Building Your Antifragility Skills

“Antifragility is beyond resilience or robustness. The resilient resists shocks and stays the same; antifragile gets better”.

Nassim Nicholas Taleb (2012). Antifragile: Things That Gain from Disorder

In my coaching practice, my approach has evolved to help individuals develop resilience and cultivate antifragility through a combination of mindset development, behavioral and emotional skill-building, and mental strategic planning. 

Here's a step-by-step guide to enhance resilience and foster antifragility:

1.  Understand the concepts: I begin by exposing them to the concepts of resilience and antifragility. Resilience refers to the ability to bounce back from setbacks, challenges, or adversity, while antifragility goes beyond resilience by using setbacks and challenges as opportunities for growth and improvement.

2.  Assess current mindset: I assess the individual's current mindset and beliefs about adversity, failure, and setbacks. This helps identify any limiting beliefs or negative patterns that may hinder their ability to develop resilience or embrace antifragility.

3.  Cultivate a growth mindset: I work on fostering a growth mindset, emphasizing that challenges and setbacks are opportunities for learning and growth rather than fixed limitations. This shift in mindset helps individuals view adversity as a chance to develop new skills, gain experience, and become stronger.

4.  Identify strengths and weaknesses: By conducting a self-assessment or using appropriate tools, I help the individual identify their existing strengths and weaknesses related to resilience and antifragility. Understanding their starting point allows for targeted development in areas that require improvement.

5.  Develop coping strategies: Together, we would explore various coping strategies and techniques that can enhance resilience. This may include stress management techniques, neutral self-talk, reframing perspectives, setting realistic goals, and practicing self-care. These strategies equip individuals with the tools to navigate challenging situations effectively.

6.  Embrace discomfort and uncertainty: To foster antifragility, I encourage the individual to embrace discomfort and uncertainty intentionally. This involves gradually exposing themselves to new experiences, taking calculated risks, and stepping out of their comfort zone. By doing so, they can develop the capacity to adapt, learn, and thrive in unpredictable environments.

7.  Reflect and learn from setbacks: When setbacks or failures occur, it is important for the individual to reflect on those experiences and extract valuable lessons. By reframing setbacks as opportunities for growth, they can identify areas for improvement, adjust their strategies, and learn from their mistakes.

8.  Encourage continuous learning: I foster continuous learning by encouraging the individual to seek new knowledge, acquire new skills, and broaden their perspectives. This may involve reading relevant books, listening to podcasts, attending workshops or conferences, engaging in reflective exercises, or seeking mentorship from experienced individuals.

7.  Develop a support system: Building a strong support system is crucial for resilience and antifragility. I help the individual identify and cultivate relationships who can provide guidance, motivation, and accountability during challenging times.

8.  Set meaningful goals: Finally, I assist the individual in setting meaningful and realistic goals that align with their values and aspirations. By working towards these goals, they can build confidence, stay motivated, and reinforce their resilience and antifragility skills.

Throughout the coaching process, it is important to tailor the approach to the individual's specific needs, challenges, and circumstances. The goal is to empower them to develop resilience and embrace antifragility, allowing them to not only bounce back from setbacks but also thrive and grow in the face of adversity.

For more detailed information on resilience and antifragility, enroll in our new online course:  Strengthening Your Mental Core.  

The Temporal Nature of Being Fucked-Up

As a follow-up to my last blogpost “The Ubiquitous, Endless Loop of Suck,” I have some more thoughts about self-talk and our harsh, self-critical inner voice.  

In addition to our excessive usage of the verb "suck," another term that frequently peppers our thoughts is "fucked-up" and its variations.  Though this term comes with its own pitfalls, it also has its relative strengths when compared to "suck."

Future Tense

I think I'm gonna fuck up. 

I think I'm gonna fuck it up. 

Present Tense

Observation:  I'm fucking up.  (This usage may occur during any activity/event/performance)  

Event/Thing/Personal Evaluation:  That's fucked up.

Self-evaluation:  I'm fucked-up (Inebriation).

Past tense

Observation:  Oh, no, I fucked up.  I fucked it up.  I was fucked-up. 

Evaluation:  That was fucked-up. 

