The Ultimate Price of Our Hyper-Achievement Culture
A truly tragic story of Madison Holleran, a U. of Penn student and track athlete, who committed suicide in early 2014. On the surface, she was a happy, and successful young woman. But inside there was turmoil. It reminds me of Sarah Devens, another star student-athlete, this time at Dartmouth (I wonder if the fact that […]
Read MoreThe High Cost of Pushing Your Kids Too Hard
A really painful article about how the hyper-achievement culture of ‘only the best is good enough’ that is engulfing America’s children is causing real problems for young people these days.
An important read for every parent who wants their children to be successful (which is pretty much every parent).
How and how hard are you pushing your children? At what cost?
Read MoreMental Training Begins in the Gym
Most sport psychologists work with athletes on the mental side of their sport in an office setting (usually one hour per week), providing them with mental tools that they can use during training and competitions. This approach makes about as much sense as a coach offering their racers technical instruction and then telling them to […]
Read MoreFour Steps to Making Corporate Change an Opportunity Not a Threat
In a post from a few years ago titled Why Corporate Change is Difficult, But Possible, I described the obstacles to and steps needed to produce positive and long-lasting change in both individuals and companies. This concern continues to be at the forefront of business leaders’ minds because the corporate world is in a constant […]
Read More5 Reasons Athletes Don’t Do Mental Training
Over the many years that I’ve been working in the field of sport psychology, I have championed the benefits of mental training for sports to thousands of athletes. This work has ranged from talks to junior programs to ongoing consulting with individual athletes and teams. As many of you know from my dozens of articles […]
Read More2,000,000 milestone reached on PsychologyToday.com
I’m excited to have just reached a new milestone of readership on my PsychologyToday.com blog: 2,000,000! It is really gratifying to know that so many people are reading (and, hopefully, benefiting from) my blog posts.
Read MoreMake Mental Training a Priority in the Off-season
This article is a challenge for you to take an essential, yet often neglected, piece of the ski racing success puzzle and make it a priority during the off-season. Let me elaborate in three ways. First, I speak to racers, coaches, and parents around world about the psychology of ski racing. Whenever I get the […]
Read MoreStrengthen Your Mind with Ski Racing Imagery
If you do anything to work on the mental side of your ski racing during this off season, it better be mental imagery. Why, you ask. Because there is no more powerful mental tool than mental imagery and it can have a huge impact on your ski racing. And here’s my challenge to you: If […]
Read MoreBenefits and Costs of ‘Affluenza’ Among Children
Here’s an unsettling infographic from Northwestern University researchers that describes the benefits and significant costs of raising children in an affluent environment. It also offers some useful tips on how parents can prevent their children from catching ‘affluenza.’
Read MoreNext Race Season Starts…NOW!
Note: This article is an encore presentation of a previously published article that never gets old. The race season is finally over. After a long and demanding winter, you’re probably tired of skiing (regardless of whether the season was a triumph or a disappointment). It’s time to hang up your skis, pack away your gear, […]
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