In this episode, I discuss fundamental psychological skills that can enhance performance and well-being for both athletes and coaches.

...as if a fire has torn through your brain or heart and left only charred emotional remains.  The metaphor is apt for the experience across sport and performance domains.  Both athletes and employees have described burnout as causing feelings of loss, devaluing, resentment, and exhaustion...

...By teaching your athletes how to focus on the present moment, you can give them a mental edge that complements their physical skills...

... whatever the name, the goal is the same: training your mind to stay in the "now." In sports, missing those fleeting opportunities because your mind is stuck in the past or worrying about the future can cost you big time...

I also work in research on clinical methods and have work published in research journals from time to time. This is one of those times.

Acceptance and Commitment Training builds the skill of distinguishing between the self-as-content (Self-stories), the self-as-process (Self-Story-Teller), and self-as-context (Where the story is told). Athletes and coaches can hook on the story as identity with catastrophic outcomes. I talk about how to notice the stories we tell ourselves so we can effectively navigate identity disrupting experiences such as injury or loss.

Mindfulness is becoming so ubiquitous it can be challenging to separate what the skill is and how to use it to an athlete’s advantage from the stereotypes of culturally appropriating hipsters and crunchy consumerism. Here are some trainable skills to build active and flexible attention in order to more easily induce broad present moment awareness experiences such as flow state.

Athletes experience anxiety more frequently than most. Here are some tools for coaches to work with their athletes during challenging experiences.

I also work in research on clinical methods and have work published in research journals from time to time. This is one of those times.