Ok so buckle in people, this is a big one! And this episode has left me so happy, inspired and full of positive energy. I think it will do the same for you!

Paul is currently the Men’s Head Squash Coach at Trinity College entering his 29th year!

But Paul is way, way more than that. 

He goes way beyond his titles, successes, and what his resume says. He is a deep thinking, caring, wise, and brilliant soul. I’ve observed Paul’s work from afar and admired it greatly but having the opportunity to talk to him for over an hour today about a range of mental topics was a huge treat. 

You will be able to see why his players talk about him so fondly and how he has positively influenced the lives of so many athletes both inside and outside his athlete coaching. 

And because of this; his manner, his lack of ego, his gentleness, his groundedness, his caring and compassion, lead to great things and great results from his athletes. 

But it runs way deeper than this and we investigate this thoroughly in the show. 

Paul is the winningest coach in College sports history! Let that sink in for a second! The winningest coach in College sport history. 

But you would not know this if you were to get into a conversation with him due to his humility and humbleness. 

Paul is an expert at teaching audiences to face fears, negotiate change, & build strong diverse teams.

He is the winner of 17 NCAA Championships titles in a 22-year span. 

Paul was also the US National coach for several years bringing them high levels of success under his reign.

He is the author of Run To The Roar: Coaching To Overcome Fear. And he is currently working on his latest book called What’s The Point. We talk about what his new book entails and I would highly recommend anyone interested in high level sport and a grounded approach to it all to go out and read Run To the Roar. 

Paul’s core belief is the need to embrace fear in order to remove obstacles blocking success. We talk extensively about this topic on the show and take so many dives into so many rabbits holes including the awesome power of now, how to maintain standards, the importance of being an empath, the win at all costs mentality, mental health of college athletes, habits and behaviours of mentally strong individuals, plus many more deep and interesting subjects. 

This is definitely worth a few listens to so please sit back and enjoy my conversation with Paul Assaiante.

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Alexia Clonda is a breathing expert and mindset coach. She has a phenomenal personal story to tell about how when she discovered what correct breathing is in 1996 that this saved her life. She would not be alive today if it wasn’t for this and she is very confidence in saying that. 

Because of the life-changing impact correct nasal breathing has had on her life, it has become her passion and lead to a 25-year study to understand the science behind correct breathing as well as to now also teach the methods to a global audience.

Alexia is a pure inspiration and I feel so lucky to have captured this content on the show today. She does a wonderful job of balancing the complex science of breathing as well as giving some really great and simple tools for you to practice and use right away. Alexia has also been kind enough to create a whole playlist for breathing in the SportMind app so please do go and check it out if you are keen to learn more and to begin to practically apply correct breathing to you life. 

There is a huge link between correct berating and mental health. She references studies done in the last few years around this link and how it improves overall life satisfaction as well as performance in whatever domain you are in. We take a very deep dive on the show into a very undervalued and often incorrectly used tool for our body and our mind. 

If you would like to get hold of Alexia and know more about her work and get some coaching please do email her on [email protected] or her website www.themindbreathingedge.com.

Please sit back, get ready to learn a lot, follow along to the breathing techniques, and enjoy! 

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Today on the show I have Bart Wijnhoven.

Bart wears many different hats and of particular interest is his mental coaching with elite level athletes across multiple sports. Bart works with Paul Coll, a World No. 1 squash player as well as a British Open champion. He also works with volley ball players, footballers, and corporate clients to name but a few.

Before we recorded Bart and I spoke a lot about how to be as impactful as possible on this episode and we decided to really hone into 2 main topics. 

The ego and the superficial. 

Two very interesting topics for how we can get the best out of ourselves for life as well as sport. 

He does a great job helping to unpack and to understand at a deeper level what the ego is, how it operates, and how to develop the positive side of the ego. We also discuss the main habits and behaviours he notices with high performers as well as some great advice around being our true and authentic selves. 

We also go on to discuss the superficial and how fleeting changes and upgrades to life are rarely life changing.  

Bart was also very keen to express that if listeners wanted to get more practical tools he would be happy to do this. We go quite abstract in this conversation and I know tools are a good way to try and apply the knowledge you will hear today. 

So on that note, if listeners are keen for us to record some more content around how to apply what you have heard today we need you to email: [email protected]. If we get enough interest and traction we will make a playlist of practical tools for yourselves. 

I hope you enjoy this episode as I throughly did and I came away learning a lot and being a lot more aware and ultimately reflecting about labels and how to work on self-awareness in my day-to-day experiences for the better. 

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Today I welcome to the show Gary Nisbet

Gary has been involved at the elite level of sport for over 20-years now and certainly knows a thing or two about the mindset when working with elite athletes. 

Gary has worked with the police force, football teams, and top professional squash players so far in his career. 

Gary is the fitness director for the global online coaching platform SquashSkills.com as well as working individually with several of the worlds top men and women players in the game. 

