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From: Prakhar Sachan
Date: 10 Oct 2006
Time: 11:16:56 -0500
Remote Name: 202.141.136.155
Hi Winton, I wanted to thank you for the brilliant article that you've presented, which once again re-enforces the lessons to be learned in the "inner game". I'm also seeking your opinion on the following. In your article you say: >>"I felt the urge to develop a strong sense of what I wanted to sound like when I spoke so could access that memory whenever I wanted it. In fact, I went further than this to get a good picture in mind of what it felt like, looked like and sounded like for me to be having fun speaking fluently in situations that I would previously have regarded as stressful."<< Later you also quote Tim Gallwey as: >>"Tim Gallwey has some perceptive things to say about positive thinking and self doubt in The inner game of golf. He suggests that: " ...when we try to develop self-confidence by positive thinking - 'I'm going to hit a great golf shot, I'm going to hit a great golf shot' - we are disguising a deeper self doubt. Anyone who tries to talk himself into something does so because at heart he doesn't really believe it" (p. 181). " After further discussion, Gallwey suggests: "What is needed is not to fight negative programming but to simply circumvent it" (p 182).....<< I think these statements(snippets from your article) are complimentary of each other. However, in my interpretation, Tim Gallwey seems to suggest otherwise. For instance, when I have to confront a fearful speaking situation, if I say to myself "I'm going to speak fluently" and at the same time hold an exact picture of how it's going to be --- defining "fluent" (what it feels like, looks like, sounds like), am I not falling in line of what you, or Tim Gallwey has to say? Let me illustrate it further. Whenever I have been spontaneously fluent, I have been through without even "thinking" about it. For example, lets say, I am talking to one of my closest friends. I don't hold any picture in my mind. Or, in other words, I don't feel the urge to access anything that reminds me of how exactly I want to sound like. Perhaps because speaking to my friend is not a fearful speaking situation for me. But, suppose, I have to present a seminar. Now, that is a fearful situation for me. So, now, unlike before, I hold a mental image in my mind of how I want IT to be, or access a previously stored memory of how IT should exactly be. Now why did I need to access this memory, or mental image here? Because this situation was fearful. Why was it fearful? Because, I have self-doubts. So, inherently, according to the quotes from your article, I only feel the need to access that memory, because I doubt myself -- perhaps due to past experience. So, in your opinion, aren't talking to myself into a positive mode and then holding a picture in my mind of how IT is going to be, complimentary processes? I hope I've made myself clear. If not, do let me know -- I sometimes have the tendency of dwelling into the intricacies of things.:-) Once again, thank you for the thought provoking article -- it certainly provides food for thought! Best regards, Prakhar