Unlike "suck," there is no strong implication of permanence in the term "fucked-up."  It suggests a softer, gentler assessment.  Whatever we have done can be fixed, cnn be improved.  We can certainly start over.  We will eventually sober up (for example, being fuck-up too frequently in 2023 can lead to "Dry January" in 2024).  Essentially, fucking up allows us to go back to the drawing board.  On the other hand, however, if we suck, we fail.  There is no do-over, no work around.  It's in our permanent file.  There is no off-the-record.  It's on social media and we are now a meme.  

Exceptions:  I'm fucked up (mental health).  (Here the implication of permanence returns).

I offer these thoughts as the second step of recovery from the tyranny of the inner harsh critic.  Rather than using the word "suck," try transitioning to the slightly gentler term "fucked-up."  You will be glad you did. 

NOTE:  No part of this blogpost was created with AI. 

The Ubiquitous, Endless Loop of Suck

"Me and him both. I say to him all the time, ‘Listen, buddy, I know it sucks for you, but there are way more people saying that I suck than you do.'" 

--Dan Hurley, head coach of NCAA basketball champion University of Connecticut, discussing conversations during the season with his point guard Tristen Newton

 

For years, I have become increasingly amazed at the frequency with which I and most other people use the word "suck." Here are some typical examples:

Present Tense

Self:  I suck.

One's Talent/Competency:  I suck at that. 

Other:  He/she sucks.

Others:  Boy, they suck.

What another thinks:  He/she thinks I suck.

What others think:  They think I suck.

Consensus:  Everyone thinks that sucks.  Everyone knows that sucks.  Everyone knows I suck.

Empathy/Observation:  Dude, that sucks!  

Event/Self (Certainty/Spoken by Others with Empathy):  That's gotta suck.

Events/Groups:  Man, those guys suck.  

Environment/Culture:  It sucks over there. 

The present tense of suck suggests the absolute nature of sucking.  Suck is all or none.  You, it, or they either suck or don't.  There is typically no mild or moderate in the word suck.  It either sucks or it doesn't.  If you suck, you suck in the extreme.  

Granted, the use of the word "suckish" has gained some popularity.  This new development suggests various levels or a dimensionality of the suck.  It opens the door for the existence of a "suck spectrum," or the awareness that things, events and people can be on the suck spectrum.  You, indeed, can be on the suck spectrum.  

Primarily, the effect of the present tense of suck is anticipatory anxiety.  Its use suggests that there is something to dread and avoid on the horizon.   It disrupts the ability to fully prepare for the situation.  It triggers the stress/trauma response and stimulates old neural pathways and connections between the mid-brain and the cortex about past experiences that sucked (and remember, they were was extreme and absolute).  It sets up a hypervigilance and anxiousness that affects cognitive functioning and optimal performance.  Often, it also leads to procrastination.

More importantly, however, is the disruption of any real possibility of proceeding with the activity in a relaxed, confident flow state.  

Past tense 

I sucked, he/she sucked, they sucked, he thought I sucked, they think I sucked.

One's Talent/Competency:  I sucked at that.

This use of the past tense of suck has the tendency to intensify our post-performance anxiety.  It keeps us stuck in the past and reduces our ability to learn, and increases the likelihood of an ongoing narrative that focuses on failure.  It tends to lead to harsh self-criticism and evaluation of our future performances. 

Future Tense

Self/Future tense:  I'm gonna suck.  I always suck at that.

Event (Prediction):  I bet that'll suck.

Certainty/Future tense:  That's gonna suck.

Certainty/Permanence:  That always sucks.

Chandler Bing Versions  (These upgraded suck statements are a little more healthy and helpful.) 

Could this be any more suckish? (Yes, most certainly.)

Could this suck any worse?  (Yes, definitely.)

It couldn't suck any worse than this.  (Again, yes, indeed.)

Should you be intent on using the verb or adjective "suck," you could transition gently to the following versions of the word.  

Less common internal dialogue that includes the verb "suck."  

This might suck.  

This could suck.

Let's see if this sucks.

This could suck a little (but maybe not).

I will challenge myself to not suck as badly as before.

Post-Performance Evaluation Suggestions

The antidote to using the past tense of suck is asking such post-performance questions as:

What didn't suck about that?

