The Peak Performance Expert

It may be hard for you to picture a bunch of Marines meditating but that’s just what they did under the guidance of The Mind Fitness Training Institute  in a study to boost resilience. 

The short version of this story is that mindfulness training works.  That’s not news to the many people who already practice a mindfulness based program but it certainly was news to the Marines who engaged in this project. 

Here is an example of one of the mindfulness exercises the Marines were taught:

An early exercise was to have the men consciously shift attention between 2 places.  They were asked to sit quietly and simply bring their attention to the point of contact between their feet and the floor or their seats and the chairs or their hands on their laps. If or when they noticed their minds wandering, they were asked to bring their attention back to that point of contact. 

Once their attention had stabilized, they were then asked to shift their attention to a new bodily sensation or sound.  It could be a focus on breathing or sounds in the environment.  When attention moved away, they were asked to bring it back to the breath or the sounds.  After that had stabilized they were then asked to shift back to the original point of focus. 

The shifting back and forth trains the mind to be able to place attention where you want!  And when distractions occur, to bring it back to where you want it to be. 

This is an easy and portable exercise that works to boost working memory capacity which is essential to healthy cognitive and emotional functioning.

You might think that Marines are already mentally tough!  Well, sure – those who become Marines are brave and willing to put themselves in harms way but mental toughness represents a specific constellation of qualities and behaviors that some Marines may lack. (These include ability to concentrate and manage distractions; ability to bounce back from set-backs and mistakes; ability to manage emotions, etc.)  

For example, we know that the number of suicides among Marines increased from 33 (among a total troop level of 208,000) in 2007 to 42 in 2009. After eight years of war, record numbers of troops are experiencing depression and anxiety, as well as the more severe conditions of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and traumatic brain injury (TBI).  According to the Pentagon, American troops in Afghanistan are suffering the highest rates of mental health problems since 2005, and morale has deteriorated. Mental problems send more men in the U.S. military to the hospital than any other cause.  

 Being a warrior in the ambiguous battlefield that is Iraq or Afghanistan induces high stress that can lead to impulsive, erratic behavior and anxiety and depression.

Liz Stanley of the Mind Fitness Training Institute  along with her colleague Amishi Jha has created a program to teach Marines mindfulness.  The goal is to build a resilient Marine who is able to withstand the rigors of combat stress.

Bottom line?  It works! Read the rest of this entry »

Ever since Osama bin Laden met his demise, there has been significant interest in the mystique of the Navy SEALs.  Who are these tough guys and how do they train? Can an average citizen learn some of these mental toughness techniques? 

Well, if you have any fantasies of becoming a SEAL, think again.  The training and initiation is beyond rigorous and somewhere between 75 – 90% of applicants don’t make it. 

Still, you can learn some of the techniques used by SEALs and in fact, you probably already do! Read the rest of this entry »

Pitching for the World Series might give anyone the jitters.  Not Cliff Lee.  The ace pitched a complete game and beat the Yankees 6 – 1 but it was his cool-as-a-cucumber demeanor that stood out.  How does he do it? 

Mr. Lee told the New York Times: Not nervous at all,” he said, before pausing and adding: “It’s been a long time since I’ve been nervous playing this game. It’s what I’ve been doing my whole life. I put all the work in. You do everything you need to do to prepare, and I try not to leave anything to chance. So what’s the point in being nervous? I’ve already done the work. It’s game time. Time to go out there and have fun and execute and let your skills take over.” 

He has a point.  A peak performer knows how to prepare well and is sure to spend adequate time prepping not only his or her physical game but the mental game as well. As I’ve said many times, “winning is the science of being totally prepared” and Cliff Lee showed us all what that looks like.

Hooray for the army for recognizing that their soldiers can benefit from emotional resilience training. 

Approximately one-fifth of troops returning from combat have mental health problems. War is hell – you bet – and what used to be called “shell shock” back in WWI is now called Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, a serious constellation of symptoms that can lead to prolonged depression, significant under-functioning in all areas of life and – sometimes – suicide. 

The program is going to cost $117 million dollars.  It is based on the research of Dr. Marty Seligman, chairman of the Positive Psychology Center at U-Penn.  Dr. Seligman is a big name in psychology circles for his illustrious academic career and his ground-breaking research and interventions. 

What do they mean by resilience?  According to Gary Tallman, an Army spokesman, “Resilience can be defined as having the ability to grow and thrive in the face of challenges and bounce back from adversity.”  

Sounds good to me.  It’s nothing new, either; at least to those of us in the peak performance and sport psychology world. Many of the techniques and interventions derived from sport psychology are designed to help people become more resilient.  We sometimes use the term “mental toughness” to describe it. 

A mentally tough person is able to perform at an optimal level no matter what the circumstances.  How you get to that point is what my coaching and training programs are all about. 

