Sportsmind

24/01/2026

Sportsmind Mental Dominance Training - 60 Days that will make a HUGE difference .....

https://jeffreyhodges.substack.com/p/sportsmind-mental-training-a-quiet

21/01/2026

Hi everyone - here we are at day 21 of the training. Over the next week the idea is to consolidate your learnings over the past 3 weeks by reviewing key elements ..... see more here https://jeffreyhodges.substack.com/p/orientation-sportsmind-60-day-mental?r=txeq8

21/01/2026

Hi everyone - here is the link to week 3 of the 60 Day Sportsmind Mental Dominance Training :

Releasing What No Longer Serves Performance

09/01/2026

Here is WEEK 2 of the Sportsmind Mental Dominance Training : https://jeffreyhodges.substack.com/p/sportsmind-60-day-mental-dominance?r=txeq8

09/01/2026

SPORTSMIND 60-DAY MENTAL DOMINANCE TRAINING .....Here is the link : https://jeffreyhodges.substack.com/p/the-sportsmind-60-day-mental-dominance-67c?r=txeq8

How to access the full Sportsmind training:
Paid subscribers receive immediate access to all previous and future Sportsmind Mental Dominance Training posts. You can subscribe here:
https://jeffreyhodges.substack.com/subscribe

28/12/2025

Get ready for 2026 .....
https://open.substack.com/pub/jeffreyhodges/p/start-2026-with-structured-mental?utm_campaign=post-expanded-share&utm_medium=web

19/12/2025

Talent gets you started .....
The mind takes you further.

Sportsmind mental training helps serious athletes perform under pressure — when it matters most.

🎧 Try the FREE Sportsmind visualisation

🎄 A powerful Christmas gift for serious athletes.

🎁 Mental training audios & digital manuals available

👉 sportsmind.com.au/resources

18/05/2025

I had a session with a client recently and we were discussing the challenges related to being too ‘conscious’ when performing, and how to let go and trust in the subconscious skills and unconscious intuitions that happen when you’re fully in the ‘zone’.

They were lamenting a situation of having a ‘great run’, but then not being able to back it up a second time because they were consciously ‘trying’ to re-create what they did the first time.

Of course, this is an all too common scenario in every sport, in every performance, and one of the causes is not being able to ‘switch’ mental mode from analytical reflection – (an essential skill to evaluate a performance afterwards) – to a new, current performance now.

This can be aided by developing strong ‘triggers’ or ‘anchors’ for these two different mental modes, and practicing them until you can switch seamlessly between detached observation and analysis to in-the-present focus and performance : the ‘zone’ - where nothing else exists except your moment-to-moment actions.

However, there is another element that is important to understand and apply to ensure consistent top performances : this is your personal ‘magnetism’.

This has nothing to do with your ‘popularity’ or charisma, what I’m talking about is your capacity to attract to yourself what you need to accomplish the aspirations you set yourself.

Consider how a magnet works : a magnet doesn’t use ‘force’ to accomplish anything, rather it has a quality by which certain things are naturally drawn to it.

Further, a plain piece of iron – not normally magnetic – can be turned into an ‘electro-magnet’ if a coil of insulated copper wire is wound around it and attached to an electrical power source such as a battery. When the power is switched on, the electric current in the wire coil creates a magnetic field and the iron then becomes magnetic when the power is flowing. Interestingly, even when the power is turned off, a small magnetic force lingers for some time.

You can apply this same principle to yourself by ‘magnetising’ your core by directing your consciousness to focus on a specific ‘self identity’ that is in alignment with the easy accomplishment of your goals.

If this sounds a little confusing, I’ll explain it in more detail in my next article. [For those who can’t wait, I refer you to my Champion Thoughts book Chapter 2 and Sportsmind book Chapter 6]

Namaste, Jeffrey

18/05/2025

Hello Friends,

As we come to the end of 2024 and peer into the mists of the future, our thoughts naturally go to what we've accomplished this year and what we may achieve in 2025.

To successfully attain a lofty goal in sport – or in any endeavour for that matter – you want to understand the driving force underpinning all successful achievement.

Intention – human WILL – is the power that nurtures and maintains all of our physical, emotional and mental actions and behaviours.

Even the tiniest movement of the body, or any act of thinking first begins with the will to do so. Without intention we cannot walk, talk, think or work, and even our emotions involve a degree of volition … to feel anger, or compassion, or boredom, or confidence you first must ‘decide’ to feel that emotion, rather than another.

Hope -> Desire -> Intention

To merely ‘hope’ for something is to be a passive victim of the will of others, or to want to be ‘lucky’ that the whim of circumstance falls your way. To wish for something begins to awaken the will, but wishing is the weakest form of human will, for it is primarily in the imagination and rarely leads to success.

