Tony Washington, Author at IntentOne

Unlock Your Inner Champion!

I know you’ve heard it said before, but all of us are capable of much more than we actually do. It’s not that we necessarily play small or purposefully function at a lower level than we are capable. Rather the limitation exists in our minds. There was a time when no-one could break a four minute mile, until Roger Bannister came along and did it. As of this date, more than two thousand runners have accomplished this feat. What changed? Someone broke the mental barrier that was holding everyone back. We all have certain mental barriers or limitations that we put on ourselves. Yes, you read that correctly. We put those limitations on ourselves by the thoughts we believe about ourselves. All the time that you are playing your sport at a certain level, there is something inside of you asking you to unlock your inner champion. You can only unlock your inner champion by changing the thoughts you are feeding your mind. That is where IntentOne comes into play. We specialize in custom audio tools designed to enhance the mind of an athlete by feeding the mind new, different, positive information that in many cases contradicts the things you have been used to thinking. In short, it is a way to reprogram yourself for success.

If you are like most athletes, especially those playing at lower levels striving for higher levels, you haven’t given much thought to the importance of paying attention to and modifying the things you are saying to yourself. “If you think you can’t, you can’t.” It is obvious that your body has to be strong and flexible enough to play your sport. It is abundantly clear that you cannot lack physical prowess or the desire to improve your physical stamina to better compete. But, what is not so obvious is the importance of your mental training. For example, how many times at practice or elsewhere has your coach required you to focus on the mental aspects of the game? Not very often, if at all. Sadly, it is just something that hasn’t been well understood. If a man or a woman knew how impactful and important their thinking was, they would modify it for every aspect of their life. But, the concept remains fairly obscure. The only way to modify your thinking and beliefs is by consistent repetition replacing what is not helpful or limiting with words and pictures that benefit you, encourage you and unleash the potential inside of you. Limiting thoughts and poor self concepts have been developed over time and as such they stubbornly cling to our minds. But, like any erroneous beliefs we have held onto, they can be changed. IntentOne’s custom audio tools were designed for just that.

Imagine being able to design your own, personalized audio recording based on the things you as an athlete need to hear the most. Picture yourself being able to listen to your recording anytime you were feeling less than your best and subsequently being encouraged to get back to the athlete you want to be. You can’t always rely on other people to do that for you. You have to do that for yourself. If you will invest yourself in taking the time to thoughtfully and honestly answer the “Next Level Mindset” questionnaire questions, writing down exactly what you would like to hear the most and identifying limiting beliefs that have held you back, you will produce in a matter of minutes an “Unlock the Champion” inside of you recording that you can modify or add to anytime you wish. We carefully designed the tool to take what you feed it and develop it into a positive, encouraging, belief changing, present tense script turned to speech; to be listened to however you listen to music or podcasts. It’s like having a dynamic, wise, encouraging coach inside your own headphones or earbuds. Do you want to get to the next level and unlock the champion inside of you? Give IntentOne’s custom audio recordings a try.

“Inspiration on Demand”

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Mindset Management…

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One of the most crucial aspects involved with playing any sport is your mindset. Your mindset is more than just a thought that goes through your mind. Your mindset refers more to the position your mind takes in any given athletic scenario. For example, maybe you are a basketball player and you have some skills. You are not afraid to play the game and try things out in a competitive scenario. When you play with your buddies, you are on fire. In practice you are lights out. But, when it comes to the game you struggle. Why is that? Obviously something takes place in your mind that changes the mental environment from fun to serious; from lighthearted to heavy; from relaxed to stressed. Maybe it’s the fact that practice is just practice, but the game is for real. Whatever it is that is occurring, your mindset changed for some reason. In order to be the competitor you really want to be, you have to work on your mindset. You need mindset management.

Much of your mindset is made up of the things you think about yourself. How you see yourself functioning in the world. What kinds of pressure do you put on yourself to perform. Pressure often leads to a lack of ease and when you are not relaxed, you are not at ease. How many times have you heard a coach say, “Just relax and play football?” This happens at every level. In other words, your own head is working against you. You are assigning too much to your performance and playing porrly as a result of it. Don’t get me wrong, everyone gets nervous before a game or a competition. You want to play well and the outcome matters. But when stress and insecurity kicks in, it all goes south. Many people experience this phenomenon when playing golf, at least at the amateur level. You go to the driving range and can’t seem to miss. Twenty perfect drives all in a row. Then, you get to the first hole and drive the ball slicing into the woods. What happened? What changed? Your mindset changed. In your mind, it matters now and because it matters so much, you are no longer relaxed. Same person, same mind, same skill level, same swing, well maybe. In a sense, you did something to yourself that changed your outcome. You changed your mindset.

