If you read my last blog, thank you. I’ve wanted to write about something like that for a while. I sent that entry to a few of my friends who I know think and feel the same way, and they said they loved it. That really meant a lot to me.
I want to speak today about something I guess you could say is pretty similar to last time, or falls in the same bracket at least. Visualisation.
The idea to write this came from a conversation I had over lunch with Tanahashi San. Tanahashi San is at the dojo almost everyday, whether its to workout, eat, do an interview etc. Sometimes we’ll just say hello and get on with whatever we are doing at that time. And sometimes if we are eating lunch at the same time we’ll have an in depth conversation. We’ve had a few of those in depth conversations, but this one really sticks out to me in particular.
Tanahashi San was telling me about his time as a young lion. He was telling me who his senpai were, what kind of training they’d do, who he used to share a room with. It was really interesting as of course over time everything evolves, it sounds like a completely different place to where I live now. He told me that he, Shibata San and Makabe San used to shared a room, which made me feel grateful because I have a room to myself haha!
But although there was many differences in the style and the way they did things back then compared to now, at the end of the day I could still relate to a lot of what he was saying. We talked about when you first get to the dojo, how scary it is. You’ve left all your friends and family and now you’re alone with these new people you’ve never met doing this gruelling training. But one thing in particular he mentioned that really stuck out to me was Visualisation.
He mentioned when he was training as a Young Lion that he would constantly visualise what he wanted to achieve in the future. He’d picture himself as IWGP Heavyweight Champion and that is what would get him through the training. That really hit home with me, because I do the same thing. I would be surprised if you asked anyone who’s been through something hard to reach their goals if they said they hadn’t visualised.
That goes back to my last diary entry. When you’re so focused on reaching a goal, you’re constantly visualising. You’re constantly picturing yourself in the position you want to be in which is why you can forget where you are in that present moment. I visualise constantly. I did it when I first came back from the LA Dojo. I’d picture myself alongside Karl, Alex & Clark as a member of the team, and 10 months later it was reality.
Since coming back to Japan from LA, I’ve been weight training at 5am in the dojo. Initially, it was because of jet lag and I was bored with nothing to do, but I’ve made a habit out of doing it regularly now. It’s really helped me mentally. I can get in to an empty gym, its still dark outside, put my headphones on and really get in that zone of true focus. This where I visualise the most. I picture things in my head, goals I want to achieve, things I want to accomplish in the future. That’s what gets me through my workouts and allows me to put 100% into them.
One of my aims this year is to truly tap into my mind and see how far a good mindset can take me. It’s one of the greatest gifts we are given as human beings. Anything is possible if you truly believe in yourself. Anything.
Thank you for reading this diary, as always I really appreciate. And I’ve already thanked him in person, but thank you Tanahashi San for having that talk with me. It lit a fire underneath me for sure!
Today I don’t have an official track, but instead I have this link:
Thank you for reading.
