Your Inner Edge
Business Success and Inner Development through High
About the Author
Charles Lambert, Ed.D.
Charles Lambert, Ed. D. is an expert in
modern western behavioral science
and ancient eastern warrior training and
self-development systems. He utilizes
his expertise in speaking presentations
and training programs for corporations
addressing issues of productivity,
performance, and motivation and on an
individual level in private practice as a
personal trainer/performance coach.
He managed Cyborg Corporation's
western territories, recruiting, training,
and coaching an international sales
force for computerized physiological
and engineering data acquisition
systems. He designed and directed the
Chrysalis Executive Lifestyle Change
Program for Kingwood resort in
northern Georgia and was chosen to
design the first commercial "Peak
Performance" program for the New
Zealand Institute of Business in
Auckland. Through his company,
"Cutting Edge Experiential Learning
Systems," he is state authorized to
award continuing education credits to
health professionals who study his
mind/body and bio-mechanical health
fields.
Now that Dr. Lambert has written Your
Inner Edge everyone will be able to
benefit from his unique, powerful
system of performance enhancement,
self-development and inner
enrichment!
Performance Training, Self-Motivation & Warrior Spirit!
Author: Charles Lambert, Ed. D.
Publisher: Trafford Publishing
Date of Publication: 2003
ISBN: 1-55395-483-1
Number of Pages: 242 pages
The Big Idea
The author contends that personal training and coaching can help
individuals to gain the “edge” required for them to excel. As other
success-minded professionals avail of the services of personal
trainers and coaches to gain such an edge, readers can have as
personal a training through the author's book. The book can be
used both as a stand-alone training manual and as part of a
learning system known as the Internal Technology (IT) Training
Program. The book is a collection of techniques and principles
from various disciplines with accompanying experiential exercises
to facilitate understanding and application.
Introduction
In the book, the author claims that research studies have shown
that individuals go through several stages before actually exerting
effort to learn something new or to take action. These stages are:
§ Pre-contemplation - stage wherein an individual is not yet
aware of the benefits to be gained from learning or
practicing.
§ Contemplation - stage in which the individual, having
become aware that change is possible, evaluates its
benefits.
§ Preparation - stage in which having convinced himself that
the benefits are worth the effort, the individual goes
through the learning process.
§ Action - stage wherein the individual uses what he has
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 Your Inner Edge by Charles Lambert, Ed.D.

learned in his daily life in order to attain his goals and dreams.
§ Maintenance - stage wherein the individual maintains learned skills and
continues to gain benefits.

Internal Technology
Internal Technology (IT) is an experiential learning system designed to discover,
explore, and develop the latent abilities of an individual's mind and body to reach
their highest potential. IT is an integrated system of proven, research-based
techniques and principles -- core skills required to bring about an individual's internal
and external success.

The core skills can be learned by spending fifteen to twenty minutes a day, five days
a week, for three weeks on the Program. Proficiency can be maintained with five
minutes of practice every other day thereafter.

The IT Program is comprised of five modules:

• Module 1 guides you in experiencing two basic, well-researched
techniques:
- mental rehearsal (involving the pictures you see inside your head)
- cognitive hygiene (involving the words you say to yourself
internally)
• Module 2 introduces you to focusing and winning feeling techniques.
• Module 3 shows you how to apply your newly-acquired power to gain an
edge in life.
• Module 4 addresses the issues of martial spirit, persistence, and motivation
in actualizing your dreams.
• Module 5 guides coaches, managers, supervisors and others who wish to
motivate and inspire others toward optimal performance and productivity.

Module 1: Your Biocomputer

Think of your body and brain as hardware and thoughts (cognitions) and mental
pictures (imagery) as software. When your hardware and software work in
synchronicity the result is a goal-seeking biocomputer.

Your biocomputer accepts commands through imagery (mental pictures) and words
(self-talk). You already engage in imagery and self-talk. The objective of module 1
is to train you to align your imagery and self-talk with your goals so that the imagery
and self-talk you employ do not hinder you from but move you forward toward the
attainment of your goals.

Imagery / Mental Rehearsal

The nervous system provides the sequence, pattern, and timing of behavior. When
you visualize a behavior, you are providing your nervous system with a blueprint to

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 Your Inner Edge by Charles Lambert, Ed.D.

follow. Mental rehearsal is therefore as valuable and as effective as physical

practice. Mental rehearsal facilitates skill building and performance enhancement.
In mental rehearsal, it would be best if you:
• Practice while in a deeply relaxed, receptive state of mind and body.
• Imagine the action as continuous, as a whole, and in as much detail as
possible.
• Practice incorporating as many types of sensory detail into your mental
imagery as possible.
• Visualize the scene as it will actually look through your own eyes.
• Rehearse handling yourself in problem situations which may arise.

Process imagery is the mental rehearsal of the different steps that lead to the
successful performance of a target behavior or skill.

Modeling is the process of learning to do something by watching somebody else do it

first. Modeling is most effective if the model is like you. Thus, you can learn by
creating an ideal model in your mind of the you you wish to be. You can then use your
ideal model to rehearse handling situations you are likely to face.

