Demystifying Mental Toughness

In today's episode Audrie Woodhouse, who was a fabulous actress and performer and now a successful coach and speaking consultant, shares some great ideas when it comes down to communication skills and public speaking, especially when we consider the key elements of leadership communication. This episode is also a very helpful episode for those who dread speaking or performing and who let their inner chatter get out of control and end up getting very nervous. Managing state, speech preparation and mental preparation as well as channelling your focus are features of what we discuss.

Enjoy!

Key Learning Points:

• Understanding yourself better, what it is you're passionate about and what you want to say to the world when you speak is essential.
• A speaking coach helps you write your own story so that you speak with your true authentic voice.
• Politicians are under an awful lot of pressure, they have advisors, speech writers and communication strategists to help them come up with the right things to say however, that approach is not always effective.
• Using your breath is key to managing your psychological state before you speak.
• Body language is an important part of building rapport when you speak in public.

Connect with Audrie Woodhouse

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Audrie Woodhouse Honestly Speaking Website

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To listen to relevant podcast episodes that link to improving your communication skills

Ep197: Nick Jonsson – Mental Health: How To Overcome Executive Loneliness

Ep139: Steve Beharall – Steve Beharall’s Journey from Football Coach to CEO

Ep128: Paula Eddy-Wilcox – Can You Show Vulnerability and Be Mentally Tough? Yes!

Ep120: David Charlton – Sport Coach Development: Helping Athletes Perform Better by Adapting How You Communicate

Ep041: Paul McGee – How to Develop Interpersonal Confidence

Other Useful Resources linked to developing your communication skills

The Mental Edge - How to Assert Yourself so That Other People Don’t Throw You Off Your Game

The Mental Edge - How to Improve The Skills of Team Captains

eBlog - 5 Ways to Create a Psychological Safe Sporting Environment

Blog: Why You Should Recognise The Power of Your Words

Blog: How Mentally Healthy is Your Clubs Sporting Environment

Some days as a footballer, for a variety of reasons you may feel flat and approach a match out of sync mentally and physically. So what should you do on these days?

In today’s episode of Demystifying Mental Toughness the 5th of a 10 part series for football enthusiasts, I share some ideas. We’ll look at how you can rouse yourself, how you can use willpower and your actions and not just rely of your coach or gaffer to inspire you.

Enjoy!

Connect with David Charlton

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Check out our library of content supporting football and soccer players and coaches

“It’s lonely at the top” - this is a comment many business leaders in organisations admit where trusted relationships, can often prove sparse. In sport, for coaches and athletes this can also be the case the higher you go up the success ladder.

These statements inform episode #197 where the author of the book Executive Loneliness, and Co-Founder and Managing Director of the Executives’ Global Network, Singapore, Nick Jonsson tells me about his experiences as well as sharing what he found when he researched this topic for his book. We end up discussing the power of talking about the challenges that you face, the benefits of peer support and how difficult it can be to share your vulnerabilities. In addition self-care and how you can learn to look after yourself better so that your mental and physical health, and in turn your performance levels do not deteriorate are talking points.

Key Learning Points:

• Many executives suffer from smiling depression where they put up a beautiful facade of what life really is like. Behind the scenes, it's not the real truth and they're not being their authentic self. This then becomes very tiring and painful.
• Some executives often don’t want to bother their boss, HR team or even their partner at home as it is very difficult for them to have these types of conversations discussing emotional issues they may be facing.
• Individual and peer support can be very powerful for executives.
• The commitment shown by executives, if they are not self-aware, can be harmful to their physical and emotional health, where burnout can become a big factor and unhelpful habits often then creep into our lives.
• On a scale of 1-10 how important is self-care to you?

Connect with Nick Jonsson

LinkedIn

Executives’ Global Network Website

BOOK: Executive Loneliness

Connect with David Charlton

Sign Up to The Mental Edge

Join David @ The Sports Psychology Hub

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To listen to relevant podcast episodes that link to Mental Health

Ep065: Dr Amy Izycky – Encouraging Mentally Healthy Cultures in Sport

Ep092: Dr James Hegarty – ACT in Sport, Improving Performance through Mindfulness

Ep113: Polly Brennan – The Relationship Between Mental Fitness, Mental Health and Mental Toughness

Ep138: Nick Littlehales – Why do the Mentally Tough see Sleep and Recovery as Important

Ep158: Paul Gorczynski – How to Develop and Implement Mental Health Literacy Strategies

Other Useful Resources linked to Mental Health

Blog - Make Better Decisions to Help Your Sport Performance

Blog - 5 Ways to Create a Psychological Safe Sporting Environment

Blog – 3 Tips to Deal with Bullying in Sport

Blog: How Mentally Healthy is Your Clubs Sporting Environment

Blog: Using ACT and Mindfulness to Improve Your Sporting Performances

Whether you play football at grassroots or in the Champions League one thing is for certain you will be criticised by someone. It may be a team-mate or coach trying to drive up standards. Or it may be a friend, a partner or one of the many keyboard warriors out there who offend you.

