Living in Japan, and meeting awesome Japanese people, one of the things I hear the most is “Nah, I can’t speak English…” and yet many of them are actually really good at it! But just by saying that phrase, their feelings towards English become negative, it becomes a set of “English + Difficult = Negative.” Ouch! Saying such things could set yourself up for failure, each time you say it.
When you think negative thoughts, your brain releases chemicals that can affect your body and mood, lower dopamine levels, causing stress, and eventually you might even think “This sucks!!” Noooo don’t go there! That’s such a waste! It all starts in your mindset, or what labels are you putting on whatever you’re trying to accomplish.

   I just had an awesome weekend witnessing 1698 participants in the most gruelling, challenging, toughest, and craziest 400m race in the world, at “Red Bull 400″ in Sapporo, Hokkaido, Japan. The start line is at the goal of a ski jump large hill, and the runners sprint race uphill 400m, at a sharp 37 degree angle. It’s so tough, you can’t even stand at the 30 degree and 37 degree points on the course. As the second MC of the event with MC Daigo as the main host, we were shocked and moved at the same time, watching these challengers face this daunting feat. As I announced in the opening remarks, the Red Bull 400 isn’t just a race to test your physical strength, but it’s also a mental battle, you against you, and whether or not you believe in yourself climbing this massive large hill.

   Before you even start any race, you need to have the right mindset if you want to finish well. You can see in the runners that face the challenge, their eyes have a different look, they’re on a mission! How much training they did until the big day adds to their confidence, but it’s also about believing in yourself, your body, and your skill.

   I was the second MC for the Sapporo Red Bull 400, I wasn’t running, but I had a huge challenge for myself: reading a long list of sponsors out loud in Japanese, and doing my best to introduce one of the best competitions in the world, Red Bull 400! I absolutely love this race, and each year we have more and more participants coming to join the celebration. It’s awesome, but it’s also a long day of talking, explaining, introducing, and making sure everyone has a great time drinking Red Bull~ 

    So before the day even started, I had to tell myself: “It’s going to be the best day today.”

“All participants are going to love this event, and we’ll do our best to make that happen”

“I’ve read my script over and over, it’s muscle memory now, I can do this, and I can do it well!”

“What’s most important is that everyone has fun, so get rid of any nerves, and have fun myself!”

etc etc etc

   I needed to get myself into the winner mindset, and DJ Tama did an awesome job with the music from 7am to 5pm giving us the beats to get us into that great atmosphere already.

In the podcast today I mentioned the movie “Facing the Giants.” Here is the inspirational crawl scene, you can watch it on YouTube! I highly recommend watching this.

The coach said “Have you already written Friday night down as a loss?” Have you already labeled it as a failure? Have you already given up before you even started?

Whatever you’re trying to accomplish or get better at, try to get rid of any loser thoughts or labels against it. Replace that with “It’s going to be good!” 

I hope the song recommendation helps get you into that mood with the lyrics: “Tonight’s going to be a good night.” And each time that repeats, believe in it more and more! Come on!!!

Can you tell the difference when you believe in yourself or doubt yourself? Would you consider yourself a winner, in your workplace or in your hobby/skillset? Let us know what you think about this topic!

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Thank you~