A Marine veteran uses the '3-minute drill' to help mental-toughness clients perform at their peak

marine corps

(US Marine Corps)

An English literature professor once gave me a piece of writing advice that has stuck with me to this day: When you're having trouble getting your thoughts out, imagine that you're the writer you most admire. What would that person say about this topic, and how would the writer say it?

It sounds simple — too simple, almost. But I imagine it works, at least for me, because it takes some of the pressure off. For little old me, it might be a struggle to come up with a brilliant insight, but for that fabulous writer I admire? No problem. And suddenly I'd have filled the page, if not with something brilliant, then at least with something coherent.

I recognized a similar exercise while reading "Ground Zero Leadership: CEO of You," a book by Andrew D. Wittman, a Marine veteran who now coaches mental toughness. (The book is available on Wittman's website but not on Amazon.) The author, who also holds a Ph.D. in theology, calls it the "3-minute drill," and he has his clients go through it before a performance event.

The first step is to locate the person at the very top of your field — the "champion." Maybe it's the best manager, or salesman, or athlete. Then learn everything about that person by watching him or her perform and reading everything he or she has written.

Here's how the drill breaks down:

Minute 1: Say only the things the champion would say before performing.

Minute 2: Walk like the champion would walk.

Minute 3: Breathe like the champion would breathe before the big event.

Finally, pick another champion and repeat the whole exercise.

You can liken this strategy to the practice of pretending you're smarter than everyone else which, according to science, actually works to make people think you're intelligent. In both cases, you stop acting like "yourself," whoever that is, and act like the person you want to be until you convince others that you are that person.

At the very least, you'll temporarily feel less nervous and more competent. At the very best, you might eventually become some version of that person.

NOW WATCH: Former Navy SEAL commanders: When things get tough, forget motivation — you need discipline

More From Business Insider

• A former Marine shares 9 tricks to become mentally tough
  

• Warby Parker's CEO explains the revelation that led him to leave finance and consulting
  

• Spanx founder Sara Blakely learned an important lesson about failure from her dad — now she’s passing it on to her 4 kids