In this episode I’m joined by the world-renowned performance psychologist, Dr Nate Zinsser. Dr Zinsser (or Dr Z as he’s known) - is the Director of the Performance Psychology Programme at West Point, the US Army’s famous officer training facility. In that role he prepares new and experienced soldiers for the mental stresses of battle. He also works for the FBI and is a top US sports psychologist, helping to guide a number of NFL and Olympic athletes to glory.

Dr Z’s new book, The Confident Mind – a Battle Tested Guide for Unshakable Performance - is packed with useful, practical tips on how to discover and maintain your confidence. Dr Z’s approach is far from the world of positive thinking fluff, that publishers seem to love these days. His formula is brutally frank, down to earth, and doable. In this chat Dr Z talks us through his confidence framework. And along the way he explains how the recently jailed Boris Becker can turn his downfall into a positive. He also delivers a compelling message to the men and women fighting the war in Ukraine.

There really are some gems to remember here. Like - “There’s a big difference between positive thinking and effective thinking” and “Crisis is an opportunity to get to a better life, not to just get back the life you had” and my personal favourite “Bitterness is not a clean burning fuel … it will always leave a residue.” Some great stuff here. My thanks to Dr Z and I hope you find it as useful as I did!

Dr Z's crisis cures:
1 – Start by not categorising your situation as a crisis in the first place! I try to be as rational and as careful about how I think about the problem. My response is always to stop. Breathe. Hold back the emotion – be as objective as possible. Ramp down the alarm bells and see this as a situation that’s going to require a considerable input of a particular type of energy. I don’t want to be telling myself that I’m in a crisis.

2 – Define the situation appropriately – are you in a situation that means the world is going to end or one that you just wouldn’t choose to be in? Remember you have agency and capability.

3 – Decide to act. Remember, you are the leader, and you make the decisions when it counts.

LINKS:
Facebook https://www.facebook.com/Nathaniel.Zinsser
LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/nate-zinsser-35349010/
Twitter: (@DocZinsser)
Website: www.NateZinsser.com
Book: https://amzn.to/3BjrPv3


Host - Andy Coulson
Producer - Louise Difford

Full transcript available at: https://www.crisiswhatcrisis.com/podcasts/dr-nate-zinsser-on-how-to-develop-the-confidence-to-survive-crisis/