76. Developing a Competitive Mindset with Sports Psychiatrist Dr. T
Dr. Arman Taghizadeh, aka Dr. T, is a Board Certified Psychiatrist who specializes in sports psychiatry, and today he joins Laura on the podcast to discuss the significance of developing a positive mindset for athletes to become confident competitors. Together, they explore how the mindset of an athlete affects their attitude, perspective, and responses, and review The Confidence Journal, a guided journal that helps athletes develop a positive mindset, move closer to achieving their goals, and grow their confidence along the way. Dr. T also shares his journey into psychiatry, beginning as a former athlete himself, and how he found his passion for building meaningful connections with patients, similar to the relationships built in sports.
He notes that the lack of understanding around mental health challenges in sports motivated him to focus on this area, and he highlights the importance of relatability and understanding in the mental health field. He and Laura also discuss the importance of simplifying life to improve mental health, especially for young athletes and those struggling after the pandemic, and emphasize how focusing on three areas of their lives each day can help individuals identify and achieve small goals that add up over time. The significance of coaches in helping athletes with mental health challenges is also discussed, including the need for them to engage in active listening to create a collaborative approach to problem-solving. Join Laura and Dr. T here today for yet another ‘must listen’ episode of the Pursuit of Gold podcast, and gain valuable insights into the significance of mindset, communication, and collaboration in sports and mental health.
Episode Highlights:
Dr. T's background as an athlete growing up
The importance of mindset in sports
How your attitude, perspective, and responses come from you and you alone
Developing a competitive mindset
The Confidence Journal and its benefits
The importance of focusing on your own mindset rather than others'
The lack of understanding around mental health challenges faced by athletes
Dr. T’s journey to becoming a psychiatrist
Building ongoing relationships with patients in psychiatry
Working to revolutionize the mental health field
The underserved athletic population in mental health
Simplifying life to improve mental health
Breaking each day down into three areas of focus
Coaches helping athletes with mental health
The importance of knowing your athlete and engaging in active listening
A collaborative approach to problem-solving
Creating a safe and supportive environment for athletes
Empowering athletes to take ownership of their performance
The importance of communication between parents and children
The role family dynamics can play in mental health issues in sports
Caring about athletes as people
Contextualizing the athlete's environment
The need for coaches and parents to recognize and address mental health issues
Quotes:
"Becoming a confident competitor begins and ends with your mindset."
"Through simple guided journaling, your focus and thought process will begin to shift."
"The Confidence Journal will begin to show you the beauty of your journey and just how tangible your goals really are."
"It's one thing to sort of understand psychology and the brain. It's another thing to understand the grit and the determination and the work ethic and the discipline and the sacrifice that comes with really trying to be an elite athlete."
"The competitions and the challenges are just sort of little benchmarks that are part of it. But when we really look at it, the meaningful experience is all the other stuff."
"Simplifying is really important... and even writing it down... starts to build those synapses and those connections, and again, starts to build that confidence."
"Small victories, small achievements, they all add up."
"The best way to win is to have your athlete perform at their best. And the best way to help them perform at their best is to have them be the most confident and motivated and self driven individual."
"I have been so blessed to be under a coach for like 30 years that is one of the best in the world. And he has exemplified all of these things that I've seen in the greatest coaches in the world. And he knows every single one of us on our own level."
"Helping coaches understand the appropriate language and when to use it and how that impacts an athlete is so important because they may say something, intending one thing, but the athlete may be hearing it differently and processing it differently."
“The reality is today's athlete, in a lot of ways, is probably tougher because they're managing so much more and navigating so much more and have more expectations and more pressures, but their brain development is the same.”
"If you give athletes the opportunity, even the younger ones will sort of figure out what works best for them."
"Ask them what they think, what they saw, give them an opportunity, because number one, you get a sense of where their head's at and what they were thinking."
"I want to get to know you as a person, as an athlete, I'm going to ask a lot of different questions."
