On Monday July 19th Luke Prokop, a prospect for the Nashville Predators, became the first person under an NHL contract to come out as gay. This is a great moment for the game of hockey, and continuing to create a space and environment that is inclusive to all those who love the game and want to do well in it. With time hopefully this type of announcement is no longer 'big news' but just normal. While the courage it took for Luke to be a trailblazer is important, there is one

We all want those days when everything comes together. When we feel good, perform good, and even the things outside of our control come together, to bring us the outcome we want. Those are the days and performances we strive for, and reward us for the hard work. However, those days are often less frequent and less important than the days where it is more challenging, and we have to dig deep. It is our "bad" days that test our skill sets, make us dig deep, figure out what we a

January is usually the time when people think of creating resolutions and setting goals for the year. This year feels different than years past but sometimes the turning of the calendar can offer a time to reflect and figure out where we want to go moving forward. Whether you are a New Years Resolution person or not, at some point during the year you most likely are setting goals for yourself, and trying to adjust certain behaviors that you feel you can be better at. So I tho

It is a skill to be able to focus on what you can control versus what you can not control. The human mind likes to rest of what we can't control, so we must have the awareness and discipline to shift that to what we can control. In each situation there are elements we can control but we have to have the skill to do so. So what is it that we can control in each situation? Well I have spoken on this before, they are Actions, Attitude, Thoughts and Effort. Two are more physical

What does full commitment look like? To help illustrate what full commitment looks like I want to use the example of the Vikings. When the Vikings arrived to their destination they would burn their boats. That is how committed they were to what they set out to do. They didn't give themselves an out when things weren't looking good. They had no choice but to storm forward. This is what full commitment looks like. However, all too often I see and hear the opposite. Athletes met

Success is not about perfection it is about finding solutions to obstacles. Mental toughness requires us to be able to figure out how to deal with obstacles, because they will occur. You have to face them head on and look to find ways to deal with them. This is something I do with clients on a consistent basis. We must mentally prepare for things to not go as planned and to make plans around things going off course. Now we can't predict everything, but it is important to thin

Everybody is unique, and what works for one person sometimes will work for another, but sometimes doesn't. There are many different was to approach mental training and the programs that get created for each athlete. There are definitely some staples out there that pretty much all athletes should utilize, such as visualization. However, there are things that work really well, for some, like breathing techniques during a completion, that for whatever reason don't work as well f

What is mental toughness? Many athletes are looking to become more mentally tough, but what is it really? There is no one thing that makes someone mentally tough. Rather it is a combination of psychological attributes, that when they come together allows someone to have it. There is a number of definitions out there but here is one when reflecting on them all that I have landed on. "The natural of developed psychological edge that results from a collection of skills, attribut

Mental training is very trendy right now, and hopefully the trend stays around, because it needs to be more than just a trend. It is something that helps athletes to thrive and reach their full potential. Mental training is necessary part of the equation to being an athlete and person, but it goes beyond what many think it looks like or means. When people think about sport psychology and mental training they usually think in terms of visualization, self talk, emotional arousa

When people look at great athletes, they only see one part of the equation. It is easy to want greatness, to want to win championships and to have the will to win. It is a whole different story to have the will to do the things that great athletes do when no one is looking. I see complacency happen a lot with athletes, especially on the mental side. There is a focus on always getting better on the physical side, but athletes will do a couple things on the mental side and then

We all want to perform good, but is that the same thing as feeling good? When I have a client tell me they didn't perform well,

In this post I want to talk about leaning into discomfort and the opportunities it brings for growth and developing yourself as a person and

I got a request to talk about discipline and how to bring it into everyday life. The interesting thing is is that discipline comes from your

Athlete burnout is becoming more and more common place. I have seen athletes as young as 11 years old

Who do you surround yourself with? I want you to think about this for a moment. It is said that we are the average of the 5 people we spend

Mental toughness in sports is not just one thing. I have mentioned this a number of times that being mentally tough is not a singular...

Mental training for athletes goes beyond the mental skills, such as visualization, self talk, or goal setting. Those things are very...

Everyone wants and edge when it comes to sports performance, to find some secret weapon that they can use to elevate themselves beyond the r

You must learn to control your emotions, because if you do you set yourself up to have more control over your performance. I am not just ta

Mental toughness training in sports is something most coaches, parents and athletes are interested in understanding and knowing how to...