Stay tuned as I write more about what the Army is doing and how you might be able to incorporate this into your life.

So the fabulously talented LeBron James refused to shake hands with his opponents after the Magic won at Amway Arena in Orlando because, as he said, “It’s hard for me to congratulate somebody after you just lost to them.”  

Of course it’s hard.  And therefore…? So if something’s hard, you shouldn’t do it?  

Mr. James also said, “It’s not being a poor sport or anything like that. If somebody beats you up, you’re not going to congratulate them. That doesn’t make sense to me.”  

Sure if someone beats you up in the schoolyard or in an alley, you would not congratulate that person but this is organized sports where there are traditions and expectations.  The tradition is that the losing team acknowledges the success of the winning team and that everyone acts like a gracious gentleman and/or lady.  Pouting and sulking are frowned upon. 

I do not want to take anything away from Mr. James’s exceptional athletic prowess and fierce determination to win but this behavior is unseemly and tarnishes his otherwise glowing image. 

There are several qualities that contribute to mental toughness and one of them is what I refer to as the championship mindset.  This refers to individuals who are willing and eager to assess their performances in an objective fashion in an effort to learn from mistakes and improve.  This objectivity allows them to control their emotions in order to assess, learn, and move forward.  

A championship mindset includes the ability to recognize that sometimes the other guy wins and when that happens, a true champion will be able to step back and be curious as to why that happened. This curiosity encourages an objective stance, a learning perspective that promotes questions such as: “How did the other team win and why did we lose? What can be learned from this?” 

Sure it hurts.  It hurts a lot especially because of the heroic effort Mr. James delivered but with a little more effort he could show us that he is mentally tough not only on the court but in life.

First it was Red Sox shortstop Julio Lugo, then, at the very end, it was pitcher Javier Lopez.  They each committed a cardinal sin in baseball: they didn’t keep their eyes on the ball.  In just that split second when each looked away from the ball, the ball got away from them. 

For the rest of us, the term – keep your eye on the ball – serves as metaphor but there’s nothing like a real life example to demonstrate the wisdom of this old adage.  And it’s becoming increasingly difficult to stay focused on the one thing we should focus on since there are innumerable temptations and distractions such as ringing cell phones, email, the internet, and bad music that seems to be piped in everywhere. 

Of course we can train our brains to focus more effectively but that takes time and effort and many of us are “too busy” (i.e, too distracted) to do so! 

For those of you who may be interested, here’s a quick technique to help you quickly remove distractions and  refocus: 

• Close your eyes and exhale slowly, real slowly.
• Now say to yourself, “I’m going to turn my mind off.”
• Now “see” with your mind’s eye, a blank computer screen.
• Relax your jaw  and tongue (we hold a lot of tension there).
• And be still for 10 – 20 seconds.
• Now open your eyes.
• Direct your energy to your task at hand.

Should kids be taught to be mentally tough?  Harvard psychologist Richard Weissbourd seems to think so.  Weissbourd’s book, “The Parents We Mean to Be: How Well-Intentioned Adults Undermine Children’s Moral and Emotional Development” was mentioned in an article by Joanna Weiss in today’s Boston Globe http://www.boston.com/lifestyle/family/articles/2009/04/11/tough_talk/ 

In the article, Weiss recounts the story of a soccer coach who raised an uproar when he jokingly wrote to parents suggesting, among other things, that they put their kids on a diet of veggies, fish, and “undercooked red meat.” Weiss’s article questions the wisdom of parents who protect their kids from adversity and Dr. Weissbourd is quoted as saying that kids need adversity to develop coping skills. Everything today is designed to make life more easy and comfortable: delivery companies, iPhones, GPs, o2 broadband, television, loans. Many people rarely experience hardship, difficulty or problems that take time, effort and some struggle to overcome. Modern society doesn’t do patience and grit, as much as it does technology and ease– and it should.  

This reminds me of a friend of mine who told me that when he was just learning to crawl, his dad put pillows in his way to teach him to overcome obstacles.  This fellow revered his dad and to this day credits his technique for teaching him to forge ahead no matter what.  My friend is a successful internet guru who makes millions.  And he has indeed overcome many serious obstacles in his life. 

Now you may wish to forego installing a pillow obstacle course for your kids but as a psychologist, a mental game coach, and a peak performance maven, I have to agree that the experience of failure can be one of life’s greatest teaching moments.  I believe that making a mistake or losing out on a deal or falling flat on your face can be a wonderful opportunity for learning.  I encourage my clients to view such instances as data, as information that can be used to determine what went wrong and what needs to be fixed in order to succeed in the future. Parents, teachers and coaches can do the same.

