This is not a Jedi mind trick article.
Rather than recommend a quick mind hack, I think it’s actually much more meaningful to share a mental routine that has helped me achieve success.
Also, I think it’s a mental routine, that if you put it to practice, can yield massive results over time.
There are no quick roads to success.
My own path to mixed martial arts stardom was never clear.
I didn’t think I was a World Champion because my ultimate goal was to become one.
And therein lies the real problem.
I had created an identity that was based on a former high school math teacher turned professional mixed martial artist.
A story that saw me go from punching numbers in class worksheets to scoring points in the octagon was a great sell.
In a sport frequently typecast as violent or human cockfighting, I was the “eat your apple pie” wholesome American patriot that fans could get behind.
That was a fan-friendly and palatable image that advertisers lapped up and one which benefited the UFC brass in commercializing both the brand and sport.
But I was caught in that identity in having to live in that image.
My job, livelihood, and essentially my dreams depended on it.
Make no mistake, I wasn’t pretending to be somebody.
I was, and am still proud to this day to have represented the sport in my image.
However, the concept of changing myself in the hopes that I would become a UFC World Champion had yet to infiltrate my subconscious.
Basically, I was still rooted in that identity and had yet to embrace, visualize or become who I needed to be – the reigning and defending UFC Middleweight World Champion.
That was until I started following and reading about mental performance coach Brian Cain, with whom I would eventually engage years later.
Brian is one of the world’s foremost authorities in mental conditioning. He’s consulted Division 1 colleges and top-tier professionals like UFC, NFL, MLB and NBA athletes to build a championship mindset.
My friends, today I’ll share what I used to unlock a new level of consciousness to break through.
After all, I have the results to prove it.
I won the UFC Middleweight World Title in just three years after putting this tactic into practice.
Be warned, this is no silver bullet to success. This mental mastery, in concert with discipline, drive and maximal effort in my nutrition, diet, conditioning, training and recovery is the symphony to my UFC Championship reign.
One cannot purely bend his will as his mind sees it, no matter how strong.
So what is this new devilry?
Identity-based change.
Identity-based change is a powerful way to transform behavior and build healthy habits that last a lifetime.
Instead of focusing on changing actions or habits, the idea is to step into a new identity, which then guides behavior and habits.
This concept is based on the understanding that behavior follows identity, meaning that once someone assumes a new identity, they start behaving like the version of themselves they desire to be.
Allow me to illustrate with an example from author Neil’s Fiore book ‘Awaken Your Strongest Self’.
The author Neil Fiore was an intermediate skier who had hit a plateau in his skiing abilities.
One day, his ski instructor told him to pretend he was the World Champion skier for the day and something magical happened.
Neil began to ski completely differently and realized that it’s much easier to switch to a new identity than it is to change himself or his behavior.
The capacity to ski that well was always inside him; he needed only to think about himself differently.
This is no different from the transformation that I underwent.
I saw myself as the new and undefeated UFC Middleweight Champion.
This wasn’t my usual pre-fight visualization of walking into the arena.
This was the present Word Champion version of myself.
It spurred me to act as a World Champion would.
I had to adopt good habits and create routines that reflected my new identity.
In the process, I also become the most disciplined, fundamentally conditioned athlete I could be.
Not too long after, I won the UFC Middleweight Title over Evan Tanner at UFC 53 in Atlantic City.
I reckoned it was far more effective for me to step into and embrace that new identity as opposed to stubbornly trying to change habits and incrementally improve into the role of a Champion.
People often say Champions have this “it factor” or the “championship mindset”.
On June 4, 2005 in New Jersey, I finally learned it myself.
It’s a thin line between confidence and arrogance in a sport as bombastic as the UFC.
I have no doubt it was my self-belief in living my new identity that made it all happen.
New Undisputed UFC Middleweight Champion of the World – Rich “Ace” Franklin!
Goosebumps.