Victorious Warriors Win First

Most athletes lose the game in their head before the clock starts. The First Victory System™ teaches the elite mental strategy to win the battle in the mind before hitting the floor.

Does your athlete dominate in practice but disappear in the game?" They have the skills. They have the talent. But something is blocking the signal. We call this Interference. Think of a ship. The captain’s responsibility is making decisions and choosing a course. The crew is responsible for actually running the ship. Interference is when the captain micromanages rather than trusting the crew to do their jobs. The ultimate show of trust, and the goal of most athletes, is achieving a flow state where the captain, having chosen course, steps back and enjoys the ride while the crew execute their duties without hesitation.

The First Victory System is built on the three pillars of elite human performance:

  • The Thinking Mind (The Captain): We train the thinking mind (aka executive function) to identify targets, manage fear and arousal, quickly overcome setbacks and make strategic decisions under pressure.

  • The Doing Mind (The Crew): We program the doing mind (aka automaticity) to make tactical decisions and execute skills instantly and fluidly, bypassing the need for slow, conscious thought.

  • Self-Belief: We re-architect the athlete's internal self-belief system (aka performance schema). You cannot outperform your own perceived limits and anxiety sets in when the perceived challenge is beyond those perceived limits; we help you to increase your concept of what you are capable of doing in order to unlock your full potential.

The First Victory System

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Our Process

  • FVS Ship

    The Ship

    We use the metaphor of a ship with a captain and crew to help performers understand how their mind and body work together.

  • FVS Captain

    The Captain

    The captain is the performer’s executive function. These are the conscious thoughts of the performer. They are logical and precise but are slow and linear (there can only be one thought at a time). The captain needs to strategize and set a course but then let the crew execute their jobs to sail the ship.

  • FVS Crew

    The Crew

    The crew is the performer’s automaticity and motor control. It knows the workings of the ship in and out and is capable of doing several things at once with high precision. Its sole purpose is to make the ship do what the captain wants it to do.

  • FVS Thermostat

    The Thermostat

    Self-Belief acts as an internal climate control system. If an athlete’s self-belief is set to 'average,' then their brain will actively sabotage elite physical execution to 'cool down' to where they feel safe. By cranking up the Thermostat, we raise the athlete’s acceptable limits, unlocking their full potential performance without the brain pulling the emergency brake.

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The Ship Model

We use a simple and relatable model of how the mind of a high performer works in order to help them understand and work with their own mind.

3-Step Mission Profile:

  • Phase 1: The Captain (Focus): Eliminate Interference. We train Executive Function to maintain external focus and trust their crew to expertly sail the ship. We teach them to manage their anxiety and maintain optimal arousal so they can keep their mind on the task at hand.

  • Phase 2: The Crew (Automaticity): Unlock Speed. We teach the athlete how to “train” their subconscious like a captain would train a crew and then get out of the way to allow the clean execution of skills without interference.

  • Phase 3: The Thermostat (Self-Belief): Remove the Ceiling. We teach athletes to turn up their thermostat to allow their mind to accept elite performance so they stop self-sabotaging and execute to the top of their ability.

This metaphor is simplistic, but the results are undeniable. It is built on the work of:

  • Stan Kellner - Basketball Cybernetics

  • Lanny Bassham - Mental Management

  • Fitts & Posner - Motor Learning Theory

  • Sun Tzu - The Art of War.

The First Victory System teaches performers how to train their minds and learn new skills so that they are automatic when the storm comes. We train them what to think about and what to leave to automaticity. Finally, we train them to expand their performance schema so that they get the full power of their ship.

Not an Athlete? The Cockpit doesn't care.

If you are an executive or leader, you are fighting the same battle. The First Victory System works for the Boardroom as well as the Locker Room.

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