A desire is a stronger wish, which starts to not just engage the mind but also the emotions, and is often followed by fitful efforts to bring it into action … however specific desires can quickly fade or be replaced by other competing desires.

An intention or a determination to act is a more powerful act of will in that it is a strong desire expressed through action for the accomplishment of a specific purpose …. Such an intention however can often be discouraged by challenges, setbacks, opposition or failure to achieve the desired goal as expected or after a few unsuccessful attempts.

The most powerful form of will is unbending intent – which is inspired by a vividly imagined future outcome, fuelled by a passionate desire to achieve it, and which involves a continuous series of dynamic, undiscourageable determinations and acts until the result is attained.

The mantra of this powerful intent is : “will and act until victory is attained” - and which does not allow ANYTHING (setbacks, 'failures', negativity and direct opposition from others, self doubts, whatever ....) to discourage them from their chosen path.

No matter how challenging the goal, or how impossible it may seem in the present, such a person never stops repeating determined, conscious acts of intention to achieve it as long as they live.

Do YOU have this?

In my next newsletter I'll share how to develop it in yourself for 2025.

Champion Thoughts, Champion Feelings

A primary focus of Sportsmind training is to help athletes create the mindset and emotions of a champion. The way we do this is to train in 'champion thoughts' and 'champion feelings'.

So how do champion sportspeople think in the various situations that confront every athlete? How do they manage and control their feelings so they have powerful, positive emotions to pull them through the inevitable tough times that every sportsperson goes through on the path to eventual success?

Elite sportspeople think and feel in specific ways to achieve outstanding physical performances. If you learn and apply the same champion thoughts and champion feelings you can also be very successful.

Christmas Special Offer

If you know someone who is aspiring to improve in their sport - (maybe you!) -I'm making a special offer for Christmas. You can purchase an autographed copy of Champion Thoughts, Champion Feelings for just $30.00 (including postage).

To get this offer you will email me directly [email protected] and request it.

Have a wonderful Christmas and joyful time with your family and friends, and do spend some time reflecting on your intent for 2025.

Namaste, Jeffrey

P.S. The image above shows a Samurai warrior concentrating and meditating on his center of power (the hara) to manifest his intentions through the power of intention rather than mere muscle strength.

18/05/2025

Should You Let Go of Your "Shoulds"



I was listening to some talking heads this week pontificating about the importance of good mental health - (it was ‘World Mental Health Day' this week according to the bureaucrats that run the UN/WHO and who want to dictate their policies to the entire world) – and they suggested that we all “let go of our ‘shoulds’ …. that it was bad for mental health to have ‘shoulds’ and that we shouldn’t have any shoulds.” [The irony of their statement obviously escaped their notice]



This kind of thinking is typical of the simplistic, politically-correct, liberal, psychobabble bu****it that comes out of psychologists these days. Psychologists - who in all likelihood have never achieved anything remotely significant in their lives - other than regurgitating this type of nonsense to their lefty lecturers to pass their psych degrees!



It’s in the same vein as the practice these days of giving every child at school an ‘award’ so they don’t feel left out and suffer from low self esteem. Don’t worry about actual merit any more …. Just reward everyone!



This is the kind of socialist drivel that discourages risk taking and striving for personal excellence and leads us on the downward slide to mediocrity!



Change Your Language



I understand that what these people are attempting to do is to encourage self esteem and positive thoughts towards yourself - which is a laudable goal - and certainly someone who is continually using 'should', 'must', have to', ought to' and 'got to' in their internal language is going to create anxiety and fear of 'not' fulfilling the tasks they set themselves.



But by just 'letting go' of the 'shoulds' in our lives we give up on the opportunity to stretch and test ourselves - because there are many, many valuable 'shoulds' that we KNOW will result in a better life. Of course we 'should' eat nutritious meals and exercise regularly! Of course we 'should' be honest and moral in our dealings with others! Of course we 'should' put in our best efforts in training!



'Shoulds' are the guideposts to a successful career and a happy life. Sportspeople without 'shoulds' would get nowhere!



This is a paradox isn't it? How can I maintain high standards AND high self esteem?



The path out of this paradox is to simply change the internal language we use to motivate and encourage ourselves to undertake whatever tasks are required of us. By using words such as 'want to', like to', 'love to', 'going to' and 'will' about the things we 'should' do, it totally changes your feelings and motivation towards the tasks.



Try it now



Consider some jobs or tasks that you 'should' do this week .... and say to yourself : "I should do such and such"; or "I have to do ....."; or "I've go to ....."; or "I must ......".



Notice how you feel when you talk to yourself in that way.