"I also think you show them that I care about you as a person, not just an athlete."
"It takes a lot of courage to say, ‘I'm struggling and I don't know why.’"
Links:
The Confidence Journal (25% off with coupon code: TOPDOC)
Laura’s Social Media:
Dr. T’s Links:
66. Confidence is the Answer to Fear with High Performance Coach Rebecca Smith
Today, Laura welcomes Rebecca Smith, the Founder and CEO of Complete Performance Coaching and PerformHappy, who has been helping high achievers thrive under pressure for more than 20 years. A former gymnast herself and a fellow recovering perfectionist, Rebecca understands very well the mental health challenges that professional athletes have to go through. Having struggled with mental blocks for years, she eventually quit her gymnastics career and decided to move on. Now, she’s committed to helping young athletes nurture their mental health while still winning competitions. Her unique evidence-based approach helps fearful young athletes discover the confidence to stand up for themselves when faced with the notorious toxic culture of youth sport.
On this episode of the Pursuit of Gold podcast, Laura and Rebecca discuss mental blocks and how to overcome them. Rebecca shares her own story dealing with perfectionism, how mental blocks destroyed her gymnastics career yet helped her to uncover effective tactics for getting over them. She explains the two main parts of overcoming a mental block: the physical side and the mental side. Once you overcome the physical part, you need to work on maintaining a healthy relationship with yourself, meaning build your self-awareness and inner confidence. These two are fundamental to your self-growth. Rebecca goes on to share a few more useful tactics for overcoming mental blocks, such as turning nervousness into excitement, practicing mindfulness, and front-loading confidence. Finally, Laura and Rebecca wrap up the episode by touching upon the importance of having a supportive coach, emphasizing the fact that a positive environment sets the tone for success.
Episode Highlights:
Rebecca’s gymnastics background and moving past mental blocks
Winning the battle against perfectionism
The importance of praising effort versus talent
The incredible power of imagination and creativity for your competence
The two parts to overcoming a mental block
Increasing and front-loading confidence to avoid mental blocks
Turning nervousness into excitement
Practicing the mindful warmup and being present
Dealing with injuries as a professional athlete
Mental health and motivation during COVID
The importance of a supportive and positive environment for athletes
Supporting young athletes as a parent
Quotes:
“Their parents are like, ‘She’s the best tumbler anyone's ever seen, why can't she just go do it?’ And there's this because there's just such a combination of factors that lead to mental block. One of them is that it's the pressure of being amazing, being perfect.”
“Our brain only cares about keeping us safe. That's the only thing. It doesn't care about competitions. It doesn't care about scores, or metals or places, or deadlines, or any of that stuff It only cares about ‘keep the body alive.’”
“She was the kid who was a hard worker with heart. She was not the most talented kid on our team. But so, with that being said, if you want to move forward, you can't wait for your magic talent fairy to bless you with the ability to do your skill again, it just isn't going to work.”
“There is this huge kind of internal component that's all about connecting with your own joy and your own choice. Because if you don't, if you feel like you're doing it for anybody, but you, you're going to get burned out, it's just the way it goes.”
“Excitement and nerves are both high arousal, physical states. So, your heart's beating, you're a little more fidgety, you've got a little more energy, it is a lot easier to go from nervous to excited than it is to go from nervous to calm, especially when you only have moments before you compete.”
“Injuries, just like mental blocks, are part of the deal. For a lot of athletes, it's just a setback. And so, the worst thing you can do is compare yourself to where you should be or could be or where your friend is or where you would like to be because all that does is create self-pity.”
