Listen Up: Why Earbuds are a Threat to Ourselves and Society
Given my subtitle, you might be thinking that I’m a Luddite or some crackpot Chicken Little (“The Skype is falling!!”). But I’m not some anti-tech kook (really, I’m not). But over the years, I have assumed the role of a modern-day Paul Revere (“The techies are coming!”), wanting to alert people to the real harm […]
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Unpack Your Emotional Baggage
In my last article, I explored the powerful influence of your emotional baggage on your life; it’s harmful effects on your happiness, relationships, and the pursuit of your life goals. Your response might be: “Okay, I now understand where my emotional baggage came from and how it affects me. But how do I unpack my […]
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How Emotional Baggage Starts Out Functional, Then Becomes Dysfunctional
The term “emotional baggage” has become an entrenched part of the personal-development culture. Emotional baggage is typically described as unresolved emotional issues from our childhood, including acute trauma, physical, psychological, or sexual abuse, ongoing stressors, family dysfunction, and other negative experiences, that shape our attitudes, emotions, and behavior, and detrimentally influence our current lives. Moreover, […]
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Amygdala or Pre-frontal Cortex: Which Would You Rather Use?
Over my decades-long history as both a blogger, author, and public speaker (as well as being a Ph.D. in Psychology who sees clients), I have come to appreciate the power of words. I often hear someone say that “it’s just a semantic difference” when discussing the use of different words that are seen as having […]
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How to Ride the Triathlon Emotional Rollercoaster
One of the things I love most about being a triathlete is the range and intensity of emotions our sport evokes in me. Doing triathlons is like living life with the volume turned up. There is something about triathlon that peels away the layers of our emotions and causes us to feel them in their […]
Read MoreWhat’s in Your Emotional Chamber of Pain? (Part I)
My experience, both professionally and personally, is that few people emerge from childhood unscathed from their upbringings. You get your psychological and emotional baggage from your parents (e.g., neglect, abuse), peers (e.g., rejection, bullying), traumatic experiences (e.g., loss of a parent or sibling), or popular culture (e.g., unhealthy values, expectations), to name a few. Sadly, […]
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Inside the Tri-Mind: Out Of The Blues: Dealing With Post-Race Depression
Anyone who has ever committed considerable time and energy to training and competing in a triathlon that is important to them knows the feelings. During training and the race, you are motivated, excited, and energized. As you cross the finish line, you are psyched, elated, and joyous at having accomplished your goal. Up to that […]
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Inside the Tri-Mind: Become an Emotional Master in Triathlon (and Life)
In the first three articles in my series on the impact of emotions in triathlon, I introduced you to how emotions can be weapons or tools in our triathlon efforts, how to break the negative emotional chain, and how to ensure that you feel disappointment rather than devastation, respectively. In the final article in the […]
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Do You Experience Disappointment or Devastation After a Subpar Triathlon?
It never feels good to have a bad race. You perform poorly and you naturally feel awful. It’s normal to experience negative emotions in reaction to results that don’t live up to your expectations. But what specific negative emotion you experience has a big influence on how that subpar performance affects you in the near […]
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Inside the Tri-Mind: Break the Negative Emotional Chain in Your Tri-life
One of the great emotional obstacles you will experience as a triathlete involves what I call the negative emotional chain. The negative emotional chain includes a linked series of unpleasant and interfering emotions you experience as you face the inevitable challenges of developing as a triathlete and making often-times unsteady progress toward your goals. The […]
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