Learn how visualization can improve your business performance with coach Dylan Nadler.

They did a study a while back where they took a basketball team and they split them up into 2 groups, right? Group A and Group B. Group A, for an entire week straight, they took them to the gym and they made them work on their free throws. So they put the ball in their hands, put them on the line, practice their free throws for an entire week. Group B, however, they brought them to a classroom, had them sit down and just visualize themselves going through the free throw process. Well, they tested for the results and what happened? Both groups had the same percentage of shots made. You can train in so many different ways. Our brain is very receptive to the way that we think, and it's why it's so important to put the thoughts in your head that are positive, that are optimistic, that are gonna help you thrive and succeed, as opposed to thoughts that are gonna tear you down. And I think that's a great example to show how powerful the mind really is.

Hello and welcome to Dylan Nadler today. Dylan's joining us from Canada, and actually Dylan is former captain of the Canadian national taekwondo team, but now he has a business called MindLock, which is really helping with the mental training and fitness for athletes, but also for business people. He's going to come on the show and help us look at mindset. Dylan, thank you for joining us on the Unnoticed Show.

Thank you. Thank you. How are you doing, man?

I'm all the well for having you on the show because mindset is really top of mind for me and for so many people that have been working alone and at home for over a year now. Can you just tell us really something about Mind Lock and the parallels between sport and business and athletes and entrepreneurs? Let's start with that. And how can we be locked in to the purpose and the mission that we've got every day?

Yeah, for sure. So, you know, really quickly, you know, I believe that the mental game is the final variable when it comes to performance, right? You know, you can take 2 athletes that are evenly matched in strength and skill and stamina, And there has to be a winner, right? So when everything's evenly matched, what does it come down to? And you know, to me, the variable is always mindset. Who's mentally tougher? Who can perform under pressure? Who can execute their game plan when times get tough, right? That's what it comes down to. And that's you know what I want to focus on when I work with these athletes, especially considering it's underappreciated, right? People aren't really talking about it. People aren't focusing on it. And for me, being an athlete myself, I was always wondering like why aren't people focusing on this, especially when for me, you know, as a fighter, I was never the tallest, I was never the strongest, never the fastest, but it was my toughness and my mental skills that allowed me to be as successful as I was. So, you know, to have the opportunity to, you know, take others through that, you know, for me it was a no-brainer. So, you know, at MindLock, we're really developing the mental side of competition for high-performance athletes. But like you said, the crossover between entrepreneurs and athletes is major, right? Like I said, in a way, you know, athletes are entrepreneurs and entrepreneurs are athletes, right? Self-made, goal-oriented, disciplined, focused, right? Everything you need to do, you can have it. It's in the palm of your hands, but you need to grab it, right? And I think there's a big parallel between the two, and I think that's why we probably get along so much between business owners and athletes and everything in between.

Yeah, absolutely, Dylan. And I think people describe being in business as a marathon, not a sprint, but Obviously, there are times as a business owner that you need to sprint or you need to fight or you need to fence, right? You've got all these different disciplines actually, like I guess in sport, you have all these different aspects. So just tell us, where do we start? Because most of us that run a business think about cash flow, think about clients, think about marketing, right? And I don't think I've ever had a conversation with anyone about the mindset of owning a business. So I'd love to hear how we can even just approach that issue.

Yeah, I mean, at the end of the day, like I said too, with being an athlete, the mindset is the most important variable, right? Without that and without being in the right— having the right attitude and being in the right headspace, you're not going to be productive, you're not going to be efficient, right? You have to take care of your mental space and your mental well-being. A lot of times people put it at the end. They say, well, if I can accomplish A, B, C, and D, Well, then I can be happy. Then I can take a chance and relax and reflect and kind of go from there. At the end of the day, if you're not prioritizing your happiness first, well, your business is going to suffer, right? Because you're not able to give your best every single day, right? And I think that's a big kind of curve that we need to understand as business owners is if we just keep pushing happiness and all those different things at the finish line, if we don't get there by, you know, making You know, hitting the numbers that we want to hit and doing all of those business things. Well, what's the side effect and what's the downfall? Our happiness, right? Whereas if we prioritize happiness first and we prioritize reflecting on ourselves and taking those mental pillars, well, you know, we're going to be in a much better space to attack those business goals. And even if we don't get there, we're going to be much better people because of it.