Pursuit of Gold Podcast is brought to you by Kaatsu Global
Links:
Life at 10 Meters: Lessons from an Olympic Champion
Laura’s Social Media:
Connect with Rebecca:
58. Define Your Role in the World with DEFINE Founder & CEO Hank Richardson
On today’s episode, Laura’s guest is her dear friend and forever teammate, Hank Richardson. Hank earned a full scholarship for diving to the University of Florida, where he went on to become a ten-time All-American, a US national champion, and a national team member for USA diving. Hank retired from diving when he graduated from college, but some of his old injuries continued to plague him long after he left the pool, the pain becoming so severe that it started to impact his ability to enjoy work. At the urging of a friend, Hank tried a Pilates/yoga/ballet hybrid class and found himself at the beginning of something special: not only did he start managing his pain and experiencing relief, but it led to him teaching classes, opening new studios, and going back to school to get a Master’s in business. His senior project in his MBA program became the foundation on which his health and well-being studio, DEFINE, was created. DEFINE has now expanded throughout Houston, the US, and across the globe, but pain management and physical fitness are only part of Hank’s passion. He is also a well-being and positive psychology expert, and today, he and Laura discuss positive ways to reframe your thinking and how positive psychology can help and impact athletes on their journey to greatness.
First, Hank gives us the lowdown on his remarkable journey, from learning to dive at Camp Longhorn to becoming a champion diver, and giving up diving because of a back injury, before sharing how he transitioned from teaching to fitness instruction to business school. Then he tells the story of surviving month-to-month when launching DEFINE and how he expanded the business into a global franchise, including how he survived COVID by pivoting into online services. Next, Hank talks about his decision to go back to school to get his Master’s degree in applied positive psychology and how it has influenced his worldview and business, with DEFINE shifting into a well-being hub with a mission to enrich its members’ lives. He also has some advice on how to incorporate positive psychology into your everyday life and how it can help athletes develop resiliency and focus on strengths rather than weaknesses, as well as how meditation and mindfulness can work in partnership to improve self-awareness and enable positivity. Laura then asks Hank about his partnership with Education Based Housing, a nonprofit working with cost-burdened households to provide access to quality housing, and Hank discusses his passion for creating circles of well-being within communities and how DEFINE will offer well-being services through this partnership. And finally, Hank offers his thoughts on what has made DEFINE so successful, pointing to its mission to offer a service that truly helps its communities, and gives some advice to current athletes and coaches, emphasizing the importance of focusing on personal strengths and creatively applying them in challenging situations.
Hank’s story of determination, resiliency, and willingness to keep learning and developing will captivate and inspire athletes and non-athletes alike to focus on their strengths, keep a positive outlook, and never give up on their dreams.
Episode Highlights:
How Hank got into diving with lessons at Camp Longhorn
Transitioning from school athlete to college athlete
Hank’s back injury and how diving both caused it and kept it in check
Moving on from diving to teaching sixth graders in the South Bronx
How Hank followed his passion for movement and interest in health into teaching yoga and Pilates
Going back to business school and figuring out his dream of opening his own studio
Launching DEFINE and expanding into a franchise
Dealing with the impact of COVID by pivoting to online
Hank’s Master’s in applied positive psychology and how it transformed DEFINE into a well-being hub
Hank’s advice on incorporating positive psychology in your life
What Hank would change if he could go back in time with the knowledge he has now
The importance of resiliency when a setback occurs
Hank’s opinion on the benefits of mindfulness and meditation
DEFINE’s partnership with Education Based Housing, a nonprofit working with cost-burdened households to provide access to quality housing
What Hank believes has made DEFINE successful
Hank’s advice for current athletes and coaches
Quotes:
“Diving, it truly was a way of utilizing movement as a self-expression. And you know, the many lessons that all of us learned in diving, the overcoming fears, the setting goals and accomplishing them, the concept of resiliency, even during injuries, etc. It’s such a powerful, powerful sport.”
“Being a student athlete, you are literally performing a job in some ways. You are studying for school, you’re going to school, you’re training first thing in the morning, you’re training in the evening, you’re eating, I mean, it’s very regimented. Right. And I know for a fact, it made me a much stronger, better person. But I remember that first year being like, oh my gosh, I don’t know if I can continue doing this.”