How could I have sucked less?

What can I learn to do instead to reduce the suckishness?

What did I do that didn't suck?  

How can I increase my non-suckish behavior? 

What part of the suck did I not contribute to?   

In general, self-talk or internal dialogue can be very difficult to identify and even harder to change. When I work with my clients I usually suggest they monitor what they say to themselves prior, during and after they perform any important activity. When they look carefully at any activity they engage in, whether they experience anxiety during the activity or not, I suggest that they pay attention to their self-talk. Usually, they ask for examples to help them identify their particular self-talk. If I give them examples, they often do not personally identify with the examples. I think that is because self-talk is often very unique to them and is often based on their particular childhood developmental experiences and the types of environments in which they grew up.  

Most recently, it occurred to me that to best analyze self-talk, it is helpful to look at the timing of the self-talk (present, past or future) and where it occurs in the sequence of an activity.  Additionally, it is important in that it might help you to determine what type of anxiety you tend to exhibit (anticipatory anxiety, pre-performance anxiety, or post-performance anxiety).  Whether we are talking about social anxiety, public speaking anxiety (reportedly the most common anxiety), performance anxiety, etc. the self-talk tends to have certain characteristics and timing. This is where your analysis of your  signature use of the word "suck" can be very helpful.

Writer's Note #1:  After reading this post, my wife said, "This article was much less 'suckish' than most of the ones you write."

Writer's Note #2:  No part of this blogpost was generated by AI.  

To watch the San Francisco 49ers' Greg Kittle discuss more about his "reset button," click here:

https://twitter.com/i/status/1617904357638549506

Is There Any Difference Between Fear, Anxiety and Excitement?

Much of what we used to know about fear and anxiety, we can toss in the trash can.

It isn't that we need to rethink fear, it's that we need to re-experience fear. We need to change our relationship to fear. Rethinking fear gets us back in our head about fear. Being in our head about fear is what created the problem in the first place. 

For many people, the sensation that we call fear, anxiety or nerves (sometimes we call it stress), can stop us from proceeding with whatever we were doing at the time. Often, that sensation is experienced as something to avoid or something to stop. It's as if we can only resume what we were doing if that feeling of fear goes away (and stays away). If we resume the activity that produced that sensation and the feel comes back, we stop again. We wait for it to pass.  Sometimes, we try to fight through the fear.  

Rather than fighting, avoiding or stopping fear and anxiety, it is important to become curious (and more comfortable) about fear and anxiety.  We need to become students of fear. We need to understand that uncomfortable feeling.  We need to label that discomfort as a signal of excitement, alertness; a signal to pay attention, to activate.  It is not necessarily a signal to stop or freeze.

Here are some guidelines for experiencing fear in a new way:

1. Fear is not to be eradicated.

2. Fear is a human emotion derived from being alive.

3. Fear is not a sign of weakness or incompetence.

4. Fear is not a hinderance to be fought or defeated.

5. Fear is part of the natural order of things.

Performance Anxiety

In my experience, there are not too many athletes that use the words performance anxiety when discussing the challenges regarding their sport. However, the assessments that I have conducted over the years strongly suggest that athletes commonly experience many of the symptoms typically associated with performance anxiety.

Because ultimately the goal of mental toughness is to experience “no fear,” why would an athlete admit vulnerability and acknowledge performance anxiety?  It is more likely that athletes will allow themselves to talk about building mental toughness, than acknowledge the legitimate existence of fear of any sort.

Let's face it. If you are human and if you are required to perform, you will experience fear, otherwise know as performance anxiety.

Human evolution produced the midbrain including the Amygdala. The midbrain was responsible for our survival by sending fast messages from our senses through neural transmission. These messages effectively alerted us to possible danger. They activated us to perform a flight or fight response. They were simple and primitive, because they had to be. They were not very discerning. The midbrain signals "Danger" or "Run Away Fast" or "Bite" or "Attack," nothing more.

Do you really want to eliminate that important function? Of course, not.  

Most sports do not involve excessive danger.  Even when danger is involved, you need focus not fear.  

Many athletes try to not be anxious; however, this often backfires. Pre-competition  excitement is necessary for peak performance. Re-assessing the internal sensations you feel in a positive way is important – rather than saying or thinking you’re anxious, remind yourself that this excitement prepare your body to perform at its best. 

