Welcome back (to me, mostly). I’m happy to be back this week to share five links that I’ve selected: for importance, for comfort, for empathy, for inspiration, and for practice.

timely and yet tough
COVID and mental health of athletes {via TIME}

what exactly do you do here?
I love to see articles about my industry that helps explain a bit about the work I do. It helps to bring awareness to performance coaching (in that “what do you do exactly?” kind-of-way) and helps to de-stigmatize working on mental skills as though we’re always trying to “fix” something. The Craft of Mental Skills Coaching {via Sports Illustrated}

when I dip you dip we dip
Some great points from Zen Habits about what many of us are currently experiencing with changes in routine, depletion of energy, and subsequent loss of motivation. Though even in pre-COVID times, someone can do really well with habit change… and then comes The Habit Dip. Keep on, keepin’ on.

I am ironman
A dose of athletic inspiration from IRONMAN Roderick Sewell

click to embiggen
Do you maintain a regular journaling practice? This is an important task in increasing your awareness and targeted work in a variety of areas – including but not limited to self-talk, sleep, gratitude, and goal progress. Journaling is also good for a regular ol’ brain dump (or to get super existential, if you’re like me). That said, I really like this prompt from Austin Kleon: Will this enlarge me or diminish me?

I was finally getting into a good rhythm with my workouts… and then came the biggest spike in COVID cases this week in Iowa. So, yeah, it might be home gym strength workouts for me again.

I don’t wanna
Working out at home is just NOT the same for me – in terms of motivation, experience, willpower – as being in a group environment. Maybe it’s the same for you. This TED talk helps… kinda.

I can do hard things
My mantra, my reminder. I can do hard things… and I can do hard things and really, really suck at them. How to psych yourself up for hard things. One part confidence, an accountability partner, and a dash of courage. {via Trail Runner Magazine}

if I act, my mood will follow
Motivation can be fleeting – and sometimes even completely avoid you (sorry). So, is motivation overrated? {via Growth EQ} In short, don’t underestimate the power of action.

I am strong, I am invincible, I am… resilient?
Like so many other concepts that came before it, resilience gets a bad rap (in that you either are, or you aren’t kind of way). Resilience is a skill. To be taught. To be learned. What’s the secret formula? {via NYT}

I am master of my domain
Or something. Positive mindset as a catalyst for success. {via Medium} Takeaway: Positive self-talk works!

Welcome back! I took last Friday off from posting as I was helping crew for a friend who was finishing her first 100 miler (and doing it virtually, no less).

I’ve been particularly interested in the topic of FAILURE lately. Yes, FAILURE, all caps. Seems odd coming from someone who should be interested in helping you become your best athlete self, and for someone who just watched her friend complete her first 100-mile race, no? But there is an important lesson in both our successes and our failures. And it’s not always a good thing to “ignore” our challenges or obstacles.

there’s this thing called growth
Are you learning from your mistakes? What lesson can you find in previous failures? Do you associate your failures with who are you are as a person? (ex: “I am a failure” versus “I have experienced failure.”)

what do I really want?
Growth EQ asked this in a recent blog post regarding success. I think this poses some really great insight into if you’re chasing (and opting in) for what you really want… or what you think you might want (or worse, focusing your “wants” on what others have). Consider this if you’re experiencing “success” and still not feeling fulfilled.

lead us not into existential dread
Hammering home this topic of success, Mark Manson takes this approach of redefining success one step further, calling success a false concept. I encourage taking some time with this longer read to help you define what makes success a success for you (and by extension, what makes our failures, failures). When is success enough? Do you ever stop pursuing more in the name of success?

lend me your ear
I listen to a surprising number of podcasts about failure: The End of Sport, Going Through It (I was so excited to see this one return!), Without Fail (seemingly on hiatus? but definitely worth listening back to old episodes), and How to Fail. Highly recommend any of these for those reconceptualizing their ideas of success and failure.

must-see tv
I had a mini sports-themed film festival last weekend, watching The Weight of Gold – failure of the Olympic committee to protect its athletes and provide support on mental health issues, United Skates – my second viewing of this film about black culture and roller skating; speaks also to the unfortunate failure of skating rinks, closing, and the impacts on black communities; oh yeah, also a failure of our society to see the racist policies that some of these rinks hold that directly target POC, and Athlete A – woooo boy, talk about failure; failure to protect athletes from abuse, failure to report… it’s a hard watch but it’s necessary if you work with either gymnasts or young athletes.

dis-belief
What old story are you still believing about yourself? {via TED} You are more than your “always” and your “nevers” that were formed from these old stories. This article has a wonderful breakdown of action areas to build awareness around and how to edit those stories.