“The good thing about the mindset that, really, work being physically hard created is that when we got to the end of the year, I actually really knew I deserved it. I was like, I’ve worked so hard, I deserve to do well at this NCAA championship. And so that worked, but at the same time, by the end of the year, I was a little burnt out physically, mentally, emotionally.”
“It’s called spondylolisthesis. And you know, it’s manageable. A lot of people have to have fusions done. But that’s really how I started getting into the next phase of my life, which was really getting into yoga and Pilates to help to prevent to have to have the fusion.”
“When I started thinking about the classes and the things that I really, really loved, it was centered around psychology, it was centered around education, it was around mindset. And so I applied for this program called Teach for America. And they placed me to teach sixth-graders in the South Bronx, and it was truly a life-transforming experience.”
“I give all the respect in the world to schoolteachers. Any school has its challenges, any grade level has its challenges. And so working with the various teachers that were in our public school setting just gave me the most utmost respect for what school teachers do on a daily basis.”
“I never really thought of myself as being, like, a fitness instructor as my goal in all of this, but I loved working with clients, I loved working with people. And that has been kind of the consistent theme for me throughout. And when you believe in a product or a service so much because of its own transformative benefits that you’ve received, it’s impossible to not want to share that, truly.”
“My professor, within that same timeframe, said something that changed my life. He said, ‘You know what? Don’t take a job just because it’s available.’ He said, ‘Do something that will define your role in this world.’ And I, literally, the light bulb went off, the chills in my body. And I’ll be honest, because it’s a process of overcoming fear in many ways, just like diving, that I was like, I don’t know if I’m going to open up a studio, but if I do, I know I’m going to name it ‘Define.’”
“There are also a lot of negatives, challenges, that can also happen because of the franchise model. And a lot of it is because the mindset of a franchisee is that they own a business, whereas really, they’re just licensing the name and the services of the business.”
“Once COVID hit, it was a survival mindset and a little bit of a free-for-all. And truly, people felt like they had to do whatever they needed to do to make sure that they survived, and we really responded quickly by pivoting. Within just a few days, our entire business shifted online, we started Zoom classes, we had an on-demand platform.”
“The concept is that if we’re just focusing on our weaknesses, well, that’s how we’re going to feel when we’re living our lives. Versus if we can put our energy and focus on our strengths, then it’s going to have that ability for us to find more of a state of flow, more of a state of ease and also be able to be more proficient.”
“It’s not simply about just being focused on the good, right? It’s also coming up with a plan for when things don’t go the way you expected, how to kind of overcome that.”
“What I ultimately realized is that what meditation is doing is it’s training us simply to become more aware. More aware of our internal dialogue, more aware of the stories we tell about other people or ourselves, more aware of truly how we feel being around certain people, or how we feel about, you know, certain activities that we do.”
“I love the analogy for meditation where it’s like, you know, you can go a couple of days without showering and not a lot of people notice, but after a while, you know, people are gonna notice, right? And I feel the same way about my meditation. Like, I can go a couple days, and it’s not a big deal. But if I go for more than three, four, or five days, my attitude’s a little stinky.”
“One of my huge passions is about supporting and providing and helping to create circles of, you know, well-being if you will, and support. I feel like the studio business, it caters to a very specific demographic, and that demographic is people who can afford to come and take those types of services. And there’s so much that could be done and said in our world that could help various people.”
“Walking into the store of DEFINE, it needs to be an experience, and that experience should be, you know, welcoming, it should be truly nurturing in many ways, but at the same time pushing you and challenging you enough to get something out of it. So I think people come to us for that reason.”
“It’s important that we focus on strengths. And as a mentor or as an athlete, it’s important for us to help discover that strength, whether it’s a parent role, or a mentor role, or a coaching role, helping to really look at the strength of the individual.”
