Chapter 13 — Performance Analysis

Section: Three — Building the Subconscious Circle (closing chapter)

1-sentence summary

Build a Performance Journal — and use it the Mental Management way: record successes and solutions, not failures, because what you write about is what you reinforce.

Summary

Performance Analysis operationalizes the Principle of Reinforcement (Ch 6) into a daily ritual. Bassham prescribes a structured Performance Journal for every athlete: schedule, daily diary, solution ideas, successes (always), and goals. The choreographic discipline: you record what you did well and what you'd do differently next time — phrased as a solution, never as the problem. You don't write "missed the cut, putts were terrible." You write "tomorrow's putting drill: 50 lag putts at random distances; commit to my pre-putt routine on every one." The journal is itself a Self-Image input — what gets written gets imprinted. Bassham argues this is the most underused tool in elite training: athletes log scores religiously and never log the mental side, where the actual gains live.

Key scenes

• The journal page template — date / schedule / today's success / solution for tomorrow / goal status.
• An athlete rewriting "I missed three free throws" as "Tomorrow: 100 free throws with full Mental Program; commit to 'That's like me' after each make."
• The end-of-day rule: write something you did well first.

"Characters" referenced (concepts)

• The Performance Journal (full chapter; promoted from foreshadow in Ch 6)
• The Principle of Reinforcement (the operating rule the journal enforces)
• The Subconscious Circle + Self-Image Circle (recipients of journal input)

Locations / settings

End-of-day desk; locker room post-practice; quiet evening.

Visual motifs

A bound journal open to a clean spread, with "TODAY'S SUCCESS" and "TOMORROW'S SOLUTION" as section headers; a pen actively writing the success line; a stack of completed journals — a literal record of imprinted Self-Image data.

Source references

• https://www.benmunoz.com/with-winning-in-mind-by-lanny-basham/
• https://kevinconnelly.blog/2020/09/07/book-summary-with-winning-in-mind-by-lanny-bassham/
• https://www.robrashell.com/thelibrary/books/withwinninginmind/

Confidence

High — journal protocol (successes/solutions, not failures) is consistently quoted.