The Single Greatest Thing My Psychologist Taught Me...

Posted: Sun Jun 05, 2011 9:35 am

When I went to "The Performance Institute" at Methodist hospital in Indianapolis (being me I actually went there twice -- I followed up the next year Cool

) I was assigned a sports psychologist, Dr. M. McClay.

The Performance Institute was a cutting edge (back in 1990 when I first went) program that was lead by Dr. Steve Olvey the medical director of CART at the time.

It was a day long series of tests. Some of the tests measured your overall fitness via exercise bike while hooked to an ECG. Some were reaction time tests. And other aspects measured your mental preparedness via questionnaires etc. The tests were given by an exercise physiologist.

They even had a dietician access what you ate.

Then they plugged your data into a database of tested F1 and Indycar stars, they had consulted with.

Anyway what my sports psychologist taught me that absolutely transformed my racing from being near the front runners to Being The Front Runner. Was 4 simple words...

"You Are An Observer". Now please understand there was also progressive relaxation exercises that I did (I'm sure this helped to). But that phrase allowed me to become utterly detached from my driving. It was as if another person was doing it as "I" sat back -- the puppet master and pulled "his" strings at the right time.

Yeah this is ultra advanced stuff. Certainly not something the average motorist would go through. However, I think that most people can benefit from a concept that it employs. Try to be “cool” when you drive – No I don’t mean like chic: I mean cool like a cucumber.

GerardWon

Site Admin Joined: Jan 06, 2010 Posts: 485

"You Are An Observer". Now please understand there was also progressive relaxation exercises that I did (I'm sure this helped to). But that phrase allowed me to become utterly detached from my driving. It was as if another person was doing it as "I" sat back -- the puppet master and pulled "his" strings at the right time.

I like the concept... though it is very hard to master and must require a lot of practice. After all, we are people first before mere drivers - and victims of our everyday emotions and struggles. And it is not so easy to switch off and focus on our driving the moment you sit in the car.

Who knows how many accidents happen because the driver was simply not in the right state of mind and hence unable to concentrate and perform at his best!

Posted: Sun Jun 05, 2011 12:04 pm

myownworld wrote:

I like the concept... though it is very hard to master and must require a lot of practice. After all, we are people first before mere drivers - and victims of our everyday emotions and struggles. And it is not so easy to switch off and focus on our driving the moment you sit in the car. Who knows how many accidents happen because the driver was simply not in the right state of mind and hence unable to concentrate and perform at his best!

Yes I'm sure your right. I'm lucky ( twisted?) insofar as when I'm in the car -- I'm exactly where I want to be. So the concentration aspect is very easy for me.

Unfortunatley I am an emotional person by nature. Something that the pysch profiles revealed. This is perhaps why that particular aspect was highlighted as something for me to work on.

And like I said the results were (and are) great.

Site Admin Joined: Jan 06, 2010 Posts: 485

lol, twisted in the right way! Very Happy

TBH, I think many of us could benefit from a trip to this performance institute. Or maybe, some simple breathing exercises to relax and mentally and emotionally stay detached in case it's a bad time and one has to drive.

Of course, when it's a monday morning and one is late for work and driving like mad.... or your boy friend just ditched you and you're feeling like crap... or you get a call to pick your sick child from school....and so on, countless emotive situations, one forgets to relax and is thus all the more prone to making mistakes and accidents even.

Posted: Mon Jun 06, 2011 6:07 am

LOL As far as I understand this is Zen in its pure form. Applies not only to driving, but to the life in general - and it is bloody difficult to master Smile

Posted: Mon Jun 06, 2011 6:26 am

Misha wrote:

LOL As far as I understand this is Zen in its pure form. Applies not only to driving, but to the life in general - and it is bloody difficult to master Smile

Misha it frustrates me to No end that I cannot accomplish this (well not with any sort of reliable results) in Any other area or endeavor in my life.

Site Admin Joined: Jan 06, 2010 Posts: 485

@ GW: Well, at least you have in one - most drivers can't even do that!

And you should see me on a monday morning...stuck in london traffic! Zen could be the name of a town in china and I'd still be lost! Wink

Master Driver Joined: Mar 27, 2010 Posts: 209

You are in luck, because I'm intending to write an article which will give you a few occupations during traffic. Wink

Site Admin Joined: Jan 06, 2010 Posts: 485

Astraist wrote:

You are in luck, because I'm intending to write an article which will give you a few occupations during traffic. Wink

Thank you. Please keep writing.... and hopefully, others (including me) will keep learning to be better drivers and staying safe! Smile

Posted: Fri Jun 10, 2011 8:25 pm

You are certainly not alone Gerard - yet I keep trying Smile

GerardWon wrote:

Misha wrote:

LOL As far as I understand this is Zen in its pure form. Applies not only to driving, but to the life in general - and it is bloody difficult to master Smile

Misha it frustrates me to No end that I cannot accomplish this (well not with any sort of reliable results) in Any other area or endeavor in my life.