Episode 94: Raise Your Inner Game with David Levin, Author of Raise Your Inner Game and Founder of Raise Your Inner Game Sports Academy

In 1922, David Levin was a struggling singer-songwriter whose career (and life) were going nowhere. But then he had a surprising “Wizard of Oz Moment” that changed the course of his life forever. He discovered the three fundamental skills for personal development - cognitive control, emotional self-regulation, and impulse control. To help coaches and athletes benefit from his blueprint and tools he founded the Raise Your Inner Game Sports Academy.

Every coach wants their athletes to reach their full potential. Indeed, that’s the whole purpose of coaching. The problem is, a lot of times the athlete’s mental game is holding them back and the coach simply doesn’t have much available to help with that. So, the athlete continues to struggle, and the situation just gets more and more frustrating for everyone involved.

Whether your audience is coaches, parents, teachers, or anyone else who works with teenagers, they’ll discover a simple yet powerful new approach to mental performance training that helps kids in every area of their lives.

What are some ideas for parents who want their kids to be professional players, but don’t know how to help them?

It is important to realize that it is going to take a major commitment on the kids’ part if they want to become good at the sport of their choice or if they want to become professional players. If the kids are naturally drawn to it and if they want to play the sport of their choice all the time then it is good to support them in every way you can. If you push them, expect it, and demand it from them to play at a higher level and to get a scholarship then it can become overwhelming. The kid needs to lead and not the parent. When looking at it from a point of a kid, their interests are all over the place. They can be interested in one thing for a little bit and then be interested in something else down the road. That is just what is going on for them developmentally at those times so a parent should be very cautious about pushing a kid to focus on one thing. If the kids walk up to their parents and tell them they want to be interested in a sport of their choice, then the parent needs to support them not only in the things we see like skills, techniques, and knowledge of the game but also the emotional side too. One of the big loads when dealing with kids in sports is the emotional load and mental game. There are multiple aspects of the mental game that parents don’t have much to help them with but it is critical. This is especially true as they get up higher if they are really into the sport. If they are getting into High School, Varsity, and even college, then the demands are also gonna be huge and a lot for a kid to hold. It is important as a parent, support person, and coach they are paying attention to the mental and emotional side of it as you support them in that work.

How to keep the kids excited about their passion and how do you keep them from getting demotivated?

Normally there are inspirational aspects that can keep a kid excited like giving them a chance to change their perspective, and reminding them that things are going well as you might do as a friend or a counselor. The approach from Raise Your Inner Game Sports Academy is a little different. They remove the things that are making it difficult for them. The real distinction with the academy’s work is that they talk about the mechanics of the mental game versus a mental game work. You usually hear stuff like work harder and you can do it. There are also visualization exercises and meditation are normally practiced. The academy focuses on the mechanics of the game. For example, say you are a basketball player and you are on the free thrown line. You are ready and focused but of a sudden, the thought comes across about what is gonna happen if I miss the shot and what the coach and family gonna say. At that moment something comes up internally that pulls you away from being present and focused on the moment. That is the mechanics. Normally from a non-mechanical way, you would go to someone in that position and ask what they are thinking. Usually, the normal response would be simple as them worrying about what their team members or coach are gonna think and that thought would get countered with another response. You essentially get into a small debate with that thought. When you look at the mechanical approach, you can train a person to separate from the content of the thought from the actual idea itself. To help someone stay positive, you help them become aware of when the negative thoughts come up and just push them away. In our natural state when we are present and focused and doing what we enjoy then we will be positive. It is when these things come up that remind us of the worries or concerns that make people negative. It is just a process of getting control of all these things that pulls us down, known as inner gravity.

How to train to be in the moment and not lose attention to what you are doing?

The fundamental step is having the experience. This does not mean just to have someone explain the experience but for you to fully go and get the “ah-ha” experience of observing your thoughts coming up. It is framed in a way where the person is encouraged to imagine that there is a second person there. It is important to have people experience those moments which are called inner game moments where it is either their thoughts or an emotion or even something physical that comes up. Basically, the academy is slowing that tape down and helping the people see that there are specific exercises to help them have that experiences. The simplest kind of example would be just to sit quietly for a moment and just pretend you are a birdwatcher at a park. You just sit and observe the various people and observe your thought that are coming and going. You do not need to talk to them or even judge them. It is all about the thoughts that are coming into your head that need to be observed. The purpose of this exercise is not just to see it but to feel that there is a difference between thinking and hearing thoughts.

Contact David Levin: linkedin.com/in/authordavidlevin

Learn more about David Levin: https://davidlevin.com

Learn more about the Raise Your Inner Game Sports Academy: https://www.raiseyourinnergame.com

Get a copy of Raise Your Inner Game: https://www.amazon.com/Raise-Your-Inner-David-Levin/dp/0981989241

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