Athletic Fortitude Show
Athletes all over the world endure countless mental physical and psychological adversities over the course of their careers. We are here to bring you the solutions to those adversities with some of the top professional athletes, coaches, and sport and performance psychologists around the world!
Athletic Fortitude Show
The Truth About Identity, Performance & Mental Health | Athletic Fortitude Show Q&A
This episode delves into the intersection of athletic identity and mental health, exploring the challenges athletes face and the lessons learned through a year of insightful conversations. Our discussion emphasizes the importance of resilience, the nuances of mental fortitude, and the various ways we can support athletes in their journeys.
• The role of identity in athletic performance
• Common mental health challenges athletes face
• Strategies for managing performance anxiety
• Memorable moments from interviews with guests
• Evolving perspectives on mental health
• Key themes resonating with listeners
• Preparing for high-profile interviews
• The significance of resilience in sports
• Impactful episodes and valuable lessons
• Misconceptions about mental health and sports
• Incorporating audience feedback into future content
• Exciting upcoming topics and guest appearances
• Balancing personal experiences with professionalism
• Surprising revelations from guests about human behavior
• The evolving conversation around mental health in sports
• Recommended resources for athletes seeking improvement
Welcome back to the show everybody. On today's episode you have me. I'm today's guest. I'm going to be doing my first Q&A session. It's been really, really cool this entire year getting this project going, getting the podcast going, my weekly newsletter. You know, with my audience, with my loved ones, family, friends, and really understand you know what questions have come over the last year after listening, you know, to all the episodes I've had. It's been a pretty remarkable journey, really cool. It's expanded in a lot of different ways and you know I'm highly competitive with myself and you know maybe it's not where I currently want it to be, but my year and growth has me super optimistic and excited for the future. And so what I'm going to do here. I picked out 20 questions and we're going to go through all 20 questions that I'm going to give my most thought out and best answers. Some require a little bit more detail. Some are pretty short and to the point, but here we go.
Speaker 1:First question what inspired you to start the Athletic Fortitude Show? I think, in general with my company, the reason behind why I started everything was identity and athletics and when it got to the podcast I really wanted to start it a lot sooner than what I ultimately did, and I regret not starting it sooner, but at the end of the day, I think that identity in athletics is a massive thing. I think it's a massive thing in life identity and really use that to enhance our mental fortitude, the better off we are. And so the only way I knew how to do that is to create awareness and conversation around this was to either write about it, which I was already doing, and then to have conversations about it, and naturally I'm very curious. I have lots of questions. I had lots of people I wanted to speak with. At the end of the day, I wanted to have those conversations, record them and post them out for other people and other athletes to see.
Speaker 1:Number two how do I select guests for the podcast? Where it started and where it's gone to now at this point is very different. When I first started having these conversations, I had a very specific niche person I was looking for. It was primarily a sports psychologist, but ultimately where it transitioned into was I wanted the entire athletic landscape involved in this. So you know, diet, nutrition, and we bring in athletes, we bring in coaches, we bring in motivational speakers right To get every niche around the athletic place and to bring a holistic feel to the podcast itself. And so where it started was, you know, just looking for high-level sports psychologists who had worked with high level athletes. And where it's broadened into now is basically any interest I have in the athletic field anyone I think that has an exciting story to share. And so how I bring my guests is I kind of identify people, I look through social media who's active, who's talking about things that resonate with me, and so once I find things that resonate with me, I either reach out or find a mutual connection and look for that kind of warm introduction and then I bring them on the show.
Speaker 1:Three what are the most common challenges athletes face in terms of mental fortitude? Now, I don't think that there's really any handful that you can pick and say every athlete's going to endure through this. I would say the most common we probably see, I think, performance, anxiety, imposter syndrome, some of those buzzwords you see out there. They're very true. When we get to performance we let the pressure of the moment kind of seize all the hard work that we've done, and it can be very challenging. And I think the imposter syndrome to that as well is when you come from certain areas, and, this is more, when you transition up a level whether you're going from JV to varsity, varsity to college, college to pros it's you're now in a new landscape that you're unfamiliar in and you begin to doubt yourself. You begin to see that everybody's a step faster, a step stronger, and those things can kind of take over you.