“Instead of using some of their weaknesses, which is very common in a challenging situation, we can now train ourselves to look at our strengths and use creative ways of applying that to our lives.”
Pursuit of Gold Podcast is brought to you by Kaatsu Global.
Links:
Life at 10 Meters: Lessons from an Olympic Champion
Laura’s Social Media:
Hank’s Links:
50. Worth the risk with aerial skiing Olympian Emily Cook
Joining Laura on the podcast this week is 3 time Olympian and 6 time National Champion in Aerial Skiing, Emily Cook. Currently the manager of sport and human potential at Skullcandy, Emily also manages programming for the non-profit, Classroom Champions, coaches young athletes at the Utah Olympic Park through the US Ski Team’s Elite Aerial Development Program, and is an ambassador for Right to Play and Kids Play International. Throughout her career, Emily has routinely demonstrated her ability to overcome obstacles and elevate her game to new levels, and she shares her inspirational story with listeners here today.
In today’s episode, Emily discusses her commitment towards her sport, her experiences at the World Cup and the Olympics, and the multiple emotions she went through while training. She also delves into dealing with injuries, making difficult decisions, and compares being a coach to being an athlete. She brings the conversation to a close by sharing details about the important work she does these days. An inspiring model of perseverance, Emily has so very much to share here today that is sure to motivate all who listen.
Episode Highlights:
-Emily’s realization of her love for aerial skiing
-Dealing with injuries as an athlete
-Her experiences at the Olympics
-Emily’s work at The Speedy Foundation
-How she had trust in her coach
-Emily’s commitments in the sports sphere
-Being a coach vs. being an athlete
-Emily’s work outside the sports sphere
Quotes:
“So, I always determined before a training block, whether it was a three-week training block or something, what my negative thought stoppers would be, and, you know, exactly what mindset I wanted to be in on the hill. I use music a lot as well.’’
“And then, every once in a while, like, as humans, we’re just not reliable, we’re not reliable to our own commitments.”
“But regardless of who’s there watching, you know…you’ve accomplished something that you set out to do so many years earlier, and it’s an incredible feeling.’’
“And so, it was a daily choice, it was a choice of showing up and showing up 100% no matter what, no matter what my mood was, no matter what was going on around me.’’
“In the end of the day, knowing exactly what I wanted to accomplish, and then debriefing exactly what I did accomplish, so that I knew what I needed to change the next day in order to perform even better.’’
Links:
Life at 10 Meters: Lessons from an Olympic Champion
5 Smart Strategies to Confidence
Laura’s Social Media:
Connect with Emily:
35. How to Face and Overcome Fear with Our Host, Laura Wilkinson
Due to the winter storm that hit Texas recently, and the ensuing power outage, Laura has had to postpone some of the fantastic interviews she had lined up for the podcast. However, today’s episode proves equally fascinating as she delves into something which we all experience, and about which she is asked all the time: fear. While no one is immune from it, there are ways to manage it rather than let it spiral out of control, and today, Laura breaks it all down for you.
She begins by defining what fear actually is, how healthy fear works and can help, the relationship between fear and control, and the only way to overcome fear. She also discusses the need to change the way we talk and think about fear through refocusing and reframing, the gift of gaining courage through fear and commitment, and then finishes with an offer to participate in her ‘Free 5 Day Fear Challenge’. This is a topic with which Laura possesses a vast amount of experience, and her insights and advice here today, once again, go far beyond the world of sports and into each of our daily lives, making this yet another ‘must listen’ episode of ‘The Pursuit of Gold’.
Episode Highlights:
· Defining what fear actually is
· Healthy fear
· Fear and control
· Overcoming fear
· Changing the way we talk and think about fear
· Refocusing and reframing
· Gaining courage
· Commitment
· Laura’s Free 5 Day Fear Challenge
Quotes:
“Fear is huge in my sport…I am no stranger to fear.”
