Mental Muscle #1: Motivation
My upcoming Prime Sport 101: Train Your Mind like a Champion online mental training course will explore five mental “muscles” that you must strengthen to perform your best and achieve your athletic goals. The first mental muscle and the one that acts as the foundation for the development of all mental strength is motivation. Without your desire and […]
Read MoreMental Training Works, says Research
A recent study has demonstrated that mental training, even when used briefly online, does, in fact, work. The study, involving more than 44,000 participants, found that both self-talk and imagery, whether focused on the process or the outcome, improved effort, intensity, the experience of pleasant emotions, and performance on a competitive online task. From the […]
Read More3 Keys to Making Mental Training Work in Sports
When I speak to athletes and coaches, I ask them how important the mind is to sports success. With few exceptions, the response is that the mind is as or more important than the physical and technical side of sports. I am obviously biased given what I do for a living, so I won’t take […]
Read More3 Keys to Making Mental Training Work in Ski Racing
On June 1st, I will be launching my first-ever 12-week online mental training course designed specifically for ski racers. My motivation to develop this course was a need that I saw for racers and coaches to treat mental training the same way they do physical and technical training. So, I looked at what made physical […]
Read MoreDeliberate Practice is Overrated (Sorry, Malcolm Gladwell)
I’ve never been a big fan of either grit or deliberate practice. Of course, they make intuitive sense and have a lot of appeal because they send the message that if we do the right things, anyone can be a champion. Unfortunately, as I describe in my Prime Performance System (and those are just the psychological […]
Read More5 Mental Muscles for Athletic Success
You have certain muscles in your body that are absolutely essential for sports including your quads, glutes, abs, and hamstrings. The simple reality is that if you don’t actively strengthen these muscles, you will not be capable of performing your best. You should think about your mind as made up of ‘mental muscles’, the same […]
Read MorePractice is the Foundation of Athletic Success
Practice is the practical foundation of sports success, meaning it’s what you do that determines whether you do or do not achieve your sports goals. In this post, I will describe why practice is so vital to sports success and the specific mental areas where your efforts in practice must be directed. For you to […]
Read More5 Mental Obstacles That Prevent Sport Success
In my last post, I introduced you to my Prime Performance System that is comprised of the five essential mental areas that most influence athletic performance. In that post, I described the first of the five mental areas—attitudes. In this post, I will explore the second of these mental areas, namely, obstacles, and their make-or-break […]
Read MoreFinish the Season Strong
It’s hard to believe, but there is only about a month of the race season left. After many days of training and racing this winter, the end is in sight. At this late point in the season, you will have fallen into one of three camps as far as how your season has gone. First, […]
Read MoreLetting Go of Fear of Failure-Part IV
To close out my 2015 Prime Sport Alert! e-newsletters, I’m giving you a bonus of an in-depth four-part series on fear of failure among athletes. I recommend that you read them starting with Part 1 and progressing through to this final Part 4.
As I noted at the end of Part III, a recent email from a reader asked the obvious question, “I now understand why my child keeps getting in his own way in his racing. He has a fear of failure! So, what can I do about it?” This question led to extending my Fear of Failure series and discussing ways in which athletes can let go of their fear of failure.
Let me preface my thoughts by saying that there are entire books devoted to fear of failure and how to overcome it. Also, in severe cases, months of psychotherapy are required. My point is that, as with most things in life, there are no magic pills or quick fixes. At the same time, if you (as an athlete) or one of your children (as a parent) has a fear of failure, there are some things you and they can do to relieve the burden of fear of failure and begin to pursue success rather than avoid failure.
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