So Dylan, does that then start with needing a sense of purpose? Because if you have Purpose, and you're working towards that gives you happiness? Is that where that starts? Because happiness in itself is a byproduct, isn't it? It's not something as an end in itself, right? It's what happens as you move through tasks. How do you help business owners and even athletes define what that's going to look like?

You know, for everybody, it's different. You know, for a lot of people, happiness comes from gratitude, right? When you're able to take a step back and, you know, really be appreciative for everything that you have in the moment, and kind of taking a second to to not worry about the future, then you can take a second to be grateful. And when you're grateful and you understand the privilege that we have in this very day, in this very moment, well, all of our big problems don't feel as big anymore, right? And for me, growing up as an athlete and kind of going through my entire athletic career, it was almost like living an entire life already so that when I transformed into business, I was able to look back and reflect on a lot of things that I wanted to help me. So for example, when I was competing, I was the type of person where I would never really pat myself on the back, right? I would go through, you know, these tournaments and have great performances, but there's always more, right? There's always another event, there's always another fight, there's always something to train for. So I never really let myself enjoy those experiences. And, you know, that was something I regretted later on, going, well, I did so many amazing things traveling around the world, fighting against Olympians, doing some crazy stuff, and I never really let myself enjoy it because there was always the next goal. So I told myself and I made a promise for business, when I'm building my business, I want to make sure to appreciate every small win, right? Because if I can appreciate every small win, I'm going to get there either way. Because I do believe, you know, business-wise, success-wise, I'm going to be successful, no problem. I might as well enjoy the small steps along the way because you can't get those back, right? You can only struggle for a short amount of time. Because once you make it, right, and the struggle just becomes little stories that you get to tell people, right? So for me, the way that I found happiness was to really appreciate every little win, even if it's just a client responding to me or getting a new client or having a great interaction with someone where I feel like I really made an impact in their day, something that usually I would just rush over and focus on the next goal, taking a second and going, you know what, that was really cool, good for me. And it just makes me, it makes me happy and it makes me feel a lot better than if I just were to put my head down and keep pushing.

Nice. So a couple of things in there, Dylan. One is that, you know, focusing on profit growth isn't necessarily going to give you happiness growth, right? Secondly, celebrating successes individually and as a company— any tangible ways that you can do that? Because sometimes these are quite fleeting moments, right? You sort of move on to another email. Do you have any practices that you can share from the Mind Lock Program that we should be thinking about using?

For sure. I mean, one of the biggest things that I get all of my, all my clients to do is to set micro goals, right? Like daily, daily goals. I mean, we go down from long-term to short-term to training to daily, and, you know, we kind of hit everything on the line, but setting goals that you can do every single day. I think sometimes we really look far and we say, here's where I want to be in 10 years, or here's where I want to be at the end of the quarter. When in reality, some of the most important things are the things that we can do today. Right? Even if it's really small, even if it's just sending a few emails or responding to the thing that I've been kind of pushing off. And by doing those things and by setting micro goals, number one, it gives you a sense of success every day. Like, okay, no matter how bad I feel like my day went, at least I got to check off these boxes of the things that are important. And you get to feel a sense of relief. Like, okay, you know what? I defined success as A, B, and C today. I was able to check it off. Even if I had the worst day ever other than that, Because I got to check off those boxes, it was a good day. And I think sometimes we need to bring it really small because as business owners, we think really big, right? We always want the next big thing and we're striving for greatness, which is amazing. But you have to match that on, you know, the actual hard work side with what can I do today? Not only from a performance goal side of the things I want to do, but an attitude goal side of how do I want to feel, right? How do I need to feel today? to make those things happen. And a lot of times we neglect that, right? Not just what do I want to do, but how do I need to feel today to make that happen?