Speaker 1:And then, obviously, I think the big one too is identity, and I think a lot of that is unknown. But when you're an athlete, pretty much you eat, sleep, dream athletics. It's the only thing you're focused on is practice or game, and so you don't even realize that you're making your entire identity into athletics. And so I think that that is an unknown one that I'm trying to bring to light as well. Most people don't realize that they haven't really constructed their identity, or that their identity has been constructed for them until they can no longer play their sport, whatever the cause may be. So I would say those are probably a couple of the main ones, but there's a number of different things that you could struggle with. So I mean, you look at injuries, overcoming injuries that was a big part of my story as well. There's so many different things that athletes are going to come into.
Speaker 1:Can you share a memorable moment from an interview with a guest? I'd have to say for me it was just the opportunity to interview Clint Hurtle. He was someone who I've had on my bucket list to interview for a long, long time. For those of you who didn't listen to that, part of that reason is when I was a senior in high school. Yes, there was an attempted mass murder. Luckily nobody died. A kid came in with two butcher's knives and I went on a stabbing rampage. In the aftermath of that event, clint Hurdle came and spoke to our school and his message was unbelievably resonating with me and myself and just stuck with me forever. He was the manager of the Pittsburgh Pirates. I grew up a massive Pirates fan, so that made me love him even more. And then I started subscribing to his weekly newsletter a decade ago and just the amount of lessons that I've learned from him just really put him on a pedestal in my life, even though I've never had the opportunity to meet him. And then, when I saw the opportunity it was maybe the first week he was on Twitter I reached out to him. He responded incredibly quickly. He's super humble and just an unbelievable person. So just that moment and getting to share that with him was pretty special for me.
Speaker 1:What advice do you have for athletes struggling with performance anxiety anxiety we just talked about one of the main issues in performance anxiety happens to be one of them. My advice and what works for me is the problem that athletes tend to have is we catastrophize things. We see the event or our performance and we're like, if I don't play bad, my teammates are going to hate me, my coaches are going to hate me, my family is going to hate me. If everybody hates me, I'm going to be alone, I'm going to die alone and nobody's ever going to care about me. That's a drastic example, but it's how our catastrophizing, it's how our brain works. We begin to spiral, and so what I always try and do is actually play that out. And so if I miss the shot, if everybody hates me, if I die alone, well, at the end of the day and it's not meant to be morbid, but we're all going to die, and everybody who's ever had an opinion of you is also going to die with it. And so and this is based because performance anxiety comes from different levels but what works for me is catastrophizing it.
Speaker 1:So if I'm worried, you know, about someone's opinion of me and that's causing me to, you know, have anxiety around my performance, it's okay. Whose opinion am I worried about? Why am I worried about their opinion and how can I put a game plan around that? So, for example, I did some public speaking engagements and I used to have a deep fear of what it was to speak in front of people. I was always concerned well, what if I mess up? Well, the way I rationalized it. Well, here's the reality. I'm speaking to 120 players right now, plus a coaching staff.
Speaker 1:If I go in here and I blow it and it's the worst speech ever, it's going to suck for 30 minutes to a day, but at the end of the day, every single one of those players are going to forget about what I said, every single one. They may laugh for a little bit, or it may be a joke in the 10 years that we bring it up, but at the end of the day, they're not going to remember and I'm going to have another opportunity. I'm going to wake up tomorrow. And then, on the flip side, if I crush the speech and it's the best speech I've ever given in my life. It may speech and it's the best speech I've ever given in my life. It may motivate them for 15, whatever minutes, but most of them are still going to forget about it. So why would I let 30 minutes, 15 minutes, whatever the length of my speech is, plus an extra 15, 30 minutes of what they were going to think about it dictate the rest? You know 60 years of my life, and so that's how I kind of rationalize it, put it into place. It's really one you have to understand why you have performance anxiety, and then two, putting a game plan around that and understand. Even in the worst case scenario, it's probably not as bad as you think.