Now have the same jobs and tasks in mind and simply change the words you use. Say to yourself : "I want to do such and such"; or "I'd like to do ....": or "I'd love to ...."; or "I'm going to ...." or "I will .....".



Again notice how you feel about both the job or task and about yourself.



Most people find that when they use 'should/have to/must' language they feel pressure and even resentment - a bit like when your parents said you 'should' make your bed every morning, or you 'have to' help with the washing up, or you 'must' keep your room clean and tidy! There is also an inner resistance - (you subconsciously think why 'should' I have to do such and such) - and this leads to procrastination, then self doubt and unconfidence.



Whereas when you use 'want to/like to/going to' language you feel more motivated to actually follow through with the tasks, and there is a positive confidence inside that encourages self belief and genuine self esteem based on your ability to set tasks for yourself and to follow through on them.

I hope you enjoyed this newsletter - please let me know what you think.



Namaste, Jeffrey

01/01/2025

Develop Unbending Intent for 2025!

Hello Friends,

For What Do You Have Unbending Intent?
I spoke last time about the power of intention - human willpower - and the differences between hopes, wishes, desires and an unbending intent which is not discouraged until the desired goal is attained.

So do you have such unbending intent for something in 2025?

An important aspect of will is that will involves decision. Have you decided to achieve a specific goal, or is it just a wish or vague hope that you get it?

Have you not only decided on the end result you want, but also on the process of getting there …. and have you also decided to accept and to do what is required?

Examine your thoughts and feelings about the future :

* Do you have a clear vision of the exact future you want?

* Are your goals just something you hope will happen for you?

* Are they dependent on luck and good fortune coming your way?

* Is the force of your desire for them easily extinguished by setbacks?

* Do you get distracted from your path by other activities or people?

* Have you acted and persisted in your actions in the face of the inevitable challenges, criticisms, doubts and setbacks that come along?

* Do you learn and adapt after each attempt and action step?

* Are you enjoying the journey ?

The Feelings of 2025
Finally, in addition to identifying the 'things' you want to do or achieve in 2025, I encourage you to pause and consider how you want to FEEL in the coming year. What do you want to experience emotionally, so that when you look back at the end of 2025 you can say that it was a year of profound fulfillment.

After all, isn't it the emotional states that we want when we pursue external goals and accomplishments?

Feelings like Joy, Excitement, Love, Connection, and so on ....

When you've identified a positive feeling you want to have, take a few moments and project that feeling into your future ..... pretend you have a handful of that feeling (like stardust) and blow it into your future (like Tinkerbell) and see it there waiting for you to come and experience as the days and weeks of 2025 progress!

Namaste, Jeffrey

23/12/2024

Unbending Intent - What is it? Why is it Important?

Hello Friends,

As we come to the end of 2024 and peer into the mists of the future, our thoughts naturally go to what we've accomplished this year and what we may achieve in 2025.

To successfully attain a lofty goal in sport – or in any endeavour for that matter – you want to understand the driving force underpinning all successful achievement.

Intention – human WILL – is the power that nurtures and maintains all of our physical, emotional and mental actions and behaviours.

Even the tiniest movement of the body, or any act of thinking first begins with the will to do so. Without intention we cannot walk, talk, think or work, and even our emotions involve a degree of volition … to feel anger, or compassion, or boredom, or confidence you first must ‘decide’ to feel that emotion, rather than another.

Hope -> Desire -> Intention
To merely ‘hope’ for something is to be a passive victim of the will of others, or to want to be ‘lucky’ that the whim of circumstance falls your way.

To wish for something begins to awaken the will, but wishing is the weakest form of human will, for it is primarily in the imagination and rarely leads to success.

A desire is a stronger wish, which starts to not just engage the mind but also the emotions, and is often followed by fitful efforts to bring it into action ….. however specific desires can quickly fade or be replaced by other competing desires.

An intention or a determination to act is a more powerful act of will in that it is a strong desire expressed through action for the accomplishment of a specific purpose …... Such an intention however can often be discouraged by challenges, setbacks, opposition or failure to achieve the desired goal as expected or after a few unsuccessful attempts.

The most powerful form of will is unbending intent – which is inspired by a vividly imagined future outcome, fueled by a passionate desire to achieve it, and which involves a continuous series of dynamic, undiscourageable determinations and acts until the result is attained.

The mantra of this powerful intent is “will and act until victory is attained” - and which does not allow ANYTHING (setbacks, 'failures', negativity and direct opposition from others, self doubts, whatever ....) to discourage them from their chosen path.

No matter how challenging the goal, or how impossible it may seem in the present, such a person never stops repeating determined, conscious acts of intention to achieve it as long as they live.

Do YOU have this?

In my next newsletter I'll share how to develop it in yourself for 2025.

Namaste,

Jeffrey