Given we are deep into Olympic selection for many sports, it is an appropriate time to consider the opportunities that life offers outside of sport, to develop perspective but also to help sport performance. I have just finished reading Rafael Nadal’s book, Rafa: My Story, and I cannot stop talking about many of the valuable […]

Being an Olympic year there is a lot of discussion amongst the sporting fraternity with respect to maximizing athlete performance.  Sporting commentators are constantly covered in the media talking about the importance of managing a training and competition schedule to maximise the chances of success and the mental skills training necessary to have an athlete […]

Two of the most common questions I get asked as a sport psychologist are, “What do you do as a sport psychologist?” and “Why sport psychology?”. I think the best way to answer these questions is to give a snap shot of a day in the life of a sport psychologist… My day starts out at […]

What are the common attributes that the team at Mental Notes sees in the athletes that succeed? We have mentioned several times the attributes and definition of mental toughness that are thrown around often in the relevant research literature.  While we acknowledge that there is still more to learn about the concept of mental toughness, […]

There are a number of issues that athletes have to overcome if they are going to perform at their peak consistently. Some of the most common issues include performing under pressure, building self-confidence, pushing through pain, and staying in the moment. Something that the Mental Notes Consulting team talks to a lot of people about […]

Higher levels of Emotional Intelligence (E.I.) have been associated with superior performance by teams in business for some time and various coaching programs have been aimed at developing skills and abilities in this area.  Whilst E.I. has been thought to have a similarly positive impact in sport, the empirical evidence to support this has been […]

In the world of competitive sport where athletes are at times separated only by the smallest of margins we look for strategies to enhance physical performance.  Over the last decade there has been an increased interest in the role that music can play in the performance of athletes during training and competition.  Athletes across every […]

I recently finished reading Chris McCormack’s book, “I’m here to win: A World Champion’s blueprint for peak performance”.  The title grabbed me.  I know you shouldn’t judge a book by its cover but I am glad I did on this occasion because I wasn’t disappointed.  I found this book enlightening, reflective, and awe-inspiring.  Chris is […]

This slogan from the famous sporting goods manufacturer, Nike, has become recognized worldwide.  Apart from its marketing appeal it is worth looking further into its sentiment and adopting its meaning. At Mental Notes Consulting we constantly talk about the ‘right’ state of mind to perform at your peak.  Many people assume that this means that […]

Do you want to be an iconoclast?  Do you know what an iconoclast is?  Do you want to do something that others say can’t be done?  Because if you do, you are an iconoclast or are at least aspiring to be iconoclastic. Iconoclast by Gregory Berns is a page-turning tour de force that (unintentionally) cheekily […]