And I think that's a really good point about how our approach to the day, almost like landing a plane, if we're not lined up to the runway, it's going to be a rocky landing, right? So can you help us to understand maybe some processes or some practices that you've got within Mind Lock To help us because each day we wake up and then we have to go to work. For most of us, it's not even that far anymore. It's at home or in an office nearby. Dylan, how do we prepare ourselves for that attitude that will enable us to be successful even just at one small thing per day?

Yeah, and I think a lot of people have been doing this even before COVID And now with quarantine, it's becoming amplified, is really feeling like you're just going through the motions every day, right? You wake up, You go through the motions, you kind of clock in, clock out, and you go to sleep. Now, how do we separate that? And a quick visualization exercise you can do is before you start your day, close your eyes, take some deep breaths, and really visualize yourself going through the different aspects of your day, but incorporate as many senses as you can. How are things feeling? How do things smell? Incorporate all the senses and really put yourself in the mindset that you wanna be in while you're doing those activities. So for example, I might have a few sessions this afternoon. So if I were to visualize and not just imagine myself doing them, but imagine myself feeling great while I do them, right? Being energized, being focused, being on my game. And I'm really setting the expectation for that so that when I'm done my visualization and I carry out throughout along my day, well, now I have a reference point to tie it to. Well, how do I feel now compared to how I felt in my visualization? Is this matched? Is my energy the same? Is my optimism the same? And because you kind of start your day with this expectation through your visualization, well, now you have something to look back on and hold yourself accountable to and not just go through the motions. And I think doing something as simple as visualizing in the morning and planning out your day, I mean, people have their schedules that they write down, but it's a little bit, it's not introspective enough, right? To write it down and to follow it isn't the same as really visualize it, really feel it, take yourself through those moments, visualize yourself walking into these different rooms, being at your best, and then you get to live it out and you get to see.

So really that idea of scheduling the activities, but sort of living ahead through your day is very new to me, actually. I've sort of kept a journal each day, but this idea of sort of walking through the day and feeling how I should feel is quite new. What about activities and other senses you mentioned? Are we talking about like the race drivers have got headphones on to listen to kinds of music or certain kind of smells? Dylan, how Do we use other senses to cue us up for the day?

Yeah, you know, everybody's different, right? So what motivates me is going to be different than what motivates you. But you touched on a great point, is you have a journal, right? You're keeping track of all the things that go on throughout your day. And the benefit of keeping a journal is it builds a heightened sense of self-awareness. And when you're self-aware, you can reflect on those different things. So if I'm not self-aware, I go, you know, throughout my day, throughout my year, I'm not really changing anything. I'm not really tweaking anything. Right, because I'm just taking it day by day. Whereas someone like you, for example, you have a journal. So I don't know how often you go back and you look at the journal entries, but let's say you do it once a week or once a month. Well, now you're able to look at some trends and you can say, okay, well, interesting. Throughout this month, I had 4 really good days. I had 5 terrible days. Let me break those down. And through breaking those down, you're able to see, okay, what did I do on those days when I thought that I was really successful? And what did I do on the days where I wasn't? Were there people I was talking to? Did I have some good phone calls? Were there specific songs that I was listening to? Did I take a walk on those days? And you get to see it almost like a scientist collecting data as opposed to anything else, where you look at the variables, you manipulate the variables, but only through the reflection piece, like you said, is how you're able to build that self-awareness. So a lot of people say, well, how can I be more self-aware? You have to document your progress, right? And it's not hard. Taking a pen and paper, putting it together, writing in your journal. look back on it, and the information is really there. You just have to connect the dots. I mean, one of my favorite quotes of all time is, you know, you have to collect the dots to connect the dots, right? And I think by the process of journaling, you're collecting dots, and then when you look back and reflect, you get to connect them and see where they take you.

