FIND OR SHOOT VIDEO OF YOUR FENCING AT ITS BEST

I also went back through the thousands of images and hundreds of hours of fencing videos I had accumulated over the years to find the moments where I felt like I was at my personal best. Watching these clips helped me recreate the feelings of being in the “zone” that I had during those bouts.. I found moments from a full range of competitions (from World Championships to NACs) and looked for certain touches that I had either executed perfectly or reminded me that taking risks was an essential part of my best fencing.

For example, I wove in footage from the 2004 Olympics during the final rotation of our Bronze Medal Match with Russia, in which I beat Sergei Sharikov* 9 to 4. It was one of the moments I remember best from those games and wanted to create more like it in the coming years. I also put my own clips next to those of Montano and Podzniakov to remind myself that I, too, could produce amazing touches when I maintained my focus and confidence.

WEAVE IN KEY MESSAGES

As a psychology major in college, I spent a lot of time thinking about how I could improve my mental game. A key aspect that I focused on was my “self-talk,” which, in other words, is the ongoing conversation happening in my head. You often don’t realize it, but you are constantly talking to yourself (some refer to this as your inner monologue). Most often it’s reflexive, but it’s important to take control of what you are saying to yourself during critical moments because it can change the way you feel, and thus the way you act. For example, if you are losing a match 12-8, your inner voice may chip in and say “It’s over,” which will completely change how you fence in the final touches. If, instead, you say “One touch at a time,” you can give yourself a much better shot at staying focused and getting back into the match.

Over the years, I developed some key thoughts that I wanted to reinforce in my self-talk, which I then wove into the video. For example, “Act Tough. Think Tough.” was a mantra I used to remind myself of the importance of mental resilience in difficult moments. “Just Believe” was another that I would repeat over and over to myself when I wasn’t feeling at my best.

I would strongly encourage you to take control of your self-talk. The process starts with first noticing what types of things you say to yourself. Then working to adjust disempowering language to some that is more confidence inspiring. One key characteristic of successful people is the way they frame challenges in their mind. For example the aforementioned snowboarder, Sean White, when talking about his mindset says, “I still think of myself as the rookie coming up...The best way of dealing with pressure is thinking it’s fun.” I love this way of thinking about tough situations because it shifts your focus to see the opportunities before you.

WHAT IS THE COST OF MAKING A MOTIVATIONAL VIDEO?

With abundant free (or cheap) video editing software, the birth of Youtube and a smartphone in practically every person’s hand, this method is far easier to execute now then when I created my video. I had to scour the internet to find a handheld digital video player small enough to bring to a competition!

The primary cost of a motivational video is your time. It takes a lot of effort to source the clips you like and weave them together in a way that feels seamless and inspiring. It’s important to keep in mind how much you can learn and achieve through this effort. Remember, too, Pareto’s Principle which states that 80 percent of the effect is achieved from 20 percent of the effort. In other words, this isn’t a Jerry Bruckheimer Production and it doesn’t have to be super slick to be effective!