“Fear basically boils down to a strong feeling.”
“A healthy fear should not be absolutely paralyzing.”
“However big your fears are, you are not powerless against these fears.”
“Fear has no actual control over you, it’s only making you feel a certain way.”
“When we ignore our fears, they don’t get smaller, they begin to grow.”
“When we’re trying to push our fears away, we’re actively interacting with them.”
“The only way to overcome fear is to face it.”
“We have to begin trusting ourselves and our knowledge and what we know will help us.”
“You cannot have courage or be brave unless you are first afraid.”
“The most important ingredient to becoming courageous is commitment.”
“It’s normal to freeze up and get scared just before a big, important moment. That just let’s you know how important it is to you.”
“You can’t dip your toe in from the 10m to see if the water feels nice.”
“The thing on the other side of fear is more important to me than the fear itself.”
Links:
5 Smart Strategies to Confidence
Laura’s Social Media:
Instagram: Laura's Instagram
Facebook: Laura's Facebook page
27. How to be resilient through adversity & improve performance with Dr. Ben Houltberg
Dr. Benjamin Houltberg, VP of Research and Practice at Search Institute, is Laura’s very special guest on today’s episode. Ben is a developmental scientist, and an experienced licensed marriage and family therapist, as well as a former elite athlete. He is widely published in topics such as the socialization of adolescent emotion regulation, promoting resilience through adversity, character, and identity development in sports. As you will discover, he is also well versed in the practice of Mindfulness, and he is here to share his vast amount of experience, knowledge, and advice with you today.
Ben begins by sharing his journey from his first interest in sports and his running career, through to his current position, and then offers a thorough analysis of both performance based and purpose based identity, as well as the continuum between them. From this analysis, he expands upon performing out of fear and coping with it, mental health, his perspective on overcoming the challenges that this past year has provided, and the importance of gratitude and positive emotions. While examining the foundation for dealing with adversity, Ben explains the concept of Mindfulness, and actually leads Laura and our listeners through an exercise. He finishes the conversation discussing virtue development and high performance and sharing his advice for young athletes. Ben’s overriding belief that we are all of value, not because of our performance, but because of who we are, is evident throughout this inspiring episode. His is an impactful and important message for absolutely everyone to hear and to heed.
Episode Highlights:
· Ben’s journey from his start in sports to his current position
· Performance based identity, purpose based identity and the continuum between the two
· The impact of ‘performing out of fear’ and recognizing when you are struggling with it
· Steps to follow for coping with the fear
· Emotional regulation and co-regulation
· Mental health in the world of sport and society in general
· Michael Phelps’ ‘Weight of Gold’ documentary
· Ben’s observations and guidance regarding 2020 and moving forward from it
· The importance of feeling gratitude and expressing it to others
· The impact of positive and negative emotions
· 3 foundational aspects to preparing for adversity
· Mindfulness and its importance
· A mindfulness activity
· Virtue development and high performance
· A study regarding the impact of negative emotions and connection
· Ben’s advice to young athletes
Quotes:
“My same exhilaration for sports began to transfer over to my desire to want to understand how the mind works and how relationships work.”
“In the process of trying to study this, I experienced my own kind of healing in some of the wounds that I experienced as an athlete.”
“When results start to get wrapped up as the main definer of your self-worth, then it has devastating consequences.”
“I really firmly believe that there’s a lot of athletes who ‘choke’ or ‘bonk’, or whatever you want to call it, that really comes from an overstimulated sympathetic nervous system.”
“Often, our body responds even before we are able to process it cognitively.”
“Our external lives and relationships and stressors all can have positive or negative consequences physiologically on us.”
“We deal with stress and pain better when we have a purpose that’s bigger than ourselves.”
“These athletes that have this more purpose based identity, they achieve at really high levels as well, but they don’t have the consequences of high levels of depression or anxiety or shame.”