As an athlete, as a competitor, your first priority is your mindset. You have to learn to get beyond your own self; those defeated thoughts or limiting beliefs that are holding you back. You have to learn to train your mind to think differently. If you will notice many professional athletes, those at the highest levels, they do not think that way. They rarely predict success or guarantee a win. They know that kind of thing will end up working against them, unless they have so trained their minds or put in enough work that they cannot see themselves losing. But for most, they say things like, “I’ve put in as much work as I can, I have prepared myself the best I can and hopefully we can get a win. This is especially true in group sports. The method behind it is simple, do not add pressure to yourself. Perhaps some people thrive under pressure and these rare souls are usually the elite of a sport. (Mamba Mentality anyone?) But, for the rest of us, it doesn’t help. Therefore, mindset management is something that takes place before you compete. It is part of your preparation. It is eventualities you have thought through before the moment arrives. No matter how talented or skillful you are physically, your mind is still the governing factor. If you can see yourself doing well in the moment, you are significantly more likely to perform in the moment. Have you ever seen a track athlete going through the race before the race starts? What are they visualizing? They visualize themselves doing the proper technique all the way through the race. Chances are they are not picturing themselves just winning the race. They are approaching it step by step, doing what they know to do, which will lead them to the best possible outcome. All of these mental behaviors are learned. If you can train your mind to maintain a certain mindset, you will be that much better off in the competition or when it really matters. Learn to maintain your mindset.

Much of competing at a higher level involves remaining in the moment at hand. You cannot allow yourself to stay mired in the last mistake or missed shot or mishit golf ball. It already happened and it is in the books. You can’t change it, take it back or get a mulligan-in real competitions. Your only thought has to be on the next play, the next shot, the next swing. That too is mindset management. It is an eventuality for which you have already prepared. You have to be able to let it go completely and focus on what’s next. Much of what you do next will be based on how you have learned to think. If your default mindset is to get down on yourself or worse, that is exactly where your mind will go when you are under pressure. If you have fear or worry or doubt about what you are doing, it will manifest itself in the game and it will happen when you needed a good result the most. Some folks call it choking. But, choking doesn’t happen in the moment. Choking already happened in your mind and you did not correct it appropriately. Mindset management will help you eliminate the negative tendency.

At IntentOne, we developed a mindset management system that allows you to directly shape and reshape your thoughts. We call it the “Next Level Mindset.” We have devised a way to produce an audio recording, based on your honest and thoughtful input, that feeds your mind thoughts about yourself that are positive, present tense and the opposite of the wrong limiting beliefs you have been holding onto about yourself. Your mind is a very fluid instrument, breathtakingly fluid. Neuroplasticity refers to the way your mind adapts and has the capacity to change. Your mind is not stagnant nor stuck in certain wrong thought patterns. It is not just the way you are! What you think about yourself is exactly what you have learned to think about yourself. And, accordingly, you can change what you think about yourself. Remember when you first started playing your particular sport? Chances are you were not very good at it. But, now maybe you are pretty good. What happened? Obviously you learned better techniques or became physically stronger etc., but what changed most was your thinking about yourself. You saw yourself doing it and became convinced you could. Well, the next level is simply more of the same. However, unlike when you first began, you now know how much your thinking plays into the equation. If you are good, chances are you have mainly good thoughts about playing. If you are excellent, chances are you have excellent thoughts about yourself playing. Mindset Management is here to help you think and maintain those excellent thoughts about yourself. Indeed, to learn and maintain your own personal Mindset Management program. Are you ready for the next level mindset?