We humans have another part of our brain, the more complex pre-frontal cortex. That part of our brain does the thinking, complex problem-solving, long-term decision-making. The pre-frontal cortex interprets and evaluates more fully. However, it often interprets the "flight or fight" and it overreacts. Simply put, the cortex fears the fear.  Fearing the fear is the response that we need to regulate and manage. That is the response over which we have some control. That is what mental conditioning focuses upon.

Mental conditioning makes you perform better so that your response to fear is not over-activated. The process of mental conditioning helps you learn to be activated, but aren't over-activated when your cortex evaluates the situation. It slows down your fear responses so that you can perform as planned and rehearsed.  

One approach is to develop self-talk about what you are experiencing with statements like:  

"I enjoy the challenge of competition."
“This feeling means I’m ready and prepared for the task at hand.” 
“I’m excited about being able to play well today,” 
“This is not anxiety, this is excitement, which means I’m going to perform at my best” 

These types of statements help you reframe the fear and increase your focus. It also helps you manage your thoughts, rather than the thoughts managing you.

Other mental conditioning tools like mental imagery, visualization, breathing exercises and mindfulness approaches including relaxation techniques and meditation, are also very effective in activating our nervous system to perform without overreacting.  In other words, they allow us to act without over-reacting.  This conditioning dampens our fear reaction and produces the conditions for activation and excitement. 

Your ability to dampen your fear response and reduce your performance anxiety, is a key component of strengthening your mental core.

I will be talking more about your mental core in future blogposts.    

For more information about strengthening your mental core, self-talk, mindfulness, mental imagery, sports psychology, etc. download Mindfuel, the mental conditioning app:  http://appmc.hn/1aekztQ. 
 

Strengthening Your Mental Core

The word "core" in the physical fitness and conditioning world has become a buzzword.  Like the physical core, there is also a mental core related to mental conditioning. Physical core training is about increasing power, strength and stabilization.  So, is the training of your mental core.

Many fitness buffs often think only of sit-ups and crunches as the secret to strengthening the core. True fitness experts know that there is much more to the core than an impressive six-pack.  Similarly, many athletes and coaches think that the mental core is simply just about developing mental toughness (the equivalent of a mental core six-pack).  The mental core is much more than mental toughness.

The mental core creates a solid, fundamental, and broad base for your overall mental fitness and, thus, your subsequent ability to perform successfully.

So, what does constitute the mental core? Here are some of my thoughts.   

• Internal Dialogue/Self-Talk -  simply put, these are the things you say to yourself about yourself, your opponent, your teammates, your coach, the fans.  It also includes what you say to your during practice, during your performance in games, during time-outs, after games. Often the things you say to yourself about yourself are harsh, toxic and distract you from your performance.  The real problem with our cognitive mindset is that that it is often stuck in evaluation activities when it should be focused on other tasks (such as gathering information, skill acquisition, rehearsal, and execution, for example).   Increasing your awareness of your internal dialogue/self-talk and its effect on your performance will have a great influence on your performance skills.  Additionally, it is important to realize that silencing your inner critic and internal "chatter" is more useful that simply changing your self-talk from negative to positive. 

• Pre- and Post-Performance Recovery Skills -  here, emphasis is placed on the importance of developing a set of skills and activities that provide you with an opportunity to fully recover mentally from performances and competition that is as crucial as physical recovery.   Evidence is mounting that both mental and physical recovery skills (including sleep) are more important than we ever considered in the past.  

• Resilience - this refers to your skill and ability to quickly and fully bounce back from setbacks, to deal with adversity, learn from mistakes and effectively put your mistakes behind you.  Only recently has resilience been seriously considered as a component of mental toughness.   Resilience includes carefully obtaining, valuing, and incorporating constructive feedback.   

• Systems Thinking - in the case of your mental core, this refers to your awareness and understanding of the matrixed complexity, interrelatedness and connection of multiple factors involved in your performance. It also refers to the idea that in order to affect real behavioral change, a system that provides structure and consistency must be put into place.  Systems thinking in this context implies that mental conditioning and strengthening of your mental core requires you to become a student of mental conditioning, sports and performance psychology (as well as a student of your sport).  