Many factors can influence how you take and then respond to such criticism, as I talk about in today’s episode, the 4th of a 10 part series for football enthusiasts. You’ll also hear me share some advice so that you don’t get overcome with emotion and react accordingly.

Enjoy!

Connect with David Charlton

Sign up to The X-FACTOR regular emails helping football and soccer players to get the most from their talent

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Check out our library of content supporting football and soccer players and coaches

Ideally, we’d be able to recognise the need for toughness when we train and play sport and be able to switch it on and off as we please. Unfortunately, this isn’t the case as Clinical Psychologist and author, Amy Izycky, confirms when she talks about how extreme versions of toughness, mental toughness and resilience can be counter-productive.

In today's short BITE-SIZED episode taken from episode #065, Amy and I go on to discuss the word “Toughness” where we weigh up the pros and cons of being tough in a sporting environment and how our personality traits can then seep into our lives and impact our mental health.

Key Learning Points:

• Some sports take pride in promoting themselves as “tough” sports where only the strongest physically and mentally can survive.
• Sport teaches us certain personality traits such as focus, commitment, discipline and aggression which can be very positive traits, though taken too far they can have a negative impact on a person’s mental health.
• Being able to switch anger and aggression on and off in sport is a skill which can be difficult to master.
• Extreme versions of toughness and resilience can be damaging on a person’s life.
• Clinical psychologists are interested in supporting athletes who operate at the extreme end of needing “control” or the extreme versions of ”toughness”.
• Sports Psychologists are concerned with optimising performance and proactively maintaining and enhancing psychological wellbeing.
• As a Sports Psychologist we are able to identify if there are any mental health concerns which link to anxiety, depression, eating disorders and addiction. We then signpost onto mental health specialists such as clinical and counselling psychologists.
• It’s important to do your homework when gaining support for your mental health or sporting mindset to ensure that the practitioner is suitably qualified and accredited to organisations such as the Health Care Professions Council (HCPC).

Connect with Amy Izycky

Instagram

LinkedIn

Website

BOOK: Skewed to the Right, Sport, Mental Health and Vulnerability

Connect with David Charlton

Sign Up to The Mental Edge

Join David @ The Sports Psychology Hub

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To listen to relevant podcast episodes that link to mental health

Ep015: Nick Grantham – Essential Elements of Rest and Recovery

Ep065: Dr Amy Izycky – Encouraging Mentally Healthy Cultures in Sport

Ep092: Dr James Hegarty – ACT in Sport, Improving Performance through Mindfulness

Ep113: Polly Brennan – The Relationship Between Mental Fitness, Mental Health and Mental Toughness

Ep138: Nick Littlehales – Why do the Mentally Tough see Sleep and Recovery as Important

Other Useful Resources linked to Mental Health

Blog - Make Better Decisions to Help Your Sport Performance

Blog - 5 Ways to Create a Psychological Safe Sporting Environment

Blog – 3 Tips to Deal with Bullying in Sport

Blog: How Mentally Healthy is Your Clubs Sporting Environment

Blog: Using ACT and Mindfulness to Improve Your Sporting Performances

Footballers - how do you view the coach or manager asking you to play out of position? Negatively as a threat or positively as a challenge? In today’s episode, the 3rd of a 10 part series, I’ll be sharing my thoughts on why some footballers gravitate to the negative side and how they can help themselves, their team-mates, coach and club better.

Your perception of your situation is one avenue I explore, alongside judgement, and how you judge yourself or others. Ego is another area as well as how a person with a threat mindset approaches this situation. The solutions, relate to adopting a challenge mindset, seeing playing out of position as a learning experience and trying to keep your sense of humour.