success begets success
I played my best round of golf this week since I started learning the game a couple of years ago – and after playing my worst round of golf two weeks ago. Growth is oftentimes difficult and non-linear. And let’s face it: learning something new (maybe, especially, something like golf) is hard. This is a reminder to you to celebrate your successes, no matter how small they may seem.

shape shifter
Speaking of growth: Maslow’s Pyramid is a Lie (thanks, Capitalism!) {via Medium, $$}. As a psychology major, I feel betrayed by the professors who taught – and never corrected – the triangle model.

book recommendation
But ever thankful for Scott Barry Kaufman for giving us this straight story about the true nature behind Maslow’s humanistic work. Buy Kaufman’s book Transcend (about the science of self-actualization and human potential) here.

takeaway thought
What themes come up in your self-talk? Are there pieces of your old story or a myth about yourself that lead your internal narrative?

who am I?
A theme coming up in my work the last couple of weeks has been centered around athlete identity. What makes an athlete an athlete? Do you consider yourself an athlete? Do you call yourself an athlete? Do you feel a certain kind of way when others call you an athlete? Change your fitness identity. {via 12-minute Athlete}

what’s your superpower?
Maybe it’s psychological flexibility. {via the weekend university}

where is the mistake?
In sport (and life), making a mistake is normal. We’ve all made them! Return to confidence by focusing on the present and leaving the past in the past. Be confident despite mistakes – be confident IN SPITE OF mistakes. Your Mistake is a Gift. {Roger Crawford, via YouTube}

how are you feeling?
As humans, we are primed to fall into this place of dichotomous thinking, including in regard to our emotions (i.e. happy vs. sad). Do you think this is true – that emotions are opposite one another – or do you think they are more on a continuum? Plutchik’s Wheel of Emotion shows us 8 primary emotions: joy, trust, fear, surprise, sadness, disgust, anger, and anticipation. Beyond that, emotions are complex, and Plutchik’s wheel aims to simplify – and help us understand our own emotions (and subsequent behaviors).

why you mad?
Don’t poke the bear! Keeping on topic with emotions, a little fun in research here about the benefits of being grumpy and bad-tempered. {via BBC; links to research within the article}

pressure is a privilege
How do you view pressure in sport performance? {via Matt Fitzgerald} Like stress, pressure often comes with a negative association – but the truth is it could be good and bad. The way you perceive pressure matters if it’s detrimental to performance or can be a benefit.

research-to-practice
Personal Construct Theory (Kelly, 1955) explains the way we experience the world and interpret and anticipate events. Our experiences are individualistic and different from each other. This information we gather then determines our self beliefs. And how we feel about ourselves (self-esteem, self-concept) and events (self-confidence) can determine achievement (or challenges). So what pressure is to you, will be different to someone else. Similarly, what you feel is a success might not be a success to someone else. In sum, keep your eyes on your own paper… err, experiences and perception of those experiences.

mental break
60 Minutes re-aired its fantastic January interview with Rafael Nadal last weekend, and there are SO many good things about mental training in this segment: Focus, motivation, performance routines, rivalry, emotional control, energy management, and self-belief… You can check out the Nadal interview here – but take time to watch the additional 60 Minutes Overtime videos on the page, too.

book recommendation
I recently completed my thesis study on athlete burnout (*confetti emoji*), and I’m throwing back to this ol’ goodie from the man who started it all (and by “it” I mean the psychologist who brought the word burnout to us): Herbert Freudenberger’s book “Burnout.” Can we just for a second step away from the foundational content and swoon over its vintage cover?!

My edition has the cool 70s era, blockbuster movie-like cover.

mindful moment
When I work with my mindfulness groups, I love sharing the different ways that we can practice being mindful (spoiler alert: it doesn’t have to be a formal meditation practice). And it’s often most people find they’ve already introduced some mindfulness practices into their life without even realizing it’s mindfulness. This excellent mindfulness resource was shared with me this week from TAO and shows some of these examples.

the expert on experts
RIP to Anders Ericsson, founder and researcher of the concept of deliberate practice (see also: what inspired the 10,000 Hour Rule) {via NY Times}

tomato, pomodoro
Brad Stuhlberg pulls Ericsson’s ideas into this article about the art (and success) of interval training as it relates to time management {via Outside}.

research-to-practice
Benefits of 8-week mindful-based stress reduction program (MBSR) on seasonal declines in physical activity {via Medicine & Science in Sport & Exercise}

book recommendation
Keeping with Ericsson’s legacy in rememberence, I recommend Peak: Secrets from the new science of expertise – shop indie and black-owned bookstores!

mindful moment
Today’s card was pulled from my Mindfulness Cards deck – a reminder that mindfulness can come through playfulness. “The playful mind is an open mind.” Is playfulness one of your values?