• Anxiety Management - refers to the idea that 1)  anxiety is a part of performance and competition; 2)  mental fitness includes the acknowledgment and management rather than the eradication of anxiety; 2) that excitement and anxiety can be two words for the same thing; and, 3)  the goal of mental conditioning can't and shouldn't be to eliminate anxiety.  

• Emotional Intelligence - emotional intelligence (and related skills) is an important and necessary component of performance enhancement in players, coaches, and teammates. Emotional intelligence involves the understanding of the critical role that emotional information and social interactions play in performance and success. Evidence suggests that emotional intelligence is an important characteristic of effective leadership and team development as well as coaching effectiveness.

• Confidence - this component of your mental core is one of the characteristics that has been long considered critical to success in any endeavor, including sports and the performing arts. In this model of the mental core, confidence is defined as a general sense that one's skills and abilities are capable of achieving one's desired outcomes.  Many people include this component in their idea of mental toughness.  Confidence is particularly dependent upon a health cognitive mindset.  

• Preparation Skills - this factor suggests that 1)  success is related to one's understanding and awareness that personal growth occurs through the methodical process of continuous learning and development of skills, rather than inherent, genetically-informed and pre-ordained talent; and, 2) is highly influenced by your desire and willingness to consistently spend long-hours of monotonous, focused, disciplined, repetitive activity to improve and perfect your skills and abilities.  

• Mindfulness - this important factor of the mental core refers to a broad set of skills that include mental imagery and visualization, relaxation and meditation skills, focusing and centering skills (that are useful in practice, preparation, performance, recovery and evaluation activities of athletes and coaches). Mindfulness approaches can be very helpful to post-performance recovery and injury recovery.  

Note that there has been increasing evidence that body language is important in performance.  Be aware of your body language; however, I have seen increasing evidence that body language is more of a indicator of the strength of your mental core than a factor or component of the mental core.  

Assess these core components of your mental core.  Start by identifying your mental core strengths and limitations in each of these areas.  Focus on and leverage your strengths while also learning more about how to shore up your limitations.  Learn to use these basic skills to build a foundation for mental core training.

Future blog posts will go into more detail about your mental core.  Please let me know if you have any comments or questions about your mental core below.

For more information about mental conditioning and your mental core, download my mobile app.
Mindfuel at: http://appmc.hn/1aekztQ

Also,check out my sports and performance psychology book, Razor Thin:  The Difference Between Winning and Losing.  You can purchase it at www.lulu.com/spotlight/razorthin. 

Examining Peak Performance: So, What Should My Self-Talk Be?

Many mental conditioning coaches and sports psychologists have begun to emphasize positive self-talk.  It is considered an important tool in the attainment of peak performance and a key component in the mindset necessary for peak performance.  However, most experts are pretty simplistic in their use of positive self-talk:  just say positive things to yourself and don't say negative things. Unfortunately, most coaches have few specifics about exactly what to say to yourself and when.  

In my Peak Performance blogpost on June 12, 2015, I discussed the peak performance mindset. In that post, I mentioned 5 modes:

1. Experimental Mode (previously called practice mode)
2. Deliberate Rehearsal Mode
2. Preparation Mode
3. Performance Mode
4. Evaluation Mode

I also alluded to the importance of self-talk in each of the modes. I now want to introduce the idea that each mode requires a different set of specific self-talk statements.  The statements themselves are related what needs to be accomplished in each mode.

In experimental mode, the focus in on experimentation and trying new skills.  Here, you are gathering data on what works best and what is most effective.  What else can you do?  This mode is typically used in individual, solitary, informal workouts or warm-up drills. This is the mode where it is most important to challenge yourself and get out of your comfort zone.  This mode is for creativity, experimentation, but is not the point at which you commit to making a change in technique or mechanics.  You are being open to the change process, but have not committed to make a specific change.  You are trying new things. For some athletes, this is the mode that is most fun.  By definition, in this mode your self-talk requires the use of such internal self-statements as:

OK, I am in experimental mode.  I am experimenting.  I am being creative.  

Time to throw things at the wall and see what sticks.  

