?
Make that part harder in your training
- practice at a faster speed
- practice with a shorter time limit
- create/listen to more noise
- get your heart rate up
More examples:
If you’re a runner, run in the heat or the rain.
Train by running 10k distances for your 5k event.
If you’re an aspiring public speaker, sign up for Toastmasters.
Speak in front of people you don’t know. Become a substitute teacher for a few days to get used to talking in front of groups.
Make your training HARD and I guarantee your battle will be EASIER.
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