Modeling can also occur unintentionally. This is why you should be careful in
choosing the individuals whose company you frequently keep.

Goal imagery is when you visualize yourself as already having achieved a goal.
Goal imagery is useful for reminding your biocomputer of your goal and therefore for
keeping you motivated and working toward your goal.

Cognitive Hygiene
Cognitive hygiene involves monitoring your internal verbalizations– your self-talk.
Your perceptions, interpretations, beliefs, and emotions regarding reality stem from
your choice of thought content and self-talk. Self-talk often triggers internal imagery
and vice-versa. It is therefore important to choose what you think about and what
you say to yourself. More important, it is essential to remember that you are not your
thoughts. Thoughts are merely mental objects which you can choose to change to
serve your purpose.

The basic cognitive hygiene technique consists of the following steps:

• Tune in. Develop the habit of systematically tuning-in to listen to your self-
talk. Since self-talk programs your biocomputer, your self-talk affects your
mood, your energy level, your self-esteem, your motivation.
• Take stock. Be aware of what you are saying to yourself and its effect on
you. Remember that you are capable of choosing your thoughts and that
your thoughts affect your performance.
• Talk back. If your self-talk is negative or is having a negative effect on you,
talk back to refute the self-talk. Most negative self-talk contains distortions
of reality. Refute the self-talk to make it reflect reality.

The author cites Martin Seligman, MD, author of Learned Optimism, as his source for
claiming that you can train yourself to think optimistically. The author further claims

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 Your Inner Edge by Charles Lambert, Ed.D.

that research has shown that optimistic thinking can increase your success and well-
being.

Module 2: Alladin’s Lamp: Gaining Your Inner Edge

Your optimal performance state is found in that instance when everything goes right
-- that instance of your best performance. The distance between your best and
worst performance is your performance range.

The Focusing Technique

Focusing is comprised of the following components:
• Physiological relaxation
• Attention control skills
• Cognitive / behavioral science principles
• Classical conditioning
• Cognitive / somatic integration
• Self-monitoring skills

There have been times when you have experienced integrated functioning that has
resulted in enhanced performance. You probably reached this enhanced
performance state, better known as the zone, by accident. With practice, you can
enter the zone at will, that is, by design.

It has been noted that the mental and physical aspects of the zone cannot be
divorced from each other. Enhancing one enhances the other. Being in the zone
involves the overall integration and enhancement of both mental and physical
functional abilities.

The exercises in this section are designed to:

• Increase your sense of confidence, self-efficacy, and personal power.
• Help you prove to yourself that you possess capabilities and resources that
significantly exceed what you now think as your normal, everyday level of
functioning.
• Give you more practice in integrating your mental and physical functional
capabilities and concentrating in the face of pressure and novel task
demands.
• Help you gain enough confidence in IT techniques that you will actually
apply and benefit from them in your daily life.
• Provide you with feedback on how well you are learning the core skills of IT
and give you the motivation and confidence in IT necessary to commit to the
three-week training program of IT.

The focusing technique helps you to train yourself to let go of negative emotions that
distract you from the here-and-now. This helps you to perform under pressure and to
project a strong image to others. By being watchful, you can recognize

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 Your Inner Edge by Charles Lambert, Ed.D.

opportunities. Through focusing, you can bring your optimal performance to bear on
opportunity.

Concentration and Performance

The focusing technique can help enhance your attention control skills. Concentration
is an aspect of attention control.

Citing Dr. Robert Nideffer, of A.C.T.: Attention Control Training, the author states:
We need the ability to adopt the kind of attention most appropriate to the demands of
a specific situation to perform at our best:
• When attention is broadly focused and directed externally, it helps you to be
aware of everything in your immediate environment. This involves a relaxed
widening of awareness with an alert responsiveness to change.
• At other times it is desirable to focus attention externally, but in a narrow
manner, so as not to be distracted by irrelevant stimuli around you.
• Broadening attention and turning it inward permits the balancing and judging
of diverse factors in situations and making rational, calculated decisions on
which to base long-tern plans.
• Once you've mentally surveyed all relevant factors and calculated the
different probabilities of success for different options, you will want to narrow
your internally focused attention to actively make decisions or otherwise
engage in mental problem solving.

The Winning Feeling

This internal feeling is the subjective part of your optimal performance state. This
occurs when your mental and physical functioning are so harmonized to allow you
access to all your internal resources and performance potential. When you are in
this state you are said to be in the zone.

The optimal performance state is holistic. As such the physical and mental elements
affect each other and tend to move in the same direction.

You can practice getting into the optimal performance state through visualization.
You can link your winning feeling to the focusing technique. With practice you can
mentally prepare yourself to perform at your best even in critical situations.

The Elements of Performance, Motivation and Change

This section provides a conceptual framework for designing your action plan for
optimal results. The section discusses:
• Affirmation. This is the starting point of the change cycle. Affirmation
motivates you to allow yourself to be motivated.
• Mission / purpose. Your personal Purpose Statement should address what
you truly care about. It should be something that you can be so passionate
about because it is sacred to you.
• Goal-setting. When goals flow from and support a heart-felt Purpose, they
become exciting to you because they define just how you are going to fulfill
your Purpose.
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 Your Inner Edge by Charles Lambert, Ed.D.

