Mental Training Lab

It’s true - moments like ringing in the New Year serve as mental accounting periods that prompt us to reassess our goals and behaviors. But without taking time to slow down and process, we can lose a huge growth opportunity. I sat down with Jeff Siegel to explore the 'Fresh Start Effect,' where transitions can motivate new behaviors, and critique the consumerism and unrealistic expectations surrounding New Year's resolutions.

Jeff and I emphasize the value of taking purposeful pauses to reflect, being brutally honest with ourselves, and seeking support from our community. Tune in to discover how mindfulness and intentionality can help you navigate life’s pivotal moments and make conscious choices that lead to sustainable wellness.

Jeff Siegel | Website

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This show is produced and edited by the team at Palm Tree Pod Co.  

How often do we genuinely hear what our bodies are trying to tell us, unless we're hungry or in pain? In this solo edition of the lab, you'll learn how tuning into your body with the same openness and curiosity you’d offer a close friend can elevate every area of your life—from enhancing performance and improving recovery to enriching overall well-being.

I introduce a transformative practice called pendulation—a method that teaches us to oscillate our awareness between discomfort and neutral or pleasant sensations, cultivating presence and a deeper understanding of our body’s signals. It’s not just theory; it’s a practical skill used by top performers to optimize their health and performance. Ready to reconnect with the incredible intelligence of your physical form? This discussion could be a game-changer.

If you are interested in taking this practice one step further, I’ve created a guided pendulation practice that complements the technique discussed in today’s episode. To find your free download, head to mtl.academy and check this week's show notes!

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Learn more about The Mental Training Lab
Connect with Pete on Instagram | LinkedIn | Website
Subscribe to the podcast on Apple | Spotify

This show is produced and edited by the team at Palm Tree Pod Co.  

From gold medals to career crashes, the icons have done it all. How can tapping into their experiences accelerate your journey? In this episode, I’m joined by Dr. Duncan Simpson and Dr. Greg Young from the Performers Podcast, a show that brilliantly mashes up sport autobiographies with performance psychology to pull out actionable insights that are as inspiring as they are instructive.

We unpack the lessons they’ve learned from the likes of Kobe Bryant to Mark Messier, and explore five key themes that have emerged from their study of the greats: resilience, goal setting, self-belief, the power of relationships, and the never-ending journey of learning. This isn’t just about sport heroes; it’s about translating their journeys into skills that can help us all to excel.

Learn how these stories can reshape our approach to challenges and redefine what it means to train for peak performance. Whether you’re an athlete, coach, or just a lover of great stories and psychology, this episode has something for you.

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Learn more about The Mental Training Lab
Connect with Pete on Instagram | LinkedIn | Website
Subscribe to the podcast on Apple | Spotify

This show is produced and edited by the team at Palm Tree Pod Co.  

We often hear that specialization is key, but what if there’s more growth in the gray areas than we realize? In this solo episode, I’ll explore the transformative power of stepping outside our comfort zones, with examples from cross-training for runners to actors taking improv classes. We’ll see how expanding our horizons can lead to unexpected breakthroughs in our primary fields of interest.

I dive back into the intriguing perspective shared by Dr. Brett Malone, a former astrophysicist turned biotech consultant, who believes that diversifying our training can dramatically enhance our problem-solving abilities and help address our blind spots. Plus, I’ll share a personal story about my high school days when I juggled wrestling with a newfound passion for hockey—a sport I was utterly unprepared for—and why it paradoxically fostered a phenomenal growth mindset.

Tune in to discover why sometimes, the best way to enhance your main performance domain is to venture boldly into new ones, and how trusting the non-linear path of diverse learning can open up new vistas of personal and professional growth.

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Learn more about The Mental Training Lab
Connect with Pete on Instagram | LinkedIn | Website
Subscribe to the podcast on Apple | Spotify

This show is produced and edited by the team at Palm Tree Pod Co.  

What’s the key to unlocking athletic potential? It’s not a paint-by-numbers approach to mental skills training! In this episode, sports psychologist Dr. Adam Naylor discusses the often overlooked foundations of sustainable high-performance mindsets. He shares the importance of flexibility, the critical role of a strong working alliance between coach and client, and how embracing the full spectrum of human experience—including stress and acceptance—can profoundly enhance performance.

You’ll learn why teaching mental skills isn’t always enough and how adopting a more holistic perspective can lead to significant breakthroughs in high-performance arenas. Whether you’re a coach, athlete, or anyone interested in the psychology of performance, this episode offers essential insights into the complexities of mental skills training and the necessity of building robust, trust-filled relationships for transformative growth.

Learn more about The Mental Training Lab

Connect with Pete on Instagram | LinkedIn | Website

Subscribe to the podcast on Apple | Spotify

This show is produced and edited by the team at Palm Tree Pod Co.  

