Do It Like An Athlete

Ep.010  What do you do when your greatest weakness is put in front of you every single day? You see it as an advantage. Then you work your ass off to be mentally and physically better than your opponents. In a sport like volleyball where height tends to be a mandatory requirement for success 5'9" attacker Chris Ling needed to bring something else to a game where most other players 6'6" and up. Chris was final ingredient needed to take the Humber College volleyball team to 2 provincial championships a national championship and he has won the NACIVT (a North American wide tournament) 4 times. We sit down to talk about how to see your greatest challenges from a different context and why failure is the only way to being a champion. Show highlights: - What do you do in the face of rejection? - Building resistance to failure. Failing will not kill you - You know you're pushing yourself when things start to fail and get difficult - There's more to being a good player than height. Learning to listen and su

Ep. 009 2 time national champion sprinter Sam Effah knows a thing or 2 about determination. After having major hip surgery (on both hips) he is poised to be back on top of sprinting in Canada. He joins me for a great chat about facing adversity with the determination to win. Show highlights: - There is no direct route from point a to point b and there will be many bumps in the journey. Accept it and be able to bounce back from any doubt. - Setting long and short term goals – using them to keep you on target - Write everything down and your mind is free. - Dropping all the weight of certain thoughts and giving you space from it to clear your mind for more important things. - Focusing inward and making goals to keep yourself motivated while watching others 'pass' you. - The distraction of focusing on external pressures. - Having the power to only compete against yourself. - Facing all the downfalls with the determination to win.

Ep. 008  As a former multi-major sponsored triathlete, Chad Cooper competed on the Ironman race circuit and consistently ranked in the top 10% of his bracket nationally. Offered a tryout for the U.S. Ski Team, Chad has an accomplished background in what it takes to perform on the highest levels of athletics and now coaches professional and aspiring athletes from venues such as the NHL, MLB, USAT, and Cyclo-cross fields. Show highlights: - Detaching yourself from the pain/excuses you're going to feel during training or a marathon because it is necessary - You can't rely on discipline and talent alone to keep you in the game but more the dedication to your purpose - Your purpose should not be to attain certain material items but to achieve how you want to feel in the completion of your mission  - We're conditioned by society to see the treetops as our goal, the fame, material items, instead of the roots - our drive and effort in the everyday struggle to achieve our goals  - Do you use the bad han

Ep. 007   Being part of 2 championship winning teams (the Las Vegas Bowl with the University of Toledo Rockets and the Grey Cup with the Hamilton Tiger Cats) former CFL receiver Mace Freeman knows the importance of working together to achieve a common goal. He joins me this week to talk about the behind the scenes dynamics that fans never hear about and the importance of an individual's contribution on a team.   Show highlights: - The importance of honoring people's differences and how it can galvanize a team - How to learn and teach others to listen effectively to another's position - Dealing with the influx of social media shaming people's actions - The recipe for success with a team – the gears are meshing but how do you get them to turn? - Constant and never ending improvement - learning the small pieces of the game that make the difference between star players and everyone else      

Ep. 006  Volleyball coach Dean Martin clearly knows a thing or two about what it takes to train at an elite level. In his first year as Programme Director & Head Coach for the Volleyball Association of Singapore Dean is the first coach to have a volleyball team from Singapore represented at the Commonwealth Games. He brings a unique perspective to coaching that is evident in what he has achieved. We sit down to talk about his unique approach that seems to fly in the face of traditional coaching.   Here are some highlights: - There's always a way around the problems you create for yourself - The stranglehold of conditional havingness - The role of a coach – what the athletes don't see - How to handle life problems while maintaining a high level of performance - Compartmentalizing your thoughts - It's OK to give 50% - The psychology of being a great modern day coach

Ep. 005 Pan Am bronze medalist and 2-time Olympic hurdler Nikkita Holder and mother knows a thing or 2 about achieving goals and overcoming obstacles. In this episode we talk about the importance of constant improvement and focusing on the 'long game' especially in the face of adversity.   Here are just a few highlights: - Making goals every day, every week, every month to keep things in a closer view and having a vision board for the year and 5 year goal - Keeping focus though life trauma and new responsibilities through training/routine and journaling - Leaving behind all the baggage and chaos at the end of the tournament - Having familiar teammates for support during training - Keeping the determination to keep going despite the struggles - Taking the steps to getting back into the sport through progressive exercises, not just full out to make it easier and not over exhaust yourself   - Focusing on how to approach the long game, building your foundation, instead of being short sighted and getting

Ep. 004 World champion and professor of Brazilian Jiu-jitsu Jesse Richardson is a bad ass. Not because of his tattoos or his ability to fight but because of his ability to leverage different aspects of his mindset to get where he wants to go in competition and the rest of life. This episode we sit down to talk about what it takes mentally to not only achieve world champion status but how to be a champion in your day to day life.    Here are just a few highlights: - Being a 10 year overnight success - Behind the scenes - what it actually takes to be an elite athlete - Setting the right goals don't bite off more than you can chew - Put your head down, work hard and don't keep looking back - The challenge of dealing with the emotions being a coach and the emotions of the athlete - What it actually takes to be a great coach or role model - As a coach the impact your current state directly has on who you're training - What true mental toughness is - How to face any challenge without doubt - How to deal w

Ep. 003 Ayo Sopeju is a member of the Canadian National Climbing Team and has competed for Canada on the world stage for many years. He has travelled the world competing in bouldering competitions against the best of the best. Ayo stopped in for a chat about his competition mindset and how you can integrate it into everyday life. Here are just a few highlights: - Focusing on the end of the game can distract from the steps leading up to it - The importance of leaving your baggage at the door - Having a repeatable process to move you into flow state (hyper focus) - His process to move through different mental spaces in his life with high effectiveness - The mental aspect to competition and take-aways for your everyday life - The power of other people's energy on your level of performance - What to focus on and when for any goal you want to achieve - When and how to deal with failure - How to prepare for what you don't know is coming

For Gregg King fighting is his life. He lives, eats and breathes Jiu-Jitsu. He has turned it into a career and a business so that he can share his passion with the world. We sat down to have a great conversation about the competition mindset of a martial artist and how that translates to his businesses. Here's a peek: - Fighting for the goal that you set - staying focused during your training so you are prepared for the competition - You either win or learn not win or lose – not winning will always teach you something - Going deeper into your thinking when you lose - In business, with a thousand things to do, whatever you do you're never going to be good enough - Keeping on yourself to push that extra 10%. Don't just talk about it, be about it - Adapting to being under pressure, so as you get to your next level of training you're already conditioned to keep going and exceeding - Keeping 'sharpening your blade' so you don't get to a point where you stagnate and lose your edge - someone else is always getting b

Making it to the pros is one thing but it's another thing to stay there. Stephen Clarke's NHL career was cut short by a knee injury five years into his pro career. By leveraging his mindset that got him to the NHL Stephen created a multimillion dollar company and is currently working on a project that has the potential to feed nearly every person in need in North America in the next few years. We sit down to talk about how he did it all.   Here are just a few highlights: - Changing your mindset from athlete to whatever is next - Coming to terms with your changing identity after retirement - How to stay ahead of your competition – work like there's always someone waiting to your place - What to do in the face of adversity - Why the lows are just as important as the highs - Your success will be determined by how you face your hardships - Training your subconscious mind to 'try' less and commit more - Stop doing it all on your own – the power of collaboration - The future of business and entrepreneurship -