Strong Minds: How to Unlock the Power of Elite Sports Psychology to Accomplish Anything

by Noel Brick, Scott Douglas, Alex Hutchinson (Foreword by)

Overview

“Highlights the mental strategies elite athletes employ to get an edge on their competition.”—The New York Times

With an all-new foreword: competition-tested cognitive strategies to help triumph over any obstacle

If you ask research psychologist Noel Brick and bestselling fitness writer Scott Douglas, the “dumb jock” stereotype is way out of bounds. No world-class athlete succeeds without a strong mental game, including unique ways of analyzing situations, self-motivating, and even thinking about time. Cutting-edge discoveries (some by Dr. Brick himself) reveal how champions do it—and how we can, too.

Brick and Douglas pair groundbreaking science with instructive moments across the sports realm to show how legendary athletes like marathoner Meb Keflezighi, World Cup champion soccer player Megan Rapinoe, and Olympian Michael Phelps stay on top of their game. Whether it’s sticking the landing at a job interview or racing your thesis to the finish line, Strong Minds is a slam-dunk approach for accomplishing anything.

Publisher’s note: Strong Minds was previously published in hardcover as The Genius of Athletes.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781891011122
Publisher:	The Experiment
Publication date:	10/03/2023
Pages:	288
Product dimensions:	5.40(w) x 8.40(h) x 0.90(d)

About the Author

Scott Douglas is a senior editor for Running Times. He has been the magazine’s editor-in-chief and has contributed articles on running to Runner’s World, Slate, the Washington Post, and Men’s Fitness among others. He has co-written four books on running, including The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Running and Advanced Marathoning, and has run more than 95,000 miles since taking up the sport as a teen. He lives in South Portland, Maine.

Table of Contents

Introduction 1

Part 1 The Toolbox of Psychological Techniques

1 Success Starts Here 9

The Goal-Setting and Goal-Striving Tools

2 There Is Nothing Either Good or Bad 32

The Emotion-Regulation Tools

3 What Were You Thinking? 60

The Focus and Concentration Tools

4 Talking to Yourself 87

The Self-Talk Tools

5 I'm Gonna Show You How Great I Am! 106

The Self-Confidence Tools

Part 2 How to Reach Any Goal Like and Elite Athlete

6 A Journey of a Thousand Miles 128

How to Set Yourself Up for Success from the Beginning

7 What Are You Afraid Of? 149

How to Handle Fear of Failure and Perceived Treats to Success

8 Maintaining Your Momentum 163

How to Stay on Track After Starting Strong

9 The Middle Muddle 174

How to Adapt on the Go and Not Overthink Things

10 Perceived Effort and Perseverance 192

What to Do When Things Feel Harder Than They Should

11 Stop the Stopping 206

How to Keep Going When the Desire to Quit Feels Overwhelming

12 Finish Strong 222

How to Keep Pushing in the Final Stretch

Appendix 1 My Strengths Profile 233

Appendix 2 A Sample Progressive Muscular Relaxation Script 240

Notes 246

Acknowledgments 267

Index 268

About the Authors 278

Editorial Reviews

"Highlights the mental strategies elite athletes employ to get an edge on their competition."— The New York Times

"The biggest limits are the ones in your head—which is why this remarkable and authoritative roadmap to the amazingly versatile tools of modern sports psychology is so powerful and widely applicable. Clearly explained and rigorously researched, this book will help you take practical steps to unlock your full potential."— Alex Hutchinson, New York Times–bestselling author of Endure

"Required reading for ambitious dreamers, this is the training toolkit I didn’t know I needed. [Strong Minds] is the mental equivalent of lacing up your sneakers next to a trusted teammate—it’s guaranteed inspiration to get you up and moving in the right direction."— Beck Dorey-Stein, author of the New York Times bestseller From the Corner of the Oval

"The benefit of sports for people with busy lives and demanding careers is not simply about keeping in shape or the pounds off. Brick and Douglas show that the genius of athletes isn’t just in their physical successes, but what they can teach us about managing a life, not overthinking things, and how to keep trekking even when quitting seems the obvious course."— Juliette Kayyem, senior lecturer at Harvard’s Kennedy School and former Assistant Secretary, Department of Homeland Security

"Essential cross-training for your mind, revealing the secrets of athletic success, applicable to chasing personal bests, a promotion, or anything else worth your striving."— Deena Kastor, Olympic medalist and author of the New York Times bestseller Let Your Mind Run

"Offers concrete insights that can be applied to everyday life, whether you consider yourself an athlete or not."— Brad Stulberg, bestselling author of Peak Performance

From the Publisher