Connect with David Charlton

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Check out our library of content supporting football and soccer players and coaches

In today’s short bite sized episode, taken from episode #093 of the Demystifying Mental Toughness Podcast, I was joined by prominent Sports Psychologist, Dan Abrahams. We discussed why athletes can struggle to repeat their training performances in competitive matches and events. Dan goes on to share his thoughts why this is the case, some tools he uses to help clients and specifically the concept of a game face which arguably every athlete or player should have in their toolkit.

Key Learning Points:

• Competitive events and matches can mean different things to different athletes with a range of responses such as: playing in an inhibited way, having a rise in intensity levels or displaying a drop off in intensity.
• Unhelpful thoughts, feelings and emotions can often be present for athletes.
• “I’ve got to perform”, “I must…” language often fuels pressure.
• Getting comfortable being uncomfortable is very helpful.
• A game face is a practical solution which takes into account sports psychology theories such as self efficacy theory and the individual zone of optimal functioning.

Connect with Dan Abrahams

Website

LinkedIn

Twitter

Connect with David Charlton

Sign up to The X-FACTOR regular emails helping football and soccer players to get the most from their talent

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Check out our library of content supporting football and soccer players and coaches

It is common for footballers or soccer players to have different values and ideas about the game than their coaches. On occasions, this can result in relationship challenges, where some players feel like they have been treated unfairly. On the pitch their application and effort in training and in matches, can slowly dwindle, often without them realising. Before they know it, they are only giving 70% of their full capacity. Away from football this can take a toll and negatively impact their day to day lives, mood and relationships with loved ones and friends too.

What’s the answer? Many of these footballers or soccer players can get caught out focusing on external factors outside of their control. This episode, is set up to help you if this situation sounds familiar, where I share a few ideas on how to place your attention on helpful things so that you give yourself the best chance of turning things around.

Connect with David Charlton

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Check out our library of content supporting football and soccer players and coaches

In today’s short bite sized episode, I chat with Dr Jim Afremow, the co-author of The Leaders Mind.Jim shares with you his thoughts about the field of sport psychology to improve your understanding on what we can offer as practitioners. He also touches on the crossover-between supporting people with performance issues as well as mental health concerns, working with youngsters and the fact mental skills, as is the case with mental toughness can be learned with good support and guidance.

Key Takeaways include:

• Without taking care of your mental health, you’ll find it difficult to perform at your best consistently.
• Too many people leave their mindset to chance, sports psychology bridges this gap with proactive support.
• Many people believe that you’re either born with confidence or you’re not which is incorrect. Mental skills training can help you improve your confidence levels. be developed and improved upon.

Connect with Dr Jim Afremow:

LinkedIn

Website

Connect with Phil White:

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Website

Book

The Leaders Mind

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Join David @ The Sports Psychology Hub

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Podcast episodes to improve your approach to playing sport or coaching

Ep 061: Paul Lyons – Why You Should Build Your Mental Toughness

Ep 084: Dr Jim Afremow and Phil White – Mental Toughness and The Leaders Mind

Ep 121: Doug Strycharczyk and Dr John Perry What Is New? Developments in Mental Toughness Research and Practice

Ep140: Chris Cook – How to Improve Your Mental Strength: Secrets from an Olympian

EP147:Aaron Walsh –The Application of Mental Performance Coaching in Elite Professional Rugby

Relevant blogs to help you improve your approach

Blog – 9 Tips for Children from Olympians

Blog – 3 Tips for Playing with Confidence under Pressure

Blog: 3 Tips to Help You Overcome Setbacks

Blog: Coach Development – Helping Athletes Overcome Fear of Failure

Sport Specific Resources from our Sports Psychology library to help you

Soccer or Football Psychology Resources

Hockey Psychology Resources

Rugby Psychology Resources

Many footballers are driven to improve. They strive day in, day out, to get better. They sleep, eat and breathe football. Football is on their brain 24 hours per day. However, noticeably many footballers spend a lot of time thinking about the technical and tactical side of the game. They’ll spend countless hours refining their touch. Improving the passing, shooting or positioning. The gym might also be a place they enjoy going to, pushing and strengthening their body.

Yet, their mental game often gets left to chance. My advice in today’s episode is to be curious about your mental game and mindset. By doing so, it can often, surprisingly, make a huge difference and elevate your performances and enjoyment to a new level.

Connect with David Charlton

Sign up to The X-FACTOR regular emails helping football and soccer players to get the most from their talent

Join David @ The Sports Psychology Hub

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Check out our library of content supporting football and soccer players and coaches