Lessons From The Mat: Imagination vs Reality

“What had started as make-believe was now very real.” -from The Phantom Tollbooth.

 

 

It is very likely that you will hear a lot about Jiu-Jitsu from me. I started training about 5 months ago and I absolutely love it. Jiu-Jitsu is one of the most powerful opportunities I have come across to develop the mind, body, and character.

The short amount of time that I have trained has provided me with many opportunities to make connections between experiences and principles both on and off the mat. It has also helped lessons learned in the past come rushing to the forefront of my mind as I struggle with a technique, think about what my coach said, or something finally clicks with my game. I love the lessons I’m learning about myself and life in general as I study this martial art!

Today’s lesson from the mat:   Your brain cannot tell the difference between vividly imagined and actual events.

I used to struggle with this concept.

Imagination is not reality, I thought!

My attitude shifted when I woke up in the middle of the night certain that robbers had broken into our home. My mouth went dry, my heart raced, my hands shook, and I considered my best options to keep my family safe.

It turns out the sounds I heard must have been from outside, and the “robbers’ shadows” were merely a trick of the light. However, my response couldn’t have been more real. The chemicals released from my brain to prepare me for fight or flight initiated an intensely uncomfortable sensation throughout my body. I was exhausted the next day.

I was reminded of this after an experience at the Jiu-Jitsu gym the other day. I was discussing a technique with a classmate. As we talked I remembered the progression I experienced weeks prior as we learned and drilled that technique. I vividly recalled the awkward stages of trying to get my body in the right position relative to my opponent. I clearly remember when the technique clicked, because like much of Jiu-Jitsu there was one small principle I hadn’t known until coach pointed it out.

Once I got that tiny key detail the technique was a cinch! I remember that experience with all the sweat, sore muscles, and emotions that accompany spending one hour training.

The truth is – it wasn’t “real.”

You see, when our class learned that technique I was on the sidelines with a rib injury. I was in jeans and a t-shirt on the couch watching my class drill. The small detail I remember coach pointing out to me was actually said to another person.

When I cannot train, but I don’t want to fall behind I still go to class, but I sit on the side and take notes about the techniques. I draw pictures of the proper positioning. I write down the key points that coach teaches us that are necessary to successfully use that move. And I write this in the first person as if I am doing the technique myself.

While talking with my classmate I wanted to make sure I was communicating the technique correctly, so I opened my training journal. At the top of that technique’s page I

 

read: Still only observing r/t rib injury 🙁

I took those notes and reviewed them so many times that my brain internalized the details and created the experience in my mind as if it had been real.

If this is true for a Jiu-Jitsu technique, where else could we use it? Do you have a goal that keeps getting set on the backburner? Do you want to get debt free? Could your relationship with your significant other use a boost? Want to fit once again into the pants from a few years ago?

I invite you to choose an aspect of your life that you would like to see a change. Write out in as much detail as possible what that change looks like. Write it as if it is already true. Include affirmations. And read that over and over until you brain thinks it is already done.

When that happens I think the results will amaze you. Your behavior and attitude will have adjusted to no longer be an obstacle to what you really want. Even events and opportunities external to you will seem to set themselves up in your favor.

You can have what you want if you want it bad enough and with intense, vivid imagination.