• Shaping. To shape is to break down a goal into smaller, more manageable

steps. The easier way to do this is to work in steps backward from your goal.
• Feedback. It is important to engineer feedback into your plan. Feedback
maintains action and effort over time.
• Reinforcement. Reinforcement is a type of reward for displaying a
desirable behavior. Steady reinforcement will help keep you motivated.
• Environmental factors. Our behavior, motivation, and performance are
significantly affected by our environment. It is therefore wise to engineer
your environment to influence you in a positive manner. Do not forget that
you have a physical environment, a social environment, and an internal
environment. All these environments should be supportive of your goals.

Module 3: The IT Training Regime

IT is effective. It will work if you practice the techniques long enough and if you
internalize them. The IT Training Program is designed to make IT work for you.

The Daily Practice Ritual

You should have:
• A special place -- one that you don't often use for any other purpose
• A special time -- choose a time that you can maintain on a regular basis
• A special agenda --
- Focus -- begin by relaxing with the focusing technique
- Mission, purpose – reinforce your Purpose statement by reciting it
- Deep relaxation -- focus again to allow yourself to relax even more
deeply
- Your inner edge -- call up your winning feeling
- Change the past -- review the past 24 hours. Are there any
instances where you wish you had behaved or performed
differently? Visualize the undesirable event through your own
eyes. Then replay the event and visualize yourself behaving and
performing as you would have liked, instead of as you actually did.
Mentally rehearse replacing self-defeating, non-productive
behaviors with positive traits, attitudes, and actions in specific
situations.
- Process Imagery -- focus the power of your winning feeling on
your immediate future. It is critical that you recognize just what you
need to do to bring about whatever you define as success. You
must analyze these actions in terms of specific inner (mental) and
external (physical) behaviors under your control.
- Goal imagery -- visualize yourself having achieved the next 24
hours' goals as specified in your action plan and feeling good about
your performance. Recall how your daily actions and
accomplishments lead to your long-term goal. Next visualize
yourself as having achieved your long-term goal and enjoying all the
benefits of having done so.

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 Your Inner Edge by Charles Lambert, Ed.D.

- Real-time practice -- rehearse moving, talking, acting in the zone.

- Practicing the focusing and cognitive hygiene techniques --
an important part of focusing consists of building a habit of regular
self-monitoring. This can be used to great advantage in learning
skills and making behavioral and lifestyle changes.

Module 4: Finding the Sweet Spot and Martial Spirit

High Level Motivation
A study has shown that individuals actually enjoy themselves the most when they
are engaged in the pursuit of valued, well-chosen goals.

The author cites Mihalyi Csikzenmihalyi as having developed flow theory. Flow is a
theory that addresses enjoyment, motivation, and performance. Flow is defined as
optimal experience.

Csikzenmihalyi also defined pleasure as “a feeling of contentment when

expectations or desires set by biological programs or social conditioning have been
met.” Pleasure is homeostatic, it does not lead to personal growth or achievement.
It does not move you forward. Enjoyment, on the other hand, is felt when you move
forward and achieve something new. It should be noted that activities which lead to
such achievement pose some challenge that must be overcome. Pleasure can be
felt without effort. Enjoyment requires concentrated attention.

When body, mind, and task are integrated so you are capable of high performance,
this integrated functioning -- flow -- is extremely enjoyable and reinforcing. Your
work can be a source of great satisfaction when you've learned to enjoy flow while
engaged in tasks critical to your productivity and advancement rather than in
pursuits irrelevant to your Purpose and success.

Martial Spirit and Optimal Performance

Research reveals that people with the fortitude and strength of spirit to overcome
adversity score high in a psychological variable called “hardiness” or “mental
toughness,” a major component of martial spirit. Three factors that contribute to
mental toughness are:
• According to research, mental toughness is enhanced by a sense of
personal power and control -- an individual's perception that he can
influence the course of life events.
• Mentally tough individuals are able to view change as a challenge rather
than as a cause for anxiety.
• The third factor found by research to strengthen mental toughness is a
sense of personal commitment to whatever job, project, or challenge has
been undertaken.

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 Your Inner Edge by Charles Lambert, Ed.D.

Module 5: In Summary
The author's Purpose Statement is, “to feel that sense of satisfaction and
accomplishment which results from helping others to master knowledge and skills
that they value.” He has written this book in pursuit of his Purpose.

The author further states that you may already have come across some or all of the
techniques discussed in this book. He admits that other books dealing with mental
training describe similar techniques. The author's contribution, however, consists of
coupling proven, standard techniques with exercises which help individuals to
immediately experience the techniques' powers themselves. This makes the
techniques real and accessible, giving individuals sufficient confidence and faith in
the techniques so that they continue on to practice and benefit from them.

The author encourages the reader to inspire and motivate others to increase
performance and productivity and to further spread the word about IT.
·

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