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“Audible Reality”

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At IntentOne, we are often asked why we use an audio recording in order to promote change in a person’s life. Much has been written about the effect of thoughts on the levels of success a person can achieve. Simply stated, if you can change your thoughts about yourself for a consistent period of time, you can directly shape and change your reality. Many of the problems and obstacles we encounter in our experience can be traced back directly to thoughts we think about ourselves. The old adage, “if you think you can, you can” holds true here. Our founder, Eddie Mitchell found himself in the middle of a negative spiral which seemed to worsen rather than get better. Despite overcoming a difficult upbringing, he still saw himself on the wrong end of success. He found himself working job after job only to end in failure. He developed a drug addiction which further worsened his condition. Desperate for a change in his personal circumstances, he began to research the tools necessary to effectively change his persistently negative thoughts. He discovered the powerful impact of visualization, repetitive conditioning, neuroplasticity i.e. the brain’s capability to develop new patterns, just to name a few. He put all these tools together to form what is now called the IntentOne process or Inspiration on Demand. This process consisted of the development of personalized audio content based on a person’s life purpose and highest priority values all built into a recording, set in present tense language, to effectively produce a new audible reality one could inculcate into their mind through faithful repetition. The new tool not only worked, but led to considerable success in first overcoming addiction, then inspiring him to succeed at levels he only imagined in the past. He became the Chief Technology officer for a large mortagage bank and then went on to become a part owner and Chief Operations officer in a new developing, thriving business. His success led to a very successful lifestyle with abundant resources and the realization of his life’s dreams. Now, his life’s dream is to give back by making his success tools available to all who wanted to learn them. Enter IntentOne.

When we explain our offering to various people, they often think our recordings are simply a compilation of affirmations. However, it is much deeper than that. At the core level, people sort of instinctively know what they need to do to change, but find that change difficult or almost impossible. They fail to understand that change does not come from simply listening to a positive recording, but rather from a guided repetition in audio form that encompasses those things most important to the person. The IntentOne recordings are based on completion of the “PAR” questionnaire which seeks first to identify a person’s purpose in life or in other words, their why. Then the participant answers a series of questions regarding their highest priority goals, objectives to reach those goals and specific timelines. They identify their strongest traits, areas where they seek to overcome limiting beliefs and finally their expressions of gratitude for the things and people for which they are the most grateful. The end result? A personalized recording tailored specifically for the individual in present tense, positive language that can be listened to every day. The automated recording then can be modified and changed as the person grows and makes significant progress. This new “audible reality” results in retraining the brain to think in accordance with what is most important to the person in opposition to all of the clutter and distraction that stops people from achieving their goals. Soon people are able to recognize their own limiting beliefs and change their thinking to line up with their new beliefs. New thinking produces new behaviors and disciplines. The end result? Success and accomplishment coming from within. Truly Inspiration on Demand!

We all spend our precious time engaged in various activities. We all know there are things we need to do that we don’t necessarily want to do. For this we don’t need more discipline or more discovery of various “self-help” techniques to fix what appears broken in us. What we need most is some understanding of the effect of thought on our circumstances and indeed, our life. We need to feed our minds things that are true and positive; things that align with who we are; things that support our efforts rather than subtract from them; things presented in the present tense as if they already occurred. These are the things that truly affect positive changes in our lives. Whether you want to be a professional athlete, a successful business person or simply a better person, all of the potential exists within your mind, within the things you think about the most. IntentOne is all about helping you change your mind. There is no limit to what you can achieve once you get your mind lined up with what is most important to you and real change comes from habitual mental practice until that practice becomes your reality. Our audible reality can get you there, if you want it. Do you want it?

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Visualization is a Game Changer

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I remember a conversation with a collegiate athlete who played for the University of Kansas. He was explaining how there was a certain blocking technique he could not figure out no matter how hard he tried. At practice he was getting yelled at for his failure to make the crucial block. After much frustration, he realized he couldn’t even picture himself doing the technique. Often the holdback for an athlete is not so much skill or ability, but rather not being able to visualize himself or herself performing a certain skill at a high level. This is where visualization becomes a crucial aspect for athletic excellence. You have to be able to see it first in your mind. Visualization and guided visualization are crucial in order to function at elite levels. You can see this taking place when observing olympic athletes. You can tell by their body language that they are mentally rehearsing a race or a jump or a throw. Being able to see yourself performing the task perfectly is an often overlooked and missed aspect involving athletics, especially at an elite level. If you want to be the best at your sport or even significantly improve your game, you have to be able to visualize it in your mind. Visualization is a game changer!

