What is resilience? The most useful way to think about resilience in performance settings is as the ability to manage adversity.  It’s our resistance to challenges, and our ability to bounce back when those setbacks invariably occur.  To be resilient is to see obstacles as challenges, and to see the overcoming of those challenges as a necessary step in the lifelong process of becoming better. Why is resilience important? The value of resilience can be found in all sport and life performance.  Even near-perfect performances contain moments of imperfection, and the potential for those moments to create doubt, uncertainty, and negative outcomes.  Resilience keeps perfection from becoming the enemy of […]

The past few years have been nothing short of challenging for athletes, coaches, and those in sport. As the world seemingly came to a standstill in spring of 2020, athletes and coaches grappled with the unknowns regarding their season plans. Sport psychology providers saw heightened levels of stress, anxiety, and depression for athletes and coaches alike. As a sport psychology consulting firm committed to understanding the intersection of performance and wellness, our team wanted to give athletes everything they needed to be at their best—both mentally and physically. In the fall of 2020 we launched a research project to answer one important question: What are the actions, thoughts, and feelings […]

Five years ago, Nowell lost his dad, grandpa, and uncle over the course of just a few months. As he told KSTP Sports, ‘Mental health is an issue, and I’ve battled for a long time.’ But Nowell was courageous enough to seek out help, including most recently with Twin Cities-based sports psychologist, Dr. Justin Anderson. Read full KSTP article here. Watch Q&A with Dr. Anderson here.

We’ve all had it, that niggling voice that discourages us before or during competition.  Self-talk is our inner narrator, and when it directs our attention to destructive thoughts or feelings, it can deep-six our performance levels.  Thankfully, mindfulness training teaches us an easy way to strip power from this kind of talk, and separate ourselves from its consequences. Mindfulness teaches us to shift away our attention away from analysis or judgement, and toward observation and acceptance.  An analytical mind evaluates and reacts.  It examines the past, it anticipates the future.  It worries and it avoids.  The observing mindset merely notices and accepts.  It doesn’t get hooked by negativity or try […]

To become resilient, routine and mental health are paramount.  Let’s dive into a practice that achieves both, and create a Healthy Daily Mental Health Routine.   Morning Routine: Set Your Intention Starting the day with an intention can be a very positive, a very important first step.  So often, we just wake up and we let the day, and the stress of the day, hit us without thinking of how we want to be, how we want to respond. Some of the best athletes and the best leaders that I’ve worked with set their intention for the day when they wake up in the morning.  They think through what the […]

NCAA Championship Mindset – Who get’s the one shining moment? Punching their tickets to the Final Four Championship game, Virginia and Texas Tech have battled seven rounds to stand centre court at the US Bank Stadium in Minneapolis Monday night. Each earning their first trip to the final four, Virginia and Texas Tech have more than strong physical game. Getting through the best 68 teams in the nation requires a highly practiced mental process. Virginia’s disappointing first round exit last year to final moments of this year’s semi-final win vs. Auburn is resiliency in action.  The Cavaliers are proving that the power of a practiced mental game is giving them […]