“Throughout history and throughout research, we just do better when we’re connected to others and we have this connection to some type of transcendent purpose.”
“What do I value? What is most important to me?”
“Relationships are so powerful for our emotional health.”
“How can I serve the people around me right now?”
“The foundation of the self becomes really important…the mindset skills are also really important.”
“Invest in your relationships – in healthy ones.”
“Being mindful in your day-to-day is really just…a non-judgmental awareness of being in the present moment.”
“For me, breath also represents a connection to God or even for some people to everybody around them, the source of life.”
“You are valued. You are loved. You are known. You are free. And your worth does not depend on your performance. And you have something to offer this world that nobody else can take away…there’s a purpose in what you can contribute to those around you.”
“When we do have that solid foundation, we are able to also give our best, and I think that’s where virtue development and high performance come together.”
Links:
Mental Training: https://www.laurawilkinson.com/learn
Laura’s Social Media:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lala_the_diver
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheLauraWilkinson
Connect with Ben:
Search Institute: https://www.search-institute.org/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/drbenhoultberg/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/benhoultberg
23. When the beautiful Olympic moment is not what you expected with Abbey and Jacob Cooper
Laura’s guests on the podcast today are Olympic runner, Abbey Cooper, and her sport psychologist husband, Jacob. Abbey’s impressive college career includes being seven-time national champion, 16-time Ivy League champion and 12-time All-American. In 2012, she became the first Dartmouth woman to win a national title, and in 2013 she became the first Ivy League student-athlete to win the cross-country title. Currently running for New Balance and pursuing the Tokyo Olympics, Abbey is perhaps best known for her inspiring performance at the 2016 Rio Olympics, which she describes in full here today. Highly talented in his own right, Jacob was a scholarship athlete and four-year starter on the football team at Taylor University. This experience led to his interest in the field of sport psychology, and currently, he is the Director of Sport Psychology Services at Appalachian State University and a member of the Mental Health Registry of the USOPC.
Their conversation with Laura today explores not only their story in sport and in their personal relationship, but also of their unwavering faith, and the role that God plays in their lives. Along the way, they touch on Abbey’s experience at Dartmouth and the beginning of her faith journey, God’s grace in her life, His transformation of Jacob’s heart, and how He has taught them lessons about hardship, suffering, and what really matters through His ministry to them. Of course, Abbey’s historic and inspiring performance at the 2016 Olympics is recounted from both of their perspectives, and they also share details of their unique dynamic, what the past four years have been like, what they’ve been working on during the pandemic, and the dream that they have for helping other athletes. Having been through so much, and having faced it all together, supported by the power of their faith, Abbey and Jacob have many lessons to teach about making meaning out of experiences, and they do precisely that here today with extraordinary grace, humility, and sincerity.
Episode Highlights:
· Abbey’s experience at Dartmouth
· The beginning of her faith journey and her transitional moment
· God’s grace in her life
· Jacob’s athletic experience
· God’s transformation of his heart
· Jacob’s transition into sports psychology
· How Abbey and Jacob’s relationship started and built
· Abbey’s 2016 Olympic experience, and how God prepared her for the moment
· Jacob’s perspective of it
· God shifting Abbey’s perspective on the meaning of hardship
· What really matters
· How God ministers back to us
· What their past four years have been like
· The dynamic between Abbey and Jacob
· What they’ve worked on during the pandemic and Tokyo Games postponement
· Understanding the purpose of suffering
· The importance of acknowledging grief
· The unique fulfillment of inspiring and lifting other people up
· Jacob and Abbey’s dream to help other athletes rehabilitate their relationship with sport
· runningwithheart.org (coming soon)
Quotes:
“God had other plans.”
“I wouldn’t go back and change it, because it really brought me to the end of myself, and introduced me to this need for the Lord in my life.”
“It was the peace He gave you inside.”
“It was definitely a pretty humbling and arduous path from there that God really used to kind of transform my life.”
