Note to Readers: The middle of race season is approaching and the biggest races are looming ahead. As the pressure mounts, I figured that all kinds of psychological issues are coming up for racers and parents alike. So, I thought I would devote the next few weeks to answering questions from you. If you have [...]
Now, more than ever, the corporate world is in a state of constant change. Whether increasing global competition, the emergence of new technologies, or the high turnover of company staffs, life in the business world is constantly in flux. Despite this reality, companies themselves don’t always adapt quickly or well to these ongoing tectonic shifts. This inability to evolve with the changing corporate landscape means that companies may be operating under paradigms that are outdated or not optimally productive. The result? A company that is not on the leading edge of their market and a company that, rather than riding the next paradigmatic wave, will be playing a perhaps- never-ending game of catch-up. It is not a question of whether or not your company will change in this ever-shifting marketplace. It is whether it will change and survive or it won’t change and it will die. I’m going to assume that you want your company (and, by extension, your job) to be one of the survivors. So the question is how can you help your company to change in ways that will ensure that it not only survives, but thrives in these uncertain economic times?
The sad reality of competitive sports is that many young athletes either have or will hurt themselves so seriously that it will end their seasons and potentially their careers. The good news is that surgical and rehabilitative technology has become so advanced that a full physical recovery from an injury that two decades ago might have been career-ending is now commonplace. But another reality of physical injuries is that the mind gets damaged too, but little attention is paid to how the absence of “mental rehab” can prevent athletes from returning to or improving on their pre-injury level of performance. As a result, I thought I would share some ideas I have about how injured athletes can ensure that their minds recover as fully as do their bodies.
An almost unavoidable part of parenting – unless, I suppose, you have a cadre of full-time nannies – is exhaustion, both physical and mental. Too little sleep, too few respites, and too little time dedicated to your own needs can all contribute to a state of deep fatigue that leaves you, at best, lethargic and unmotivated and, at worst, depressed or physically ill. And exhaustion leaves you without the energy to send healthy messages to your children to boot. Even worse, fatigue leads to expediency – one of the most harmful words in parenting – which means acting in your self-interest rather than what is best for your children. Unfortunately, “self-interest” and “good parenting” don’t play well together. If you’re exhausted, you’re naturally drawn to doing what requires the least amount of effort and energy. If you’re being expedient, you have probably given up on sending healthy messages to your children. So, for example, you give your daughter the cookie before dinner to stop her from whining even though it will ruin her appetite or you buy your son that toy in the supermarket checkout line because you don’t want him to make a scene. Easiest short-term solution? Definitely. Best long-term message? Definitely not.
In my last post, I described how difficult changing your life can be and the four obstacles that you must overcome to achieve meaningful and long-lasting change. Yes, change is difficult, despite the “quick and without any effort” claims of motivational speakers and self-help books. The reality is that nothing of value in life, including [...]
Focus may be the most misunderstood mental factor among racers. Most racers think of focus as concentrating on one thing really hard for a long time. In fact, a number of years ago, former Olympic champion said that she improved her skiing by staring at her skis for ten minutes a day. She may have [...]
Here are two YouTube videos of Manfred Pranger that beautifully illustrate the use of mental imagery and "fire-up" self-talk in race preparation: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n8dtZfI2YqE http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NtDZm6uHwgM&feature=related
Change is essential for your growth and development as a person. Without change, you are assured of staying just the way you are and doing things just the way you have always done them. For some people, that’s a good thing; they’re happy and fulfilled in their lives. But for many people, the current path [...]
The journey of raising your children to become successful begins with their participation in achievement activities such as ski racing. The goal of this involvement isn’t necessarily to find success in those early activities; that’s not always possible. Rather, this participation should initiate the process of instilling the values, attitudes, and life skills that are [...]
My latest blog post, Motivation: The Drive to Change, received "headline love" on HuffingtonPost.com's Mindful Living page.