Occasionally, I'll play little mind games with myself. For example, a couple of days ago the Raptors took a big lead in the third quarter. When the lead exceeded 20 points, I made a deal with myself. I'd watch as if 20 points were shaved from our total. So, instead of a 26-point lead, I'd treat it like a mere six-point lead. My reasoning was that this would somehow prevent me from assuming the game was in the bag so I wouldn't be devastated if we somehow managed to blow it.
I admit, that sounds stupid, especially since I wasn't playing the game, I was just watching. It reminds me of my high school years when I'd set the alarm for 30-minutes earlier than I had to get up, just so I could lay in bed with that wonderful feeling I had another half-hour to go before jumping in the shower. As I'd learn as an adult, that was valuable time I could have been actually sleeping.
As a young adult, it was tough financially, but I'd put $200 a month into RRSPs as if I never had that money in the first place. By having that money taken directly from my payroll, I essentially tricked myself into budgeting with what was left over. That $200 a month, as far as I was concerned, did not exist.
More recently, I've been increasing my bike ride distances as I train for the Ride to Conquer Cancer. If I'm aiming for 30 km, and have 10 km to go, I'll tell myself I just have to do what Usain Bolt does in 9.58 seconds, but 100 times. Somehow, that makes the 10km seem like almost nothing.
What mind games do you play with yourself?
