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Side note: see the (long) quote I copied about this in the quotes section, as it's quite brilliantly written and explained. The value of winning is directly proportional to the difficulty of everything you had to overcome to win. The harder the goal, the more obstacles you have to overcome, the more skill you have to use, the more satisfying the victory. Another key to quieting self1 is to get it to stop giving instructions to self2. It's very common for self1 to be constantly telling self2 how how to do something: e.g., "keep your wrist straight and follow through." However, these instructions are in language, which self2 doesn't really speak; and besides, much gets lost in translation from actions to words.
When we plant a rose seed in the earth, we notice that it is small, but we do not criticize it as "rootless and stemless”. We treat it as a seed, giving it the water and nourishment required of a seed. When it first shoots up out of the earth, we don't condemn it as immature and underdeveloped; nor do we criticize the buds for not being open when they appear. We stand in wonder at the process taking place and give the plant the care it needs at each stage of its development. The rose is a rose from the time it is a seed to the time it dies. Within it, at all times, it contains its whole potential. It seems to be constantly in the process of change; yet at each state, at each moment, it is perfectly all right as it is.” Most of our suffering takes place when we allow our minds to imagine the future or mull over the past. Nonetheless, few people are ever satisfied with what is before them at the moment. The book outlines a "self 1" and "self 2" dichotomy, that's basically analogous to the conscious and subconscious mind. Basically; the conscious and critical "self 1" can often impede the innate performance of the subconscious "self 2." Gallwey summarizes: To still the mind one must learn to put it somewhere. It cannot just be let go; it must be focused. Every game is composed of two parts, an outer game and an inner game. The outer game is played against an external opponent to overcome external obstacles, and to reach an external goal.
On Bad Habits
He argues that we aren’t practicing and learning correctly and suggests a new method that is based on the concepts of playing an inner and an outer game, governed by two selves, one that relies on instinct and the other that governs the thinking mind. The Mental Game of Tennis and the Inner and Outer Selves
W. Timothy Gallwey (born 1938 in San Francisco, California) is an author who has written a series of books in which he has set forth a new methodology for coaching and for the development of personal and professional excellence in a variety of fields, that he calls "The Inner Game." Since he began writing in the 1970s, his books include The Inner Game of Tennis, The Inner Game of Golf, The Inner game of Music (with Barry Green), Inner Skiing and The Inner Game of Work. Gallwey's seminal work is the The Inner Game of Tennis, with more than one million copies in print.[1] Besides sports, his training methods have been applied to the fields of business, health, and education.[1] To the extent that the mind is preoccupied with the seams, it tends not to interfere with the natural movements of the body. If a mother identifies with every fall of her child and takes personal pride in every success, her self-image will be as unstable as her child’s balance. For the sake of your mental health and your productivity, practice holding your attention in the here and now. On Control
There is also variety in how people feel about the game being played in front of them. This includes varieties in motivation: Slumps are part of the process. They are not “bad” events, but they seem to endure endlessly as long as we call them bad and identify with them. When we plant a rose seed in the earth, we notice that it is small, but we do not criticize it as “rootless and stemless.”
One can control the effort he puts into winning. One can always do the best he can at any given moment. Since it is impossible to feel anxiety about an event that one can control, the mere awareness that you are using maximum effort to win each point will carry you past the problem of anxiety. Of course, easier said than done. When we’re in the mental habit of judgmental self-talk, it can feel more like something that happens to us rather than something we have control over. Better identity investment vehicles include hard work, kindness, curiosity, learning, generosity, and the like. On Inner Peace A corollary of this is that it’s surprisingly easy to break bad habits and establish positive ones when you have a meaningful, rewarding, clearly defined vision for an alternative habit that meets the same needs as the old one in a healthier, more productive way. There are also all kinds of subliminal games that are happening between players that are much more difficult to figure out.
On Focus
I suspect a big reason many people have a hard time with concepts like acceptance, mindfulness, and non-judgment is that they imagine these terms imply a kind of passivity and weakness. But nothing could be further from the truth.
These can affect play—for example, players who are ultra-concerned with winning at all costs might ironically be able to play very well until match or game points, at which time they have trouble closing.
On Excellence
We are all consistently playing games with different goals. Your goals in your tennis match may not be the same as your opponent’s. To achieve your goals, you have to figure them out and then conquer the obstacles to success, external and internal, in front of you. the inner game. This is the game that takes place in the mind of the player, and it is played against such obstacles as lapses in concentration, nervousness, self-doubt and self-condemnation. In short, it is played to overcome all habits of mind which inhibit excellence in performance.” Side note: there's a lot of overlap here with the "system 1" and "system 2" proposed by Daniel Kahneman (as summarized in Thinking, Fast and Slow), but The Inner Game of Tennis was written several decades earlier! the key to better tennis—or better anything—lies in improving the relationship between the conscious teller, Self 1, and the natural capabilities of Self 2.” The simple idea underpinning the book is that human beings do not actually have a single mind, they have two. They have a conscious mind and an unconscious mind, with both systems underpinned by different neural circuitry, and the interaction between these two different systems might hold the key not just to success in sport but too much else in life besides.
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