Let's see what happens when I try to do this.

Let me see if I can do this.

How about if I try this?

What if I adjust this skill just a little?

I am going to alter this for now and see how it feels.

I don't care how this looks.

I am just trying this on for size.

Mistakes and failures are to be expected right now. 

I enjoy the challenge of learning.

It is important for me to get out of my comfort zone.  

That's basically it for self-talk in experimental mode.

In deliberate rehearsal mode, the focus is learning.  It is about the application of successful experimentation. In this mode you are trying to apply new skills and incorporate what you have learned into your skill set. In this mode, as a result of experiments, you have committed yourself to making a specific change or changes in your skill or routine activity.  You want to change or improve your technique or mechanics and get comfortable with it.  Most importantly, you also want to commit the new or changed skill to muscle memory. The goal is mastery.  In rehearsal mode, your self-talk should sound like this:

It's time to rehearse.  It's time to sharpen my sword.

I like this new technique.

This new technique will improve my overall game.

I am committed to mastering this new skill.

As I practice, this new skill will get comfortable over time.

I will practice this new skill until I master it.

I enjoy implementing a new technique into my arsenal.

I am getting comfortable right now.

It is time to practice until I can't get it wrong.

Apply, lather, rinse, repeat (In other words).

Ok, now, in preparation mode, the focus is increasingly mental.  You are instilling and maintaining confidence, getting mentally ready. You have exited experimental and rehearsal modes and you are transitioning mentally.  You are reminding yourself of all the hard work you have done.  You get yourself ready to perform at the highest level possible. This mode includes time to mental visualize your success through the process of imagery. You should spend considerable time visualizing the successful execution of what you have rehearsed. In preparation mode (otherwise called pre-performance mode), your self-talk should include such statements as:

It is time to get mentally ready.  

I have physically prepared to the best of my ability.

I am committed to what I have rehearsed.

It is time to execute what I have practiced/learned.

I am ready.

I can see myself successfully executing my plan.

I have done this over and over again.

I know what to do.

My body is prepared to perform.

My mind is calm and relaxed.

It is time to slow my breathing down with full, deep breaths.

Time to make the donuts.

In performance mode, the focus is on execution. Your opportunity to perform is at hand.  In this mode, the mind should be at its most quiet. Muscle memory has taken over and the brain "chatter" is minimal. In performance mode, your self-statements should be very basic.

When you make a good play, you should be saying;

Good play.   Good job.  

I like that.

Just like I practiced it.

Yes, I can do this. 

That is why I worked so hard.  

Practice sure paid off.

More of the same to follow. 

I can do this again and again.
  
If you make a mistake, you should be saying things like:

OK, back to normal.

Reset.

Erase.

Recover.

Move on.

Reboot.

Breathe.

OK, so what about evaluation mode?  This is the mode that most people stay in the most and have the most difficulty exiting.  Most of our self-talk tends to be evaluative in nature.     

You may have noticed that in each of the previous modes, there is little to zero criticism or evaluative statements. That is because there should be little time for evaluation in all the other previously listed modes.   Evaluation mode comes after a practice session, rehearsal or after a game, performance or event.  You needn't clutter the other modes with evaluation.

Evaluation mode is the time to say:

How did I impact the game today?  How did I influence what happened today?  

What did I do well?

What do I need to keep doing?

What do I need to do more often?

What do I need to improve? What can I do to get better?

What do I need to do less often?

What things do I need to stop doing all together?

What did I learn from my performance today? 

Did I have fun?  What was enjoyable about my game today? 

What is the next thing to master?  

Evaluation mode is a good thing, but only at the right time.  The evaluative process in any other mode is distracting and only provides unfocused chatter that is not useful nor conducive to peak performance.  

You may also notice that evaluation mode is not harsh, is not blaming, is not name-calling.  It is not a time to beat yourself up.  It is time to look objectively at your game and take a productive learning approach.  This is how you get better. This is how your learn and this is how to achieve sustainable performance increases.  This is how you succeed.  This is how you build confidence.    

There is more to come in future posts.  