Nice. And there's an application called Morning Pages which will start to analyze for you what you've written by mood. What about The taking that best steps and getting the mindset ready for your team, Dylan, because many people are trying to motivate team members that they're not seeing. Can you share with us some wisdom from Mind Lock about the mental preparation for the organization, not just the individual?

I mean, listen, it starts with empathy, right? You know, everybody's going through their unique situations right now, and it starts with treating them like Like human beings, right? You know, I'm faced with challenges this year that I haven't had to face last year. Same with you, same with everybody on your team. So it really starts with asking those questions and not being afraid to get personal, right? Because as a worker, and especially as a loyal worker, sometimes you feel like your problems shouldn't be the company's problems, right? You know, I can keep it within me. I should be tough. And, you know, hopefully it doesn't come out in my work. Oftentimes it does, but because you haven't asked for help or you haven't expressed that properly, Nobody knows, right? And as a business owner and as a team leader, it's your job to work for your team. It's your job to make sure that your team is in the right headspace, that they're ready to go, they're motivated, they don't have all these external problems. So sometimes it's just saying, hey, you know, how have things been? You know, I noticed that, you know, you've been 5 minutes late for the last 4 meetings. Like, do we need to push it, you know, by 10 minutes? Is there something that you have that, you know, up until, you know, let's say we start at 4 o'clock, do you have something that takes you right until close to 4 that it would be more comfortable for you to push and really taking the time to get to understand these people on your team, because this is a personal time. I mean, like you were saying before, it feels like we're disconnected from the world because we're not seeing each other, but in a way we're more connected because like you said, if I would have done this podcast and I would have seen you in your office and you see me in my office, what do we really know about each other? But now I know that you have this sick cabin, right? You have some cool sculptures in your corner, bright painting behind you. I have a bunch of sports cards up here.

Yeah.

I have this NSYNC collector's action figures thing right there. Like, we're learning more about each other in a way from doing this from our homes than the alternative. So treating your team members like family, really understanding, you know, what they're going through, what their problems are, and empathizing. And that should be the first step to any productive relationship.

So as an entrepreneur, we need to get our own day organized and then be a coach and facilitator for the members of our team that might be struggling, it sounds like. And what about, Dylan, the ideas then of dealing with anxiety? And for example, this show is about being noticed and getting noticed. And when I work with clients talking about media interviews or presentations and pitches, can you give some guidance on how you've managed to overcome anxiety of performance? Maybe you didn't have that, but most people suffer from, from, if you like, showtime anxiety. Can you share with us how Mind Lock and your approach would get people through that?

Yeah, so, you know, in terms of the approach that we use with our athletes that struggle with anxiety, you know, it comes with building up a lot of the pillars that we already spoke about, right? Positive self-talk, visualization, really putting yourself in these experiences and visualizing the way that you want to perform and the output that you want to see, and then kind of reverse engineering it. So saying, okay, to me an optimal performance looks like this. Well, how can I break that down in the training process leading up to it, in my days leading up to it? And you kind of reverse engineer it where you figure out what makes you comfortable, understanding that, you know, what am I really stressed about? Am I stressed about underperforming? Because I can control that. Am I stressed about what people think of me? That's a little bit different, right? So it starts with asking questions of, well, not just— it's not enough to say, well, I have performance anxiety. It's, well, what are you anxious about? And you have to ask yourself those questions or maybe have somebody ask you those questions in order to really get to the root of it because everybody's different. And I mean, for me, you know, one thing that kept me confident even throughout, you know, media and interviews and stuff like that is remembering that like nobody really cares, you know? Like the way I think about it is back in like elementary school, right? If, you know, there were times where I'd have to do a project or a presentation in front of the whole class and I'd be nervous, right? I'm like, everyone's staring at me, the teacher hasn't told me to start yet. And it's just like really awkward. you know, kind of interaction. And a lot of people are like that. But for me, even from a young age, what I reminded myself is like, wait a second, these people in my class, they're not judging me. They're more worried about their own presentations that they have to do after me, right? So it looks like their eyes are on me and it looks like that they're judging everything I'm about to say, but really they don't even see me. They're so caught up in their own anxiety that I'm just kind of here presenting on my own. And when I saw it from that lens, It made me feel a lot more free. I'm like, okay, I'm in front of all these people, but really I'm not in front of anybody because nobody cares too much. They're worried about their own stuff. And when you realize that everyone's always worried about their own stuff, well, now it takes a big weight off your shoulders and you can just focus on what you have to focus on.

