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PPP 010 NATIONAL CHAMPIONS, LAUREN EMBREE AND OLIVIA JANOWICZ

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In this episode of the Peak Performance Podcast, I chat with National Champions, Lauren Embree and Olivia Janowicz of the University of Florida about the mental game.

What you’ll learn:

  • Lauren and Olivia’s experiences of the zone
  • Lauren and Olivia’s experiences of slumps
  • An example of a winning mindset after a heartbreaking loss
  • What it takes to perform with freedom and ease
  • And much more!

Follow Lauren and Olivia on Twitter!

Lauren Embree: @lembree888

Olivia Janowicz: @ohlivin

Feel free to leave your comments below and share!

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PPP 008 WITH JORGE DYKSEN, QUADRUPLE AMPUTEE

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In this episode of the Peak Performance Podcast, I speak with quadruple amputee, Jorge Dyksen and his parents on the mental side of life and how happiness and success come from the inside.

What you’ll learn:

  • How The Dyksen Family found young Jorge in Panama, the home country of his idol, Mariano Rivera
  • How Mariano Rivera and other Yankees surprised Jorge during HOPE Week
  • The secret to making a difference in the world
  • The one thing that Jorge can’t do (or so he thinks)

Enjoy this long-awaited episode! Share below.

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PPP 007 GARRET KRAMER, AUTHOR AND MENTAL PERFORMANCE COACH

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In Episode 7 of the Peak Performance Podcast, I speak with my good friend, Garret Kramer, author of “Stillpower” and the forthcoming, “Path of No Resistance.” He is also, in my opinion, the top mental performance coach on the planet. I truly enjoyed talking with him about the missing link in the mental game today in the sports world. Simple, yet game-changing.

In this episode, you will learn:

  • A simple understanding that all great athletes know
  • Where our behavior, feelings, and experience originate
  • What determines how long you stay in a slump
  • How to access the zone
  • Why traditional sport psychology and mental coaching strategies, techniques, tools, and routines are not necessary
  • Why results are not the most important thing

Link:

Garret Kramer: GarretKramer.com

Like it? Share it!

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PPP 006 RICHARD BERNSTEIN, BLIND ATTORNEY, MARATHON RUNNER, IRONMAN ATHLETE

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In Episode #6, I interview my newest hero, Richard Bernstein, a blind attorney, marathon runner, and ironman athlete.

In this exclusive interview, I unearthed:

  • What it is like for a blind person to compete in an Ironman competition
  • The challenges of a blind person in law school
  • How Richard overcomes adversity

Feel free to share this inspiring podcast below…

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PPP 005 TIM MAYOTTE INTERVIEW

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In Episode #5 of the Peak Performance Podcast, I interview former world #7 tennis player and Olympic Silver medalist, Tim Mayotte. In this exclusive interview, Tim and I chat about:

  • State of US tennis
  • The pro tour
  • The mental game
  • The worst thing that he ever said to himself
  • Is education important?
Links:
Twitter: @timMayotte
I don’t know about you, but I loved hearing Tim talk about the mental game.  Share below!

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PPP 004 MY INTERVIEW WITH BABE RUTH’S DAUGHTER, JULIA RUTH STEVENS

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In Episode #4 of the Peak Performance Podcast, I have an intimate conversation with Babe Ruth’s daughter, the great Julia Ruth Stevens. Having turned 97 years young recently, Julia shares her thoughts and memories of her father, the greatest baseball player who ever lived…”The Bambino,” “The Sultan of Swat,” or as Julia calls him…”Daddy.”

ESPN said Ruth was the first athlete to achieve international fame, beyond sports. In 1920, Babe’s first year with the Yankees, he hit 54 home runs which was more than the entire roster of all the other teams in the league besides the Philadelphia Phillies. Sports has never been the same since.

What you’ll learn:

  • What was the real Babe Ruth like?
  • Did Babe Ruth get nervous?
  • Did he actually call his famous “called shot”?
  • Was The Babe talented, or did he just work hard?

People often ask me, “If you could go back in time, who would you like to spend time with?” My answer is usually, “Babe Ruth!” Unfortunately I don’t have a time machine, but this podcast is the next best thing.

Don’t miss this one-of-a-kind interview!

Like it? Share it below!

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MESSAGE #1658 GYM THOUGHTS

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Today’s message is especially dedicated to the great Julia Santos.

I was working out at the gym the other day and had two thoughts, so I wrote them down in Evernote as soon as I got back to the car.