First – a confession: I do watch American Idol.  It is the only reality show I watch but still… I was encouraged to watch this show by several friends who know I love to sing and that I occasionally work with performing artists. So last year I took the plunge, with great skepticism, and became hooked. 

There are many things to not like about the show such as the manipulation of emotions (ours and the contestants) and the endless commercials but it is still just plain fascinating. To see these young (mostly) talented performers sing in front of huge audiences and a panel of judges each week is truly a lesson in mental toughness. 

Consider how you might function if, in front of millions of people, you were told you received the fewest votes from viewers and that judges did not deem you worthy of saving.  That’s only part of it!  Then, after you’ve been rejected, you have to sing the song (that got you booted out in the first place) once again in front of everyone! Come on…it’s amazing these kids can talk let alone sing! 

So, I have been impressed with the poise and graciousness of these singers who are asked to perform under such mean conditions. They not only sing, they express their gratitude for the opportunity and thank everyone involved.  That’s mental toughness, folks. Grace under pressure, for sure and a lesson for all of us.

Alex Rodriguez’s recent admission that he used steroids to help him manage the pressure of being the highest paid ball player in Major League Baseball has raised a firestorm of controversy. 

Of course, this is understandable since A-Rod isn’t just a baseball player; he’s a celebrity of rock star status. He’s also a lightning rod (pun not really intended) who seems to generate intense positive and negative emotional reactions from the public – some of it his own doing (remember the “dates” with the blond stripper?). 

As a peak performance coach with an interest in mental toughness, I am always curious to see how people handle pressure since this is a measure of a person’s mental toughness.  It’s now how well someone performs when things are easy but rather how well that person functions when things get challenging that, in part, determines one’s mental toughness. 

Being the highest paid anything comes with both realistic and unrealistic expectations. And of course, there is pressure to meet those unrealistic expectations so it’s possible that A-Rod succumbed to buying into those unrealistic expectations, thinking he had to be a miracle worker (or believing he was). 

Now I realize that A-Rod and his handlers are trying to spin this tale to make it more palatable to the public and certainly Alex’s arrogance and impulsivity have gotten him in trouble before but I think there is some truth in what he says. He was only 18 when he entered the MLB and there are few 18 year olds who have the wisdom and maturity to handle that kind of exposure. And although I have no way of knowing this for sure, it’s unlikely he had a good mentor to guide him. 

The problem with some young athletes who are flung into the world of big money and big fame is that they are ill prepared to handle it all.  They become surrounded by people who idealize them and by people who use them. They get used to the idealization and begin to believe they are invincible and not subject to the rules that govern mere mortals. They believe they can get away with things because they are getting away with things until one day… 

Fast forward to 2001 and the use of those banned substances. Our boy was 26 and now says, “It was very loose. I was young, I was stupid, I was naïve. And I wanted to prove to everyone that I was worth being one of the greatest players of all time. I did take a banned substance. And for that, I am very sorry and deeply regretful.” 

Is he sorry because he was caught or is he really sorry that he used the drugs? No way can we know.  He was smart to come forward (or his handler was smart to encourage him to do so) and confess and it was smart to hold the press conference today in which Alex offered a few more details. 

A-Rod was clearly anxious during the press conference.  He took a swig of water every few seconds (dry mouth is a typical sign of anxiety) as he read his statement and answered questions.  His most authentic moment was when he looked at his teammates and couldn’t speak for several seconds.  I think if he had spoken he would have cried but he shifted in his seat, looked away and up as he fought back the tears and then managed to say, “Thank you.” 

There’s no denying A-Rod’s talent; he’s got the stuff although there are questions about his post-season playing (another test of mental toughness) where he disappoints (unless you’re a Red Sox fan!). 

So to get back to the mental toughness question – how mentally tough is Alex Rodriguez?   How does he manage pressure – the pressure of the expectations of others and self; the pressure of coming through in clutch situations; the willingness to play fair even when it’s not going your way (remember him swatting the ball out of Arroyo’s hands in ’04?)? Maybe not so well, eh? 

Now good old fashioned maturity plays into mental toughness and that’s where Alex definitely needs some work. His exploits off the field attest to that. We can hope that this situation will help Alex grow up; to realize that he is not invincible, that he is not untouchable, that he is not flawless. But he cannot do it alone.  Ideally he would get assigned a mentor, someone with the wisdom and maturity that Alex seems to lack.  Of course, there is the option of some professional help.  I don’t mean 5 days a week on the couch but certainly therapy with a straight talking therapist could be of great benefit to him. 

Alex Rodriguez is a man of immense talent and promise who has certainly contributed excitement to the game of baseball.  I support his desire to move forward. I applaud his seemingly heart-felt confession.  Sometimes these events serve as a wake-up call that changes people for the better.  Only time will tell.