If visualization is such a crucial aspect for athletic success, why don’t people do it? Let’s face it, we all know how to picture something in our mind. Yet the tool goes unused. One reason is that the athlete may not fully understand the importance of the process. Maybe it seems like a waste of time. However, when it comes to our minds, our brains cannot discern the difference between what is imagined and what is real. Visualizing a technique in operation is no different than actually performing the technique. There is no difference except for one. When you imagine yourself doing something, there is no limitation whatsoever. You can see yourself doing the technique or the activity and you can see yourself doing it perfectly, if that’s what you want and trust me, it is what you want. Another reason for our failure to use visualization involves focus. Plainly put, it is sometimes difficult to focus. We are surrounded by endless distractions and things clamoring for our time and energy. We may feel like we don’t have time for it or that it is not worth our time. Focusing on things for an extended period is not easy. It may seem to make more sense to go out and physically practice. Yet, if you cannot even see yourself doing something, it is highly unlikely you will be able to do it and your practice will be more of the same. It is the cart before the horse. Your body is always guided by your mind. That does not mean you have to think through every move. Rather you have to already know how to do the move and that starts in your mind. Focus is a skill you can develop, but first you must have a willingness to develop it. This means you have to take the time to picture it. You have to make the mental image whereby you can see yourself doing what you want to do. This is the essence of visualization.

Now that we have appealed to your curiosity, how exactly does visualization work in terms of steps and practices? The place to begin is by relaxing your mind. Haven’t you noticed that when you are in a distracted or frenetic state it is difficult to focus? Yet, when you are calm your tendency is to think better. You relax your mind by finding a quiet, isolated place and doing some breath-work, i.e. deep breathing exercises where you work to clear your mind of distractions. Once you are relaxed to a certain extent, the next step is to determine what it is you are going to work on. What is your specific goal? What skill are you interested in developing? What outcome aligns with what you are after? The more specific and precise you are the better. Anyone functioning at a high level knows there are a multitude of details involved in every technique. When my son played football as a safety for the University of Utah, they would spend hours on things like how to turn your hips in order to backpedal then run when defending receivers or how to tackle properly to reduce the impact to your own body. Athleticism got him there, but continued success depended upon mastering specific techniques. Once you have become very clear about what you want to envision, next you have to engage all of your senses. Make your image as vivid as possible including your emotions. In other words, see it as if it was actually happening. What do you hear? What can you smell? How do you feel? The more detailed you are, the better it works. Remember, your mind does not register a difference. Finally, see yourself performing flawlessly. Make yourself see it! It will be difficult at first, but you have to stay with it. The reward will be a mind that has already done the technique and therefore is able to replicate it in the game. Naturally this is not something you only do once. You have to stay with it. Build it by faithful repetition. See it, see it, see it.

Visualization works in every category of life. The exact same principles are in play. It is not a question of whether or not it works. The question is, will you take the time to do it? This is why many professional athletes participate in guided visualization. Guided visualization simply means someone is walking you through the process. But, the end result is the same. In order to have success at any level in sports, it is required that you put in the time. How many hours have you already spent practicing, lifting weights, doing drills etc.? You already know you have to put in the time. It is not a question of effort, it is a question concerning where you will focus your energy. And, there is no greater place to begin than in your mind. Have you ever heard the famous story of the prisoner of war who basically survived his ordeal by picturing himself playing a round of golf every day? His name was Major James Nesmeth. He was a prisoner of war for seven years during the Vietnam war. He visualized himself playing a perfect round of golf every single day. When he was finally released, he went from shooting in the 90’s to consistently shooting in the mid 70’s. If you have ever played golf, you know how dramatic that change actually is. Some golfers play for decades and never score that well. He credited his dramatic change to vivid mental practice picturing every shot, every swing, every hole in meticulous detail, yet never physically played a single hole in seven years. That is the power of visualization and you can do it as well. Visualization is a game changer!