Thought #1: Stretching at the end of your workout brings oxygen to your muscles and that helps them grow. This is good. However, if you are giving a presentation, competing in a big game, or taking a test and you have insecure thoughts (or any thoughts for that matter) pop up in your head and you make a big deal out of them, they grow and can affect your performance. This is not good. Think of a great performance you have had. Did you have a lot of thinking, or very little thinking? I already know the answer: very little thinking. So it doesn’t make sense to think into your thinking, does it? Thoughts will come into your head, you can’t control that. But you can control whether you give them attention and make them grow…or not.

Thought #2: People say that you are the product of your environment. I disagree. I believe that you are a product of your thinking. Parents say that you shouldn’t hang around the wrong people because you will become one of them. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying that you should hang around with the wrong people, but does everyone that hangs around the “wrong people” become like them? Of course not. Just like nobody’s rude comment can make you feel upset. Only upsetting thoughts can make you feel upset. We live in a world where most people think that something outside of them can affect how they feel, e.g., the weather, referees, parents, the economy, etc. This is simply not true and the more you realize this, the more you are in control and will be able to perform more consistently at a high level. Thought is the source of behavior, not environment.

It’s funny, so often at the gym I have thoughts of “I can’t run any longer” or “I can’t do any more reps,” but I don’t pay attention to those thoughts and pretty soon I have a different thought like “I’ve got this” and I end up running longer and doing more reps. Thoughts are random, they are illusions, and they are made up by you. If you take them seriously, it would be as if you composed and sent a nasty email to yourself, and then opened it and got upset. You don’t see that happening in real life, but it happens all the time on the field, at the office, and in the classroom. People believe their thinking and then they feel their thinking. Our experience is created from the inside-out, whether it’s true or not.

Well, I’ll be heading to yoga tomorrow…I’ll let you know if I have any insights.

Thanks for reading.

MESSAGE #1657 EVEN SINATRA GOT NERVOUS!

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Today’s message is especially dedicated to my lovely wife, Sarah. Tomorrow, March 26th will be our 2-year wedding anniversary. We are big fans of Frank Sinatra and often listen to his music while driving in the car.

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Frank Sinatra, (aka Ol’ Blue Eyes, The Chairman of the Board and The Voice) was an American singer and actor. Many have called him The World’s Greatest Performer.

Prior to becoming a legend, Francis Albert Sinatra only attended 47 days of high school without graduating. He began singing professionally as a teenager despite learning music by ear and never learning how to read music.

The rest is history. Or as he said, the best was yet to come.

I’m a big fan of Sinatra’s music, but an even bigger fan of his mental game.

When Sinatra was a living legend in his 70s, a reporter once asked him, “Do you ever get nervous when you are on stage?”

Sinatra responded, “Every time my name is announced, the little voice inside my head says, ‘Do I still have it? Do I still have it?'”

Yes, Frank Sinatra got nervous. All the time.

So if the world’s greatest performer got nervous, it’s okay if you get nervous. In fact, it’s normal.

The difference between you and Sinatra is that he didn’t take the little voice inside his head seriously. He didn’t make a big deal of his thoughts and then he proceeded to go out and knock everyone’s socks off.

When people take their thoughts seriously, they start feeling their thoughts, i.e., if they believe their nervous thoughts (whether they are true or not), they will FEEL nervous and their performance will suffer.

You don’t have to have the voice of a Frank Sinatra, or even be a singer for that matter, but you can have the same attitude as he did.

MESSAGE #1656 HAPPY PI DAY!

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Well, it’s Pi Day again (3.14), March 14 here in Princeton, New Jersey. It is also the great Albert Einstein’s 134th birthday, a former Princetonian. All over town there are math contests, pi eating contests, tours and Einstein look-alikes.

I know what you’re thinking…what does this have to do with me?

EVERYTHING.

Most people would call Albert Einstein a genius.

Not Albert.

Here’s how he saw himself…

I have no special talent. I am only passionately curious.”

When things go wrong, do you get frustrated or fascinated? Do you get irritated or intrigued?

Small children are curious. Everything is full of wonder and excitement to them. And they tend to stay in the present moment.

My friend, Garret Kramer once told me on the phone, “A lot of people say, ‘Live today as if it were your last.’ I say, live today as if it were your FIRST.”

I really like that.

If you live today as if it were your first, you would see and experience things with fresh eyes. You are more in the moment, have more satisfaction, and perform at a higher level. Your mind is clear and you have access to your wisdom, instincts and intuition.

Many people live in the past, and look for the answers in the past. You won’t find them there.

Here’s another Einstein quote…

We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.”

ST = SR (Same Thinking = Same Results)

NT = NR (New Thinking = New Results)

Don’t get me wrong, you don’t need to change your thinking…as a matter of fact, you couldn’t if you tried. New thinking happens on its own when your mind is clear.

When your thinking changes, your experience changes…this is the nature of life. When you truly realize this, you will operate more with a clear mind, and that is when you will experience more peak performances.

Happy Pi Day everyone!