David: Mindfulness from the perspective of a mental performance coach
David Neithe is a husband, father, and mental performance coach with over thirty years’ experience. He works with professional athletes, individuals, and organisations to create change by giving them the tools to become the best version of themselves.
Dave learned the art of coaching and mental performance over his many years of life and formal education. Dave shares his own journey of change, the fundamental tools to his success and why mindfulness is an important factor.
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On-screen text reads "Change is possible"
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David Niethe:
I'm a mental performance coach. I work with high end athletes.
It's giving the mental tools to help them become
the best version of themselves.
I was brought up in South Auckland.
I had two very hard working parents.
We weren't a wealthy family.
I left home for Wesley when I was about 13.
First year there was pretty challenging.
There's a lot of bullying, really affected me.
I thought, you know, I'm going to make a promise to myself.
I don't ever want to be scared like that again.
I started in the gym.
I set a goal to bench 60 kgs, and I failed.
And I'm up in the gym by myself, and I'm rolling this damn thing off, banging it on the floor.
For me it was like, ‘I'm going to nail that’.
A vision is sort of identifying the things that ultimately can help support
and create your happiness.
You know my vision, there's a picture down there of me on stage.
That's the end game, so to speak.
The journey is how do I create that and make that a reality?
It wasn't until after I left high school
I went and saw someone, and I was diagnosed as dyslexic.
But, back in those days we didn't have a definition for that.
And so I was just sort of labeled ‘thick’.
I used to go in the library.
Into the philosophy, psychology, self-help.
I closed my eyes and grabbed like five books.
I just got so hungry for information.
The brain's like a vessel.
Now, sh*t goes in, sh*t comes out.
Good sh*t goes in, good sh*t comes out.
What do you really want?
Most people I would say, would probably say you're an idiot, or you're wrong,
or that's going to be challenging.
Well, that's probably an indication to go for it.
As you start breaking through, that framework of your world expands.
And you move from being fearful, to fearless.
Change from life by default, to life by design.
You know, mindfulness, I think, is for me, is about being honest.
What are those limiting beliefs?
You know, you cannot change anything you don't first acknowledge.
For me, mindfulness has helped me identify the fact that I had limiting beliefs with my intellect.
That limited my perception of what I could create in my world.
Being honest is an opportunity to create something better for yourself,
your life, your family.
It will set you free.
Start the conversation with this: ‘I value’ and then write things down.
Put it into a hierarchy.
So those values give us the direction we want to take.
Then start challenging.
What are some of the limiting beliefs, and what are some of the stories you're telling yourself?
Now underlying that, sometimes you got to have the courage to make change.
Is it going to be easy?
It will scare the f*ck out of you.
You know, ‘I'm quick to anger’
Okay why is that?
‘Because I'm frustrated’
Why is that?
What steps can I do?
Because, are you proud of that?
Is that what you really want?
Have the courage to break through all that.
When your mind starts to focus on that, you start creating something which is wonderful.
Which is the law of attraction.
And you start attracting like minded people to you.
And it's almost like they're like little beacons.
They just keep you on track. You know what I mean?
Because, you know, there will be moments when you fall off the wagon.
But I need you to have the awareness of that, to ensure that the wagon doesn't go
too far down the track.
You are gonna fail initially.
Protect your integrity, protect your goals, protect your vision, protect yourself from people
that will contaminate it.
Once you’ve started creating momentum, hold on man,
it's a f*cking ride.
Because then it just avalanches.
And what will happen is your whole faltering of the world changes.
Where you were constantly seeing doom and gloom, you see opportunity.
Sometimes it's important to be proud of yourself.
One of my first coaches ever said to me, and I wrote it down, and to me it's resonated ever since.
And that is: ‘I, David Paul Niethe, am undoubtedly proud of myself.’
And I’m proud of what I've become, I’m proud of my wife, I’m proud of my family, I'm proud of what I've created.
I'm living a life that is congruent with my values.
I'm living a life that is my design.
And owning that is pretty powerful mate.
People say ‘well what do you need to be able to do this?’
Mate, the only thing you need is 100 trillion cells.
Every single one of you have got everything you need right now to make that change.
And then you methodically step by step with conviction, you can create something for your life.
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