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Learn more about The Mental Training Lab
Connect with Pete on Instagram | LinkedIn | Website
Subscribe to the podcast on Apple | Spotify

This show is produced and edited by the team at Palm Tree Pod Co.  

Leveraging your mistakes to maximize your growth is one of the core skills that elite performers have to master. In this solo episode, I dive into a transformative concept that has reshaped my approach to mistakes in sports and life. By embracing our errors loudly and clearly, we shift our perspective and begin to view these moments as invaluable data points that guide our path to improvement. 

I'll break down the four pillars of this mindset: awareness, practice, reflection, and, crucially, safety. Along the way, you'll hear about a long jumper struggling to translate practice success into meet performance and why lessons from my pep band days have resonated with me for decades. This episode is an invitation to  step through fear and embrace the messiness of growth with courage and curiosity.

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Learn more about The Mental Training Lab
Connect with Pete on Instagram | LinkedIn | Website
Subscribe to the podcast on Apple | Spotify

This show is produced and edited by the team at Palm Tree Pod Co.  

After a near-fatal fall that could have ended her career, trail running legend Hillary Allen not only returned to the sport she loves but also expanded her athletic pursuits into gravel biking with Scuderia Pinarello. Today, she joins us to explore the depths of resilience and recovery, and what it really looks like to bounce back.

With her master’s degree in neuroscience and physiology, Hillary offers a unique blend of personal experience and scientific insight into mental toughness and the psychology of endurance sports. You’ll learn how embracing challenges can transform adversity into life’s greatest victories, and gain practical lessons on maintaining balance and finding joy through the toughest trials.

Learn more about Hillary Allen Instagram | Website
Purchase Out and Back

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Learn more about The Mental Training Lab
Connect with Pete on Instagram | LinkedIn | Website
Subscribe to the podcast on Apple | Spotify

This show is produced and edited by the team at Palm Tree Pod Co.  

Master your mental game with the Mental Training Lab, hosted by Pete Kadushin. With 15 years of coaching experience and a PhD in performance psychology, Pete digs deep each episode to provide practical tools and expert insights so you can perform your best when it matters most. Enhance your focus, harness stress, and overcome challenges whether you’re an athlete, leader, or high-performer. Subscribe to learn how to elevate your game in work, play, and life.

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Learn more about The Mental Training Lab
Connect with Pete on Instagram | LinkedIn | Website
Subscribe to the podcast on Apple | Spotify

This show is produced and edited by the team at Palm Tree Pod Co.  

In today’s episode we’re joined by Dr. Ashley Cranney. Ashley is a licensed professional counselor and certified mental performance consultant, employed at West Virginia University as Assistant Professor of Sport, Exercise, and Performance Psychology. She has been consulting with athletes and performers for nearly fifteen years, sharing her passion for performance enhancement with anyone who will listen. One of the many things that makes Ashley so great is that she’s worked with a wide variety of top performers across sport, dance, first responder, and military contexts. Another superpower that Ashley has is her ability to name complex concepts with clarity and simplicity, which really shines through in our talk here as she gets right to the heart of stress and performance.

I’ll be honest… we really only scratched the surface when it comes to what Ashely can offer, and I hope we’ll have a round 2 soon. This time around, we dive into the stress cycle, and specifically the six concrete behaviors you can use to help complete the stress cycle. Ashley also spends time talking about how the sport environment is designed, if we’re mindful of some of the pitfalls, to be biologically respectful. This one’s packed with specific tools we can use, and pairs really well with past episodes we’ve had on embodiment and presence. It was amazing having a rockstar like Ashley share so much in a potent window of time here, and I know you’re going to get something good out of this one… time to jump right in. 

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Learn more about The Mental Training Lab
Connect with Pete on Instagram | LinkedIn | Website
Subscribe to the podcast on Apple | Spotify

This show is produced and edited by the team at Palm Tree Pod Co.  

Today’s episode is about unpacking a bit of well meaning and ultimately bad advice. It’s advice that puts us in a no-win position where we are spending a ton of energy and attention on forcing our internal experience to fit into a narrow window of conditions. It’s also advice that inadvertently tells us we can’t expand that window to create more grace under fire and a sense of freedom within uncontrollable performance environments. And all of that happens even though it’s being shared with the best intentions in mind. 

As always, the show will close with some specific practices you can work on to expand your window of success and your capacity for big experiences so you can be more poised when it matters most!

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Learn more about The Mental Training Lab
Connect with Pete on Instagram | LinkedIn | Website
Subscribe to the podcast on Apple | Spotify

This show is produced and edited by the team at Palm Tree Pod Co.