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Foreword by Seattle Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson
From a top mental conditioning coach—”the world’s best brain trainer” (Sports Illustrated)—who has transformed the lives and careers of elite athletes, business leaders, and military personnel, battle-tested strategies that will give you tools to manage and overcome negativity and achieve any goal.
Trevor Moawad is a mental conditioning coach who has helped professionals from all walks of life, from Ft. Bragg to Harvard Business School, the NFL to Fortune 500 companies. Moawad’s mission is clear: motivate the motivated.
Now, for the first time ever, Moawad shares the formula he has exclusively used to help these elites with everyone. It Takes What It Takes shows you how to deal with even the most challenging circumstances—and thrive. Moawad reveals how top performers hone their competitive edge by effectively managing both negativity and failure as well as positivity and success: Neutral thinking is the key.
Neutral thinking is a high-performance strategy that emphasizes judgment-free thinking, especially in pressure situations. It acknowledges that the past happened. However, the past isn’t predictive. If you can absorb and embrace that belief, everything can change.
Down-shifting your brain into neutral takes practice. But once you get the hang of it, you can go to the truth on a dime. You can deal with the facts at hand. You’ll feel calmer, more aware of the situation as it unfolds, moment to moment. And the athlete—or employee, or spouse, or parent—who’s calmer and more aware succeeds.
272 pages, Kindle Edition
First published February 4, 2020
"In our ten years together, we’ve learned time and again that neutral thinking is everything. The reality is that positive thinking can work, but we’re not sure if it works every time.
...The one thing we know that definitely works is negative thinking. And it always works negatively."
"Each play has a history and life of its own. It’s important. It matters. You are responsible for it. But it has nothing to do with what happens next..."
"Neutral thinking is a high-performance strategy that emphasizes judgment-free thinking, especially in crises and pressure situations. It is the cornerstone of what I teach the athletes and teams that employ me. The thing about neutral thinking that resonates with so many elite athletes, most of whom are deeply skeptical of any self-help, is that it’s real. It’s true. It acknowledges that the past is irrevocable, that it can’t be changed with mantras or platitudes.
Neutral thinking shuns all attempts at illusion or outright self-delusion, which are often the foundation of other motivational systems. Neutral thinking strips away the bull and the biases, both external and internal..."
"Some might call it mindfulness. It certainly overlaps with aspects of mindfulness. But neutral thinking is more than simply being mindful. It’s a quick pivot step toward swift, decisive, stunning action.
Mindfulness doesn’t care if you win.
I do.
The idea of neutral stirred somewhere deep within me in my youth. It would expand a bit as I studied Taoism and the idea of balance in college. It would become much more prominent as a facilitator of mental conditioning concepts in the battleground of the sports world. Players knew that negative thinking would hurt them, but man, they struggled with positive thinking as the only alternative—just like I did.
The actual truth is not negative or positive when you remove judgment from it. It simply is. Neutral is the harmony between two extremes, negative and positive.
Neutral thinkers remain aware of the situation as it changes from moment to moment. We give ourselves the opportunity to learn from every situation, even if the outcome is not optimal at that specific time. The next behavior remains consistently in our control...
...Ever try to go directly from driving in reverse to driving forward without pausing? Your engine doesn’t like it, and neither did your tires when you laid down all that rubber. Your brain can’t handle that transition either. The correct order is reverse to neutral, then neutral to forward."
"The first step to getting out of a hole is to stop digging. Sometimes it’s easier to not do something than it is to do something. Stop verbalizing dumb-ass things about your inability to present in front of a group. Stop eating white bread. Stop drinking sugary drinks. Stop watching the news if it makes you mad.
Stop saying I can’t or I won’t or it’s impossible. You want something? It starts with one choice."