“It was this gift to glorify Him.”
“Luckily, God surrounded me with great friends, coaching, and mentors that helped me make meaning of my experience.”
“It was the fastest mile of my life, and probably the slowest of Abbey’s.”
“It was like God’s hand was over the whole thing.”
“I know that I’m here for a reason, but none of this makes sense.”
“That is so unnatural to me to respond in a way that isn’t selfish that I am so sure that it was just the Holy Spirit.”
“Abbey tried to get up like two or three times and run, and just kind of collapsed.”
“It was one of the most memorable and uplifting stories of the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio.”
“Now to him who is able.”
“When I crossed the finish line, I was already so amazed by what God had done.”
“Lord, bless me with wisdom, bless me with humility, and bless me with a godly wife someday…He gave me all three combined into one.”
“God’s given me a lot of hardship to walk through, and so I’ve picked up a few things along the way about what’s helped me.”
“I hope and pray athletes will feel less alone in their struggles.”
Links:
Mental Training: https://www.laurawilkinson.com/learn
Laura’s Social Media:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lala_the_diver
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheLauraWilkinson
Connect with Abbey and Jacob:
Running With Heart homepage: https://www.runningwithheart.org/
Abbey’s instagram: https://www.instagram.com/abbey_dags/
2. Keys to a gold medal mindset with USOPC sports psychologist Dr. Karen Cogan
This week’s guest is Dr. Karen Cogan, a Senior Sports Psychologist for the United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee (USOPC) who has attended 4 Olympic Games as the Sports Psychology Consultant for several Olympic medalists and their coaches. Dr. Cogan has a special set of skills, and she most certainly ‘knows her stuff’.
In today’s episode, Laura and Dr. Cogan cover an incredible amount of territory including the Doctor’s journey to sports psychology, her direction for athletes dealing with the postponement of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, and the benefits of implementing mindfulness techniques in both sports and life in general. They also look at the causes of burnout in athletes, some reasons behind athletes seeking Dr. Cogan’s assistance and what it means to honor their feelings, as well as some common characteristics of successful and struggling athletes. Finally, Dr. Cogan offers her advice on a number of topics ranging from helping struggling athletes to managing distractions, routines, and pressure, and she also shares some words of wisdom for parents and young athletes. This is an episode overflowing with amazing insight, unique perspective, and powerful ‘truth bombs’ from two highly accomplished experts in their fields.
Episode Highlights:
Dr. Cogan’s background and her journey to sports psychology
Her direction for athletes trying to cope through this pandemic and who are preparing to get back to full swing when this isolation ends
Mindfulness training for sports and life
The causes of burnout in athletes and how to avoid it
Reasons that athletes have for talking with Dr. Cogan and how she honors their feelings
Common characteristics of both successful and struggling athletes
Dr. Cogan’s advice regarding helping struggling athletes, overcoming ‘fear of success’, dealing with pressure, managing distractions, routines, community, and technology
Her advice for young athletes and parents of athletes
Quotes:
“What I have encouraged athletes to do is to really honor the feelings that they have, whatever those are.”
“It’s okay to grieve dreams or hopes and things like that when it doesn’t play out like you want.”
“When we try to push down those things we’re afraid are going to take over, we’re actually giving them power to take over, and that’s when they end up exploding in our face.”
“Everything is a performance issue when it comes to the Olympics.”
“An athlete has to be able to talk openly.”
“Now’s the time to get rid of the bad habits and establish the good habits.”
“Winning and losing does not define you as a person or an athlete.”
“While the gold medal is awesome, and it’s a great goal to strive for, it’s that pursuit that’s going to make you who you are in the long run.”
Links:
The Pursuit of Gold homepage: http://thepursuitofgold.com/
Dr. Karen Cogan information: http://www.teamusa.org/InsideTheUSOC/Meetings/Sports-Technology-Symposium/Bio-Cogan-Karen.pdf