Compassion
How to support, nurture, and educate
Eliminating Anxiety
Spoiler alert: it's impossible. If your goal is to eliminate anxiety or "block out" the bad thoughts, whether they are distracting or negative in nature, you're playing a losing game. This can be hard to accept for many athletes...
Cognitive Tool to Deal with Criticism
Boston Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla presents a perfect example of how to deal with criticism that stems from a classic tool in working on your mental game, reframing, when discussing the unfair criticism that Jayson Tatum receives.
Impostor Syndrome: Signs, Consequences, and How to Combat it
Imposter syndrome, characterized by perfectionism, worrying about failure, comparing yourself to others, and feeling like your achievements are due to luck, can be normal in small doses.
Why Do Athletes Drop Out Of Sports So Frequently?
Dropout rates are increasing amongst athletes in team sports. While there may be some explanations that are less worrying, like kids wanting to try new hobbies as they go through adolescence, others are more under the control of parents, coaches, and even the athletes themselves.
Emotional Intelligence: The RULER Approach
Why is emotional intelligence important for athletes? It leads to emotional regulation. We all know an athlete who is able to more efficiently emotionally regulate themselves are poised to perform better. Here is how you get started...
Irrational Beliefs Athletes Fall Prey To
Albert Ellis is famous for conceiving irrational beliefs most, if not all, humans fall prey to during their lives. Let's examine some with the context of sports in mind; reframes will be provided below each irrational belief.
The Comparison Game
It’s human nature to compare yourself to others, particularly those in a better position than you are. Without awareness of this mental performance pitfall, it can lead you down a track that undermines your performance, mood, and ability to reach your potential.
Psychological Flexibility
Psychological flexibility is a trait commonly used to describe athletes with a strong mental game. It’s something that is sought after by athletes new to their competitive career, ones who have been in it for years, and everyone in between.
The Power of Positive Self-Talk
Why is it that we berate ourselves with such horrible attacks, but when a teammate or a friend makes the same mistake we offer them encouragement, support, and advice?
Here’s how resilience can help you cope with stress
When you’re stressed, you’ll likely do whatever it takes to feel more relaxed in the moment. But wouldn't it be nice if you had a way to help yourself before encountering stressful situations? This is where resilience comes in. When you build resilience, you can manage
Adapt to Ongoing Changes with Optimism
Our constantly evolving situation means that you’ll have to revisit your plan and adapt with agility even without major setbacks or challenges. Setbacks and challenges will be highly likely. These challenges can demoralize your family-team, and create unnecessary conflict among members. Instead of blaming each other, you’ll want
Finding Your Purpose
Purpose makes us more resilient. Perhaps the clearest study showing bottom-line gains from instilling a sense of purpose was conducted by Adam Grant at a call center in 2007. The call center focused on bringing in donations for college scholarships. The five-minute purpose intervention involved introducing the students receiving scholarships