Speaker 1:How has your perspective on mental health and sports evolved through your podcast? I think this is a massive one. So I've had so many different guests, so many different perspectives, and I used to look at the world very black and white and I think what this show has taught me is there's so much nuance in every single discussion. Nothing is ever cut and dry or super simple black and white in a world of gray, but for the most part, I'm significantly more understanding of people and what they're going through, because everybody is going to experience things differently. I could go through a same event as someone else and have a totally different experience and perception of what happened. And so when we're working in this space and you're talking with athletes or whomever, it's important to have a little bit of grace and understanding. Even if what they're going through seems batshit crazy to you, they're going through it for a reason and you have to understand that and see if there's a way that you can help. I think that's the biggest thing is the world's really not black and white. It's pretty great.
Speaker 1:What themes do you find resonate most with your audience? That's a good one. I would say a couple of things. I'd say the most popular episodes we have are the ones where it's focused on mental health and overcoming those. We've had some great sports psychologists come on and diving into those conversations the nuances of the brain, the way they work, how we attack those things, and I'd say the other ones are high-performing athletes. I think Connor Fields had a super popular episode and you can just kind of see and work into the mind of someone who achieves Olympic gold, someone who's really in the 0.00001% of the world, someone who's achieved something that really only a handful of people that will ever touch this earth will achieve in seeing how they work, how they tick, uh, what moves them, what makes them different? Um, those, I would say, are the episodes that really resonate with people. I'd also say coaches, um, understanding the coach perspective on leadership, on, you know, behavioral change, how to get guys to buy in those are really popular as well. So it's tough, but those are the ones that I typically get a lot of feedback from. Yeah, it's really the one of ones in the world those gold medalists, the NFL longstampers, things like that, where there's only a handful of those jobs in the world, and then the sports psychologist who can kind of explain the nuances of how we do things.
Speaker 1:Eight, how do you prepare for interviews with high profile guests? That's a good one, I would say. I do a lot of research. I probably spend, you know, a couple hours on each guest, trying to understand, you know, what you know, whether it's written, whether it's tweets, whether it's former interviews, whether it's life stories that they've endured, really trying to know them so that when they come on the show it can feel like we've known each other forever, even though we may have never met before. So the more I can really understand their history, their past and some of the things that they said, the more it makes me able to interview them and bring a place of comfort for them and ask what I like to call intelligent questions.
Speaker 1:What is the key takeaway you hope listeners gain from your episodes? I don't know if there's ever a specific key. I just hope that there's always something that resonates with someone, because the landscape of what we're dealing with you know. When it comes to, you know our mindset, our psychology, our physiology. There is just so much out there, so much we know and so much we don't know, and I just hope that each episode, someone comes away with something that may help them move forward that day or tomorrow. Whatever can help them push forward, whatever can help them give them a game plan or strategy or advice to keep pushing forward. That's just what I hope they get.
Speaker 1:Now, obviously, selfishly, I think I design and default. Identity always comes up. I do think everything starts and ends with identity. That's my bias, that's what I came into the show with and that's something that comes up just about every episode, without me even asking all the time. Uh, so you know, I think the more we begin to engineer our identity and program ourselves, um, the easier and more fulfilling life will become. How do you engage with your audience outside of the podcast? Well, this is one for sure. I also, every week in my newsletter, have polls, ask for feedback, things of that nature. I have emails, so you know, newsletter subscribers will email me on my newsletter and I engage with them that way. This is the biggest one, though, so this is pretty cool. Hopefully my listeners really enjoy this part, because it's great for me to interact with you guys.
Speaker 1:What role does resilience play in athletic performance? I would say it's the number one determinant of people who succeed long-term. It's your capacity to take pain, your capacity to take pain and keep moving forward. You know there is no way to go through life or athletics without enduring pain, and so it's just who can take the most pain and who can channel it properly, because some of us can take pain and we channel it, you know, in the wrong directions, and we put our energy into the wrong things. And others use it properly, use it to motivate them, use it to create discipline, to change habits, to get better at whatever they're doing, and to me, it's the number one determinant, above talent, above everything else. Yes, you need to have talent and other things, but the more resilient you are, the more tenacious you are, you know, the more successful you're going to be in any endeavor, so I'd say it's the most important.