Right. And presumably from an entrepreneurial point of view, if you're thinking about what's worrying other people, that becomes the opportunity to serve and drives your business.

For sure.

And in terms of the sort of way that people can build this mindset into their business life, do you recommend that people have got this written down? For example, is there a kind of a workbook that people should have within the organization, Dylan? How does it become part of the daily culture for the individual but also for the organization? Because you want alignment, don't you, really, of the whole team. As you would in sport.

Yeah. Well, when we consult, you know, after every session, we'll go through either a worksheet or an activity or an assessment, and that gets sent to them right away. So they have it instantly, right? As opposed to having to do it any sort of way, it kind of has friction and it's a delayed process. They get those information sheets right away. But in terms of not even doing it that way, like you said, there's tons of tools that you can incorporate into your business, whether it's just journaling, right? Journaling after every workday or work week or after every you know, kind of team meeting, whether it's taking some time to reflect on your own self-talk, right? You know, an activity that I have with my athletes is write down a list of all of the negative self-talk statements that you say to yourself, and let's translate it into something positive. So for example, you know, one of the most cliché ones is translating I'm nervous into I'm excited, right? And the reason for that is the same bodily, you know, physiological functions. When you're nervous, your body responds in the exact same way as it is when you're excited. But just changing the label changes your interpretation of it, right? So sometimes going through those types of things, right? Feeling like I'm tired today. I don't feel like showing up. I'm nervous. All of these negative self-talk statements that number one, people aren't even necessarily aware that they're thinking. Step 2 is understanding it, having the awareness, and then translating it into something positive that ends up motivating you. So whether it's a goal setting sheet, whether it's a self-talk activity, whether it's taking, you know, 5 minutes before a meeting to really visualize yourself in the place that you want to be in, it's about being intentional. And it's about, you know, really prioritizing your mental space as opposed to pushing it to the end. And I think that's what I said at the very beginning is we need to really flip the script here. We have to put the mental side, you know, these brain neurological functions and our attitudes first, because when we can set that up as the foundation, everything that we grow on there is amazing. Whereas vice versa, if we're trying to build on this rocky foundation and hopefully get to a place where we feel satisfied, It's just a broken system, and I think that's where a lot of people are struggling.

Dylan, you sound like a man that can help a lot of people that are struggling with your amazing wisdom. Dylan Nadler, if people want to find out more about you and Mind Lock, where can they come?

Thank you, man. Well, you can check out my, my personal page on Instagram is @dylan_nadler with an underscore, and then for the business page, it's, uh, Mind Lock with an underscore as well. So you can check it on Instagram. I'd say Instagram's our biggest social media platform. I also just started a podcast called Locked In with Dylan, and you can find it on YouTube, you can find it on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, everywhere you get your platform, you get your podcast. And, you know, I've really been using that as a good place to, you know, have these conversations with people in the industries, right? Whether they're, you know, a pro athlete, whether they're a sports agent, whether they're a coach, and having these conversations. And instead of doing it behind closed doors in the format of a session, you know, doing it for everybody to watch where you can really learn from these things we're talking about. So for me, that's been a really cool twist that I've done, you know, over the past few months.

Thank you so much for joining me from Canada. Really enjoyed our conversation. So thank you to everyone who's joined us on The Unnoticed Show. You've been listening to Dylan Nadler, who runs a company called Mind Lock, and really an inspiring tale of putting happiness but also your mindset first. And if you put that part first, then the rest of your business success will follow. So thanks for listening to this episode of The Unnoticed Show. And until we meet again, I wish you the best of health, a profitable business, and a happy and productive mindset.

Thank you.

Thank you.