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The Intentional Life

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I was thinking about what it means to live an intentional life. It seems to be a popular thing to proclaim. But, have you ever asked yourself what it really means? Living your life with intention is all about living according to plans you have made to accomplish some goal or objective. On the surface that sounds great, but everyone makes plans. Maybe a deeper way to consider it is to add in why you are making the plans you make. If your “why” is the real driver, there must be some purpose behind doing what you do. Each of us living on the earth today have something about us that makes us different from other people. We have things we love to do, when time stands still while we are doing it. There are aspects of our lives where we excel, almost effortlessly. There is something we love to give to others even expecting nothing in return. These seemingly insignificant clues point us in a certain direction. They lead us in the direction of our life purpose. Admittedly, to say something is your life purpose is a heady proposition. To ask someone their life purpose will usually end in a blank look or a prolonged stare, not because the question is unanswerable, but because the question seems so grand. But, is it so grand? Does your life purpose have to be somewhat epic potentially initiating drastic changes in the world? Or, can it be something much more simple? Everyone living has some purpose to fulfill with the only requirement being to figure out what that is. In an interdependent world, no one’s life purpose can be dismissed or be found unnecessary. If you are serious about living an intentional life, your first task will always be to identify your purpose; your life purpose. Are you ready?

At IntentOne, we believe the starting point for making any significant changes in your life is to be clear about what it is you must accomplish in order to be true to yourself. We have all spent time on the other side of that idea. When we are not being true to ourselves we sort of go through the motions, playing a role that others find acceptable. Certainly we can still give and serve, but our service won’t fulfill us at our deepest levels. For any change to be meaningful and impactful, it must somehow align with who we are inside. The beauty of life is that we get to decide exactly what that is. We get to choose and with that there are no right or wrong answers. There is no complexity involved and I’ll add, there are no measurements regarding how big or small that purpose might be. Who is to say what is more meaningful? Your purpose might be to make pretty flower arrangements that warm people’s hearts. Mine might be to write things that help people feel better about themselves. In this, both of us are providing a valuable service to our fellow man. One person’s purpose may affect millions, while another person’s far less. Yet both are necessary and both serve as an expression of ourselves functioning where we are the most happy to function. In order to find your true life purpose, you have to stop trying to make it so grandiose and life changing and simply let it be what it is. There are not higher and lower life purposes, only that which is true for you in light of the person you are or would like to become.

Your life purpose may be considered your guiding light. It is something that underlies every meaningful decision that you make. It serves to inform you if you are heading in the direction that most suits you and presents the most opportunity for you to give in your own unique capacity. As such, your life purpose cannot be something that only serves yourself or else why would you have it to give? To accomplish or achieve even at the highest levels implies some benefit for other people. Sure, you can achieve greatly without any thought of helping someone else, but you aren’t going to be fulfilled in the process. You aren’t going to meet your deepest needs down in your heart, but you don’t need me to tell you that. Knowing your life purpose or, if you prefer, your purpose in life, is your north star that guides all of your other actions. It is the “why,” your reason why. If there is no why there is no point. There is always a reason we do the things that we do and sometimes the reason isn’t positive or beneficial. Thus, your reasons why should always have good motives. Life absent helping or giving to others will soon lose value and meaning. But, if you are willing to take the time to pinpoint your purpose or purposes, the actions you must take, the goals you must pursue, the objectives you plan to accomplish, all will fall in line for you. Maybe your life purpose requires considerable financial resources in order to be viable. Perhaps your life purpose requires that you be strong and healthy in order to carry it out. Possibly your life purpose requires you to learn certain difficult lessons in order to be able to help someone else with the same issues. Whatever it is, your highest priority values should lead you to that accomplishment; your values being that which you value the most. Living an intentional life is living a life with values. It is a purpose driven life.

The answer to the question of your life purpose should be easy. What do you enjoy doing the most? What things thrill your heart? What gives you the most satisfaction? What makes you the happiest version of yourself? Spend your time there. Exert your effort there. In this, no one can determine your life purpose but yourself for no one knows yourself more than you do. The world will be infinitely better off as a result of you acting in accordance with your purpose. You will be infinitely better off for acting in accordance with your purpose as well. Don’t overthink it or obsess over it. It will be obvious for you. We only overthink it when we seek to live according to others’ expectations for us. It doesn’t have to be grand or huge or world changing. It only has to be you, living as you, impacting the world as you. What is your life purpose? It is the precursor to living an intentional life!

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