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When young athletes start measuring their worth by wins, rankings, and recruiting opportunities, the sport they once loved can become a source of pressure.
For young athletes, constant comparison, recruiting expectations, and the pressure to succeed can take the joy out of sports. Staying competitive without tying self-worth to performance takes more than physical training. Parents and coaches also play an important role in shaping how athletes respond to success, setbacks, and pressure.
Dr. Andrew Fix talks with Sydney Nolan, founder of Snap Mental Performance, about the psychology of athletic performance, the risks of early sports specialization, and why so many young athletes experience burnout. They discuss how comparison and negative self-talk affect confidence, how to handle setbacks, and why developing an identity beyond sports matters for long-term well-being.
The conversation extends beyond sports to the way adults define themselves through their careers and achievements. Whether you're an athlete, parent, or working professional, Sydney shares practical ways to manage pressure, reconnect with your priorities, and build an identity that extends beyond performance.
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Connect with Sydney Nolan:
SnapMentalPerformance
Sydney grew up in Colorado and earned her B.A. in Neuroscience & Behavior while playing collegiate lacrosse. Many people find their way into sport psychology through their own experiences in sport, and Sydney is no exception — a career-ending knee injury and her fair share of ups and downs. But what truly led her to the field was a passion to break the stigma around seeking mental support. Rather than treating mental performance work as something you turn to when things go wrong, she wanted to build a culture where it's something to be proud of and excited about, creating FOMO around strengthening their mental game.
That mission led to Snap Mental Performance, where Sydney and her team of three work with athletes from youth through professional levels, as well as competitive and recreational adults. Snap approaches performance optimization by strengthening focus, awareness (internal and external), and psychological flexibility — the same skills that drive success on the physical side of sport.
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How do you keep showing up when every setback gives you another reason to quit?
After nearly walking away from baseball, Jake Bauers became the NLCS MVP, helping lead the Milwaukee Brewers to their first World Series appearance in 44 years. His comeback offers a lesson in patience, resilience, and knowing when to keep going.
In this solo episode of The Code, Dr. Andrew Fix shares what Jake Bauers' baseball story can teach us about perseverance and the importance of focusing on the process rather than the outcome. How often does self-doubt hold us back more than our circumstances? And how can we turn past failures into opportunities for growth?
Drawing from his own experiences with multiple surgeries, injury recovery, and career changes, Andrew explains why progress rarely follows a straight line and how small, consistent efforts can lead to meaningful breakthroughs. Whether you're recovering from an injury, facing a career setback, or working toward a difficult goal, Andrew explains why staying consistent matters, even when progress feels slow.
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https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/milwaukee-brewers-star-talks-nearly-170429137.html
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The fastest way to lose your love for running might be to turn every workout into a test of your worth.
How do you push yourself to improve without turning something you love into another source of stress? And what happens when injuries or setbacks make you question what you're capable of?
In this episode of The Code, Dr. Andrew Fix sits down with running coach Jen Hickman, founder of Perseverance Endurance, to discuss the psychology of behavior change and the role of coaching in building confidence and resilience. With more than two decades of experience in the zoo industry, Jen brings an unexpected perspective on behavior change.
Jen shares how running went from being a source of stress relief to another source of pressure, and how this experience shaped her approach to coaching. She and Dr. Fix explore the mental challenges of pursuing performance goals, handling setbacks, and adapting training to life's demands. They also discuss how trust, communication, and small changes in behavior help runners build confidence and make lasting progress.
Their conversation offers a fresh perspective on handling disappointment, rebuilding trust in your body after injury, and recognizing when adjusting your goals is a sign of good judgment rather than failure. Whether you're training for a marathon or working toward a personal goal, the ability to adapt and keep showing up may be your greatest measure of progress.
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Connect with Jen Hickman:
Perseverance Endurance
Follow Jen on Instagram
I started running back in middle school in the Colorado mountains—mostly because my friends were doing it. Over time, running became more than just a social activity. As an adult, it turned into my way to de-stress and connect with nature. I mostly stuck to 5Ks and 10Ks, enjoying the rhythm and routine.
But in 2018, something changed. Running started to feel harder than it used to. I wasn’t seeing progress, and my motivation was slipping. I knew how good running could make me feel, so I decided to get help.
That’s when I hired a personal trainer who specialized in running. With the right strength training, improved nutrition, and a personalized training plan, everything shifted. My performance improved dramatically. Since then, I’ve finished the Boston Marathon twice and achieved stronger results in races across the board.
Seeing firsthand the power of coaching, I felt inspired to help others experience the same transformation. I went on to earn run coaching certifications through 80/20 Endurance and the United Endurance Sports Coaching Academy (UESCA).
I began my career in the animal profession in the mid-1990s. As a zookeeper, one of the most rewarding parts of my job was helping animals thrive by shaping behavior in a way that supported their well-being. To do that effectively, I had to build trust, understand what motivated each animal, create an environment for success, and adapt continually to their needs.These same principles guide my approach to coaching. The first step is building a strong, trusting relationship with you. I want to understand what motivates you—Why do you run? What brings you joy? What challenges are you facing?