   


  

Evan Lysacek Wins Olympic Gold With Pre-Skate Routine

"When I'm getting ready in my room, I drink the same thing, I light the same good-luck candle I have — it's a brand from England called Cire Trudon — I listen to the same playlist, with songs from Jay-Z to the Virgins or the Killers, happy music that will keep my emotions even and not get my heart wildly pumping. I'm engaging all my senses, telling my body, 'Okay, it's time to go to that place.' When I get to the rink, I go through pretty much the same warm-up off the ice every time, so my body is continuing to get into that super-focused mentality. About twenty minutes before I go on, I put my suit and my skates on — that's my alone time — and I talk to myself. Self-talk is very important to me," he says. "I try to conjure really difficult days, days when I was sick or jet-lagged and felt horrible, and then think, If I can get through that, I can get through anything."

--Evan Lysacek, U.S. Olympic gold medal skater, who upset Russian Yevgeny Plushenko.

Lysacek is the first U.S. male gold medal winner in skating since 1988. He attributes his win to a mental conditioning routine that includes self-talk, pre-skating rituals, self-hypnosis, and visualization.

Are you as prepared for your important events?

Excerpts from the New York Magazine, February 19, 2010. For more click on http://nymag.com/daily/sports/2010/02/how_evan_lycasek_got_ready_to.html


For more on Peak Performance, click on The Handbook of Peak Performance.

For mental conditioning assistance, click on Peak Performance eCoach and request access.

Alabama Crimson Tide Rolls to 2009 BCS Championship with Mental Conditioning Program

With great interest and anticipation, I drove Sunday, January 24, 2010 to Birmingham, Alabama to attend a celebratory program to award Alabama Crimson Tide Head Coach Nick Saban with the 2009 Leadership Innovation Award. The program and award highlighted the accomplishments of the Alabama football team.

During the acceptance speech, Coach Saban directly attributed his championship team’s chemistry and success to a mental conditioning program he employed. The mental conditioning program provided a "success mindset" that resulted in a BCS Championship win against the Texas Longhorns in the Rose Bowl.

Saban openly discussed his desire to change the culture of the team, after a 2006 losing season that, more importantly, included off-the-field misconduct and poor decision making by several members of the team during the off-season. With the help of the Pacific Institute of Seattle, the Alabama team learned about mental conditioning approaches to help them to achieve peak performance.

Opposing coaches could see the difference in the players right away.

“Alabama played with an attitude and viciousness that we did not,” Clemson coach Tommy Bowden said in 2008.

“I just saw a team that had a mentality,” said Georgia coach Mark Richt, “They were going to be physical, they were going to play physical and they did.”

“I think it’s the identity that we’ve always tried to create,” Saban said. “Be aggressive, physical, play with a lot of toughness. Strike them, knock them back. Be aggressive and relentless in your style of how you play and how you compete.

Though these types of mental conditioning programs are perceived as new and cutting edge, the fact is that mental conditioning involves the application and teaching of cognitive and positive psychology. This approach is based on scientific research and principles that have been around for close to a half-century. It is one of the most widely used and validated mechanisms for behavior change. Many organizational and sports psychologists have been using this approach in their practices for years with considerable success. This area of applied psychology looks closely at an individual's beliefs and self-talk and the effect it has on behavior and performance. It is highly results-oriented.

“I don’t think the message is that different,” Saban said. “I think the things that it takes to be successful are the same regardless, whether it’s passion, commitment, hard work, investing your time in the right things, perseverance, pride in performance, how you think in a positive and negative way, the discipline you have personally -- you have to make choices in your decisions.”

Saban emphasizes that you must “develop champions before you can create championship results.” He also emphasizes the importance of creating the right processes to get the right outcomes.

The players who spent the summer on campus were enrolled in a dozen mental conditioning classes, designed to improve, in Saban's words, the "self-actualization, self-confidence [and] self-esteem" of his players. Twelve times each summer, the Alabama football team sits through 30- to 45-minute classes devoted to mental conditioning and character development. The Pacific Institute of Seattle was hired to design a program and lead the players through a series of awareness exercises and affirmations, such as:

"We are a team that's committed to excellence. It's represented in everything we do."

"Our defense is aggressive. We fly to the ball seeking always to cause big plays on every down. We intimidate our opponents."

"Our offense is consistently on top of their game."