On the show today we go deep with 1 topic. Injuries. And in particular the mindset needed before and during injuries in a career. 

We have all become pretty good with the knowledge and scientific understanding of injuries, but maybe not enough has been explored in regard to the importance the mental state plays with how to cope positively with injuries. 

Gary does a fantasist job bringing this subject to life in this insightful and deep thinking episode. He eloquently describes tips and strategies athletes should employ about how best to get into the right state mentally when injuries inevitably happen in a career. 

It’s not an easy thing for an athlete by any stretch of the imagination but I’d hope by the end of the conversation that listeners are better armed with tools how best to mentally get through injuries, short- or long-term, and to even be able to come through the other side stronger and better. 

Gary talks about, how when seen through the right lens, injuries are opportunities for growth and discovery. But only when the athlete uses the right tools and has the right support network around them. 

We also explore how and when an athlete should get back to playing and competing as well as how best to try and overcome the PTSD of injuries as well as the fear of re-injury. 

Thanks once again to Gary for giving us his time and his knowledge on the show today and I look forward to some future episodes with him also. 

Please enjoy. 

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Due to the depth and the nature of our first conversation I am delighted to have back on the show Dr. Martin Turner for a second part. 

We both felt there was a lot more to explore in our conversation and decided it was definitely worthwhile to continue the conversation and to discuss more practical tools for the mind and optimising our thoughts into a rational manner in order to get the best out of ourselves. 

If you have yet to listen to part 1 of our conversation I would highly recommend you do so as we do pick up on topics from part 1 and in order to gain a deeper understanding of the topics and terminology it would be worth going through part 1. However, if you would like to join right here you will still get a lot of deep knowledge and awesome advice from Martin. 

So in this episode we kick off with the huge and highly important topic of mental health in athletes and high achievers and how to strike a good balance here between the two states. We also discuss the most common themes he observes when it comes to successful people and how you should look to check if you have these within yourself. We also discuss the opposite to this which is what are the worst habits he sees in his clients that fall short of they goals. 

I also put a couple of situations in front of Martin that athletes suffer with when it comes to not performing at their best and how to use REBT in these situations to manage the emotions and to still get the best out of themselves. 

We close this wonderful conversation by investigating the depth of his book, The Rational Practitioner, available now at all good online book outlets, and the value this will hold if you get it. We also talk about the benefit of what walking a banana would have. Yes you heard me right! Banana walkers! This is well worth a listen just to find out the answer to this final question I have for him!

Thanks once again to Dr. Matin Turner for his passion and knowledge on the subject of REBT and the huge role this can play when it comes to living a fulfilled and contented life. 

Please enjoy. 

www.TheSmarterThinkingProject.com 

The Rational Practitioner book

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Deep wisdom and sound advice from head of sport science and psychology at Chelsea Football Club Tim Harkness on the subject of Reframing Pressure and the power this setting holds when it comes to being a high performer and getting the best out of ourselves. 

For the full episode and to get more wisdom like this CLICK HERE.

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Deep wisdom and sound advice from REBT expert and practitioner Dr. Martin Turner on the subject of Acceptance and the power this setting holds when it comes to being a high performer and getting the best out of ourselves. 

For the full episode and to get more wisdom like this CLICK HERE.

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Deep wisdom and sound advice from REBT expert and practitioner Dr. Martin Turner on the subject of Must vs Want and the power this setting holds when it comes to being a high performer and getting the best out of ourselves. 

For the full episode and to get more wisdom like this CLICK HERE.

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Deep wisdom and sound advice from head of sport science and psychology at Chelsea Football Club Tim Harkness on the subject of Compassion Around Mental Health and the power this setting holds when it comes to being a high performer and getting the best out of ourselves. 

For the full episode and to get more wisdom like this CLICK HERE.

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Mark Burns has worked with a full range of world class athletes and I have been lucky enough to get to know some of his work because of his background helping some of the top squash players in the game become the physical beasts that they are. 

Notably Joel Makin, world no.4, and Mohamed ElShorbagy, world no.1 and World Champion plus plenty of others high ranking professionals in the men's and woman's game. 

Mark brings a really unique angle to the strength and conditioning side of training his athletes and is really bespoke and detailed in what he does. I loved this as a lot of the conversation began to centre around the mindset of the athlete and how this can be the gateway for all that follows. 

You will find some real gems in here about how to view training. Examples of world class athletes and what they do mentally and physically. How he sees common themes that come from a range of sports. The attitudes and behaviours of what he views as talent. What mental toughness is. And some awesome advice for different players at different stages of their careers. We also touch on the mindset of injuries and his best mental tips for that. 

Finally he shares where he feels the greatest gains are going to made in the physical side of elite squash players. I think you’ll be surprised at what he says on this matter so do stick around right to the end to hear that!

So without further ado, please welcome Mark Burns

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