As we work together, I’ll break down your training into small, achievable steps that build confidence and momentum. My goal is to set you up for long-term success, not just quick wins. And just like in the animal world, I’ll continually assess, adjust, and refine your training based on your progress and feedback—because your needs aren't static, and your plan shouldn't be either.
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Dr. Andrew Fix planned to work out in the afternoon. By 7:40 p.m., he was still in his garage, squeezing in whatever exercise he had time for. His point is, a short workout beats skipping one because the day didn't go as planned.
Perfectionism can make simple goals harder than they need to be. When the plan changes or the timing falls apart, it becomes easy to do nothing. Dr. Andrew Fix shares why done is better than perfect and how a more flexible mindset can help you stay consistent.
If you’re wondering how to stop procrastinating, start by lowering the bar enough to take action. A short workout still counts. A small step still moves you forward.
Andrew also shares one easy health habit: walking after meals. It can support blood sugar regulation and digestion while giving you a chance to step away from screens and connect with the people around you.
Your workout doesn't need to happen at the perfect time or last as long as you planned. Do what you have time for, and move on with your day.
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The workout that changes your life is the one you’ll actually come back to.
So what makes someone stick with fitness while someone else keeps starting over? For coach and personal trainer Jeremy Crawford, the answer often comes down to connection, environment, and whether the approach actually fits your life.
Jeremy joins Dr. Andrew Fix to explore why the right coach, gym, or community can make such a difference. They talk about the energy and community that come from group training, the individualized support of personal training, and why it helps to understand what you want from exercise before deciding how you want to train. Are you looking for structure? More connection? Expert guidance? A place where you can turn your brain off and simply follow the workout?
They also look at the relationship between coaches and clients. Trust and genuine care matter, but so do healthy boundaries and honest conversations when a relationship no longer feels productive.
Ultimately, fitness becomes a long-term investment in how you want to live. You do not need an upcoming race or competition to have something worth training for. As Andrew puts it, we are all training for life.
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Connect with Jeremy Crawford:
The EPOC Experience
Carbon Strength & Conditioning
Jeremy Crawford started training in 2008. He got his break in 2009 as a coach for a high school baseball player for the pros. Jeremy started group fitness in 2010. In 2015 he ran multiple gyms, coached and trained individuals and group fitness building communities in the Denver area.
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The person you want to become isn’t waiting somewhere in the future. Your choices today decide who shows up.
Dr. Andrew Fix shares a simple mindset shift that can change how you approach your health, work, relationships, and everyday habits: stop treating personal growth like a constant effort to fix yourself. Instead, consider the person you want to be and start making choices from that identity today.
Who are you telling yourself you are? And are those beliefs making your goals harder to reach? Being someone who takes care of their health, follows through on commitments, or shows genuine interest in the people they love starts with acting in ways that support those qualities now.
Andrew also looks at the role your environment plays in reinforcing that identity. The people around you can make consistent choices easier or much harder. This is a reminder to pay attention to both the story you tell yourself and the company you keep.
You don’t have to wait until you’ve changed to act like the person you want to become. Start with the next choice.
Andrew also shares details about the upcoming Health and Performance Summit in Lone Tree, Colorado, where experts and local health and wellness businesses will come together for a day centered on better health and performance.
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Health and Performance Summit
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Communications coach David "Kiwi" Kiwimagi joins Dr. Andrew Fix to explain why unspoken expectations quietly wreck marriages and workplaces alike, and how a few simple frameworks can turn resentment into agreement before it ever takes root.
Kiwi built his coaching career on a hard truth learned from his own marriage: most conflict has nothing to do with bad intentions and everything to do with expectations nobody bothered to state out loud. Trouble starts when two people both assume the other one owns a task, or when a conversation begins with no sense of where it's headed. Kiwi walks through his "frame it" method for opening any conversation with a clear time, topic, and outcome, a technique that works as well in a sales call as it does at the end of a long day at home.
The most useful idea here might be the three mental loads behind every task: execution, logistics, and the emotional weight of getting something done right. Kiwi uses laundry and dinner as his examples, but the real payoff is a new lens for spotting effort that usually goes unnoticed. He also shares "couch time," a three-question daily ritual he still uses with his wife after a decade of marriage, and a lasagna story that took ten years to resolve for the simple reason that nobody said what they actually wanted.
Good communication keeps conflict from festering into resentment. Whether the relationship in question is a marriage, a team, or a client engagement: clarity offered earlier and more often beats effort spent cleaning up after the fact.
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Connect with David “Kiwi” Kiwimagi:
David "Kiwi" Kiwimagi is a Navy veteran and 15-year speaker who helps business owners fix the one thing standing between a great presentation and a booked client: the presentation itself. Through Maximize My Message, he's helped over 150 people stop getting compliments and start getting calls.
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You can't expect to get better at anything you've never actually practiced, and Dr. Andrew Fix explains why performance and practice are two completely different skills.