"Our team is a family. We will look out for each other. We love one another. Anything that attempts to tear us apart only makes us stronger."

These affirmations reinforced the vision and outcome that the Alabama coaching staff was looking for and provided a language to communicate expectations and establish behavioral habits related to mental focus, teamwork, determination and priorities.

Saban also made the point that the program never once talked about winning, they only talked about their commitment to success, pride in performance and being the best you can be.

“That’s exactly how it was. To me, I thought it helped us out as a team. It made us realize that we have to focus night and day.”

--Marquis Johnson, cornerback.

Nevertheless, the program’s emphasis is on personal choices and accountability. You can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make him drink.

“Honestly, you have to look inside yourself. The coach can only tell you and say so much. To play as a man, you have to look inside yourself.”

-- running back Glen Coffee.

Excerpts from Chattanooga Free Press, July 28, 2008; Tuscaloosa News, August 10, 2008 and September 8, 2008; Forbes, September 1, 2008; and Sports Illustrated, September 8, 2008.

For more on mental conditioning and peak performance, click on The Handbook of Peak Performance, and for the latest mental conditioning tools, click on: Peak Performance eCoach and request access.

World Series Game Two: Yankees Learn from Phillies About Confidence

"He talked about belief in his stuff, and all I told myself last night and today was the same thing. I went out tonight with confidence, and just, you know, the game just rolled by."

--A.J. Burnett, New York Yankees pitcher, who learned from the Philadelphia Phillies' pitcher Cliff Lee, about how to mentally prepare for his appearance in the 2009 World Series.

Prior to Game 2, Burnett was walking through the home clubhouse when he noticed Lee, Wednesday's winning pitcher, giving an interview on a nearby television. Burnett stopped to listen as Lee talked about trusting his stuff, pitching with confidence and using positive self-talk.

HANDLING PRESSURE

"All I told myself last night and today was the same thing," Burnett said. "I went out tonight with confidence, and the game just rolled by. I was in a good rhythm."

Burnett found himself in a pressure-packed situation in game two of the World Series. The Yankees did not want to go down 0-2 at home.

Rather than fail under the pressure, Burnett succeeded, outdueling Pedro Martinez, Phillies' starting pitcher and leading the Yankees to a 3-1 victory, evening up this best-of-seven World Series.

MENTAL PREPARATION
"I knew I had a big task ahead of me with Pedro on the mound, and I wanted to go out and pitch the best I could," Burnett said.

“You try to prepare for yourself for these games and this city and this crowd, but I think I fed off the crowd tonight,” he said. “They were up every time I got one strike, they were up every time I got two, and instead of over throwing, I kind of just stayed within myself. I was just trying to keep that going for them.”

HAVING FUN

"Nothing compares to today," Burnett said. "That was the funnest I've ever had on the baseball field."

CLOSING IT OUT AND DOING YOUR JOB

"You know what you have and what you can do. It's always difficult to pitch in those situations, but you have to do your job."

--Mariano Rivera, who came in as a relief pitcher to close out the win against the Phillies.



Excerpts from Yahoo Sports.com and MLB.com (October 30, 2009)

For more on mental conditioning, click on The Handbook of Peak Performance.

Notes from the U.S. Open: Andy Roddick Learns Confidence

"I think I used to get more up and down on an individual results or two. I maybe used to be convinced after two bad weeks that it was going to fall apart forever or after two good weeks that I'd probably never play a bad match again. I think maybe I have a little more confidence in the process than I used to."

--Andy Roddick, discussing his past problems with confidence and self-criticism.

Andy Roddick, who Roger Federer has beaten in 19 or their 21 meetings, comes to this year's U.S. Open seeded fifth. His classic five-set loss to Federer at Wimbledon has rejuvenated his career and increased his fan support.

"I would be lying if I sat here and said I totally understood it. But it definitely made it easier to get motivated to get back on the court," says Roddick about his fans' reaction.

Roddick also hired Larry Stefanki last year as his coach. Stefanski has helped him with confidence, his self-criticism and internal dialogue. Roddick has also seemingly benefitted from his marriage to model Brooklyn Decker.

Will Roddick be confident and play well this year at the U.S. Open?

Excerpts from the New York Times (August 30, 2009)

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