149 – Stephen Baker – Mindset Coaching, the Subconscious Mind and Leveraging Novelty
Summary:
This week’s guest is Stephen Baker, former courtroom lawyer and entrepreneur, who made it as a professional poker player and mindset coach.
In this episode, we will talk about the subconscious mind, how to work with it in order to achieve your best performance, what leveraging novelty means and how you can apply it to your mindset practice.
Time Stamped Show Notes:
[00:05] Welcome to the show…
- 00:28 Stephen explains what he was doing prior to Poker, through Poker, and what led him to become a mindset coach. He studied in law school and become a lawyer in UK. After a few years of doing that, he realized that it wasn’t completely for him.
- 01:45 After setting up a law firm, and expanding it, he got to a point where he got aware that he wasn’t getting what he wanted out of life. During this period, he has already been playing poker and made the decision to become a professional poker player, which has stunted many people in his surroundings.
- 03:12 Stephen discovered that he had mental weaknesses, which he didn’t think he had, but poker brought it out to him. After working with Elliot, he started to see them and tackle them. He predominantly went into NTT’s and ended up being a coach in an NTT stable. At that point in his life, he discovered that coaching was his passion.
[06:03] Stephen gets asked how Hypnotherapy has worked out for him.
- 07:02 Although Stephen knew what was wrong, and nothing was changing, he was struck by the idea that the conscious mind being able to give you all the solutions is just not the right solution. He was asking himself why we’re not able to only rely on the conscious mind and mentions a few examples.
- 10:17 The subconscious part of our brain is designed to look out for danger. It’s not doing something wrong, but is only doing what it was told by evolution.
- 10:55 “You never completely overcome the problems of habit-change, but you can accept that there is a process.”
- 12:08 Stephen thought that he was in control over his own mind, until he started working with Elliot. He adds that we are significantly controlled by our subconscious minds and that he sees Hypnotherapy as a modality which can address that.
[13:35] Stephen describes the problem of seeing Mindset Coaching as an expense or overhead cost rather than an investment.
- 14:39 People oftentimes think that their minds can be fixed and that they’re like perfect robots then. Steve explains why it doesn’t work like that and why this has to be an ongoing process.
[15:48] Elliot asking Stephen on sharing some tips about the process and what has worked for him.
- 16:18 The number one tool for achievement in behavioral science is cue based planning or scheduling. Having a consistent schedule will help you achieve your goals. Also, do not get too far with it so that it gets overwhelming. Steve also mentions other foundational habits like sleep, diet and more.
- 17:28 Daily mindset work is important, but you have to change it up and be flexible. One advice from Stephen is that you should understand that you can leverage novelty, which is a flow-trigger.
- 19:45 Having a schedule, making mindset work a part of it and adapting the process to leverage novelty will be very valuable.
[25:48] Steve explains how he works today and what happens when a client comes to him.
- 26:00 “Your whole life impacts what you can bring to the table as a poker player.”
- 26:24 Mentioning how helping a client with his insomnia profoundly impacted the client’s poker performance. He also brings another example about relationships and how getting connected with other people is really important.
[28:30] Wrap up—Thanks For Checking Out This Episode Of The Primed Mind Podcast!
[29:10] Special Announcement: Stephen will become a big part of the show and will join Elliot in future podcasts.
Key Learning Points:
- “You never completely overcome the problems of habit-change, but you can accept that there is a process.”
- “Your whole life impacts what you can bring to the table as a poker player.”
- “You have to make mindset training enjoyable. Keep it fresh and find new ways to apply it to our progress.”
Contact/Resources
Follow Stephen Baker on Instagram
Get The A-Game Poker Masterclass
Free Poker Mindset Audios on Youtube
Free Primed Mind Primers on Youtube
Interested in working with a Mindset & Performance coach on your poker game? Send a message to support@pokermindcoach.com and our team will work to find the best option for you.
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