Picture missing shot after shot on a basketball hoop you haven't touched in years. Then getting annoyed at yourself for being rusty. Andrew unpacks the real gap. You have the ability. You skipped the practice. When was the last time you actually practiced the thing you expect yourself to be good at?
He explains why golfers who play a few rounds a year never improve, why runners who race every training session tend to get hurt instead of getting faster, and why top athletes spend far more time drilling and reviewing film than competing. The performance is only a small piece of the process. The rest happens in drills and film review.
Then he applies the idea to conversations. What changes if you prepare for a hard talk with your kid, your partner, or a client the same way an athlete preps for a big game, instead of hoping the right words show up on the spot? Communication breaks down for the same reason a jump shot does. Nobody rehearses it.
Pick the thing you keep getting frustrated about. Have you ever practiced it outside the moment it counts? If not, that's where to start.
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Don Dillon endured roughly four years of unexplained seizures and immune collapse during his Navy years, and decades later he built a supplement bar designed to survive the very manufacturing process that destroys most nutrients before they ever reach your mouth.
Dillon is the founder and CEO of Sound Foods, and he joins Dr. Fix to unpack the real reason most people quit their supplement routine within 90 days. It's not a lack of discipline. Pills are unpleasant, powders are a hassle, and the "convenient" alternatives on shelves rely on heat and sugar that wreck the nutrients they're supposed to deliver. So what happens when a bar can hold its shape without any of that?
Sound Foods uses an ultrasonic manufacturing process that binds ingredients cold and skips the sugar syrups and gums that give most protein bars their gummy, overly sweet texture. The result tastes closer to a crumbly cookie, and it opens the door to putting real, functional doses of nutrients like creatine or nootropics into something people will actually want to eat.
The bigger idea here is where this technology could go. Dillon describes a future where your blood work or wearable data could inform a bar built specifically for your body. If a supplement finally tasted good and worked with your biology instead of against it, would you still need the pill bottle at all?
The two also get into Dillon's own health detective work, including a stubborn 2 a.m. wake-up habit he's still trying to solve, and why chasing symptoms with quick fixes rarely gets you closer to what's actually going on underneath.
Quotes
Connect with Don Dillon:
Sound Foods Website
Connect with Don on LinkedIn
Don Dillon is the founder and chief executive officer of Sound Foods, a food technology company redefining the intersection of nutrition, supplements, and snacking. At Sound, Dillon draws on a broad range of professional and life experiences to advance a radically new food production technology designed to democratize access to advanced nutrition for consumers, manufacturers, and the U.S. military.
Dillon's drive to create a new category of food is deeply personal. While serving in the U.S. Navy, he developed a medical condition that led him to explore what would later become known as the biohacker lifestyle. He started biohacking with food and later with supplements, but not for performance optimization, but to regain normal function and quality of life.
As his supplement regimen grew, Dillon became increasingly aware of the complexity and inconvenience of the biohacker approach, particularly its incompatibility with everyday eating habits. This realization sparked a search for a technology that could fundamentally change how people snack, eat, and consume supplements. Through industry connections, he discovered and acquired a proprietary ultrasonic cold-forming process capable of shaping ingredients into a bar or similar form in a fraction of a second. The process enables the inclusion of heat-sensitive and encapsulated bioactive ingredients in the forming process, something traditional food manufacturing cannot achieve.
An entrepreneur at heart, Dillon immediately recognized the potential of this technology to deliver supplement-grade nutrition in an enjoyable, familiar food format bringing simplicity, accessibility, and even joy to advanced nutrition and human optimization.
Prior to founding Sound Foods, Dillon demonstrated the same entrepreneurial drive as the founder and president of Voloren, a construction company focused on modernizing large government buildings through comprehensive energy retrofitting, a role he has held since April 2016.
Earlier in his career, Dillon spent more than a decade gaining exposure to a wide range of public-and private-sector business initiatives through roles at Ackman-Ziff Real Estate Group and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC). He holds a bachelor's degree from Indiana University and a master's degree in finance and investment from New York University
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Two runners can have identical knee pain and need completely different fixes, and Dr. Andrew Fix explains why chasing generic advice off YouTube usually leaves the real problem untouched.
The same symptom can point to a different injury, and even the same injury can have a different cause. One runner's knee pain might come from a tendon pushed past its capacity by too much training volume too fast, while another's identical pain traces back to a stiff ankle or weak hip forcing the knee to compensate for something else entirely. Hand both runners the same two exercises and you're guessing.
That distinction drives his frustration with generic internet fixes. Quiet the symptoms without addressing the underlying deficit and they come back. The person then assumes they did something wrong, when the fix was incomplete from the start.
There's also a case for urgency worth sitting with. Addressing an injury early costs less time and money, and needs less intensive treatment, than waiting until it forces your hand. But the real stakes aren't financial. What do you actually lose by putting off care, and can you get that time back later? A missed hike or a skipped game of catch because something hurt too much to move doesn't come back around.
PhysioRoom's Health and Performance Summit lands October 3rd in Denver, which fits the episode's bigger point: individualized care matters more as everyone defaults to searching for answers online instead of getting assessed by another human.
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