Speaker 1:Can you discuss a specific episode that had a significant impact on your listeners? I'll say Tony Hoffman. That one was one of my favorites. I've had so many favorite interviews. This one was definitely one of my favorites. It completely changed my perspective on human behavior and change and what we need to go through. And I would say the biggest and number one lesson I learned from that is rock bottom is different for everybody. It is not a physical place. It is stereotyped, but it is not what you think it is. It is not drugs going to jail Even though that was the case for Tony, that's not the case for everybody. Whatever our pivot point in our life to create positive change, that's our rock bottom. For me it was just not working out, not eating correctly after getting cut from the bills. I did that for about three weeks to a month and I was like I can't live like this anymore. I can't not take care of myself, I can't sit in this pole of negativity. So that was my version of rock bottom, and I've had different versions of rock bottom, even throughout recording this podcast, where I had to change, I had to do something new or something different. So it's just understanding that your point of change is your kind of version of rock bottom. So that that was. That was one of my favorite episodes, with a big impact.
Speaker 1:What are some common misconceptions about mental health and sports? I'll say that it's a choice, like it's a choice to be mentally unhealthy. It's not. I do think it's a choice on how you respond. But to feel the negativity, the emotions, the anxiety, the stress, those aren't choices. Those happen to us. We put ourselves in those positions in athletics and in life to feel them. But it's really not a choice. And in order to get yourself healthy, you have to be intentional, and intentional can be a number of different things a number of different practices, a number of different protocols making sure that you're talking with someone, with people. You're relying on strong foundational pieces in your life in every domain, whether it's nutritional, whether it's a therapist, a psychologist, whether it's family friends, just being super detailed with your energy, who gets it and why, and that's how you can deal with some of the things that you can't control and there needs to be support and grace and understanding, and there's an abundance of resources out there and I'm trying to bring some of those things to light as well. But, yeah, I'd say that's one of the biggest misconceptions in mental health is it's a choice to be mentally unhealthy? No, it's not a choice. It's a choice in how you respond, but it's not a choice when you're unhealthy.
Speaker 1:How do you incorporate feedback from your audience into your content? So that's what I use the polls for understanding kind of what people are looking for. I will say, at the end of the day, the type of people I interview are people I'm interested in, and I want to create my own niche essentially is what am I interested in? Who do I want to talk to? Why do I want to talk to them? And my assumption is that there are other people out there that want to listen to those things too. Not everyone's going to want to listen to a diet nutritionist that I bring on, but I do. I want to listen to that, and I know there's other people out there too. I'm going to absolutely ask and talk to people. Hey, who do you think I should interview. You know what topics do you want to hear about, what's curious to you, and then I incorporate that into my interviewing, and I'm always looking for feedback in terms of my own processing and how I'm doing. If I'm doing well, I do have a couple of people that I lean on for that, to give me that constructive feedback. That's less of my audience, though, and just more about my inner circle.
Speaker 1:What future topics or guests are you excited about? I have some really cool ones. I have a couple pre-recorded. There's a couple who I have scheduled to come on, who I won't reveal yet. Once I officially record those, I'll let everybody know. I have some big, big ones coming up in February. Really excited about those. But then I have, like Dr Julie Garner, jonathan Luproy. That one's going to be relatively interesting. It's pretty controversial, but those are some of the big guests I have coming up. I'm super excited to to get them, um, coming on. Uh, the jonathan lucor one is my first one where politics comes up, um, so that'll be an interesting dialogue post-release. Uh, dr julie garner is potentially my favorite online presence. She has an incredible view and skill set for high performance in athletics. As a psychologist, she's awesome. She's incredible. That was one of my favorite interviews I've ever done. Can't wait to drop that in the new year as well.
Speaker 1:How do you balance personal experiences with professional insights in your discussions? Oh, this is one. This is one where I would say you have to know yourself and know where science maybe doesn't apply to you and anecdotal evidence is what guides you. And so what I mean by that is just because something is quote unquote scientifically proven to work doesn't mean it works for you, and I've had experiences with that. I've tried things, I guess, have come on here and suggested and they don't feel like they work with me, and I've tried other things that work incredibly well that guests say should not work. So I think everything's trial and error and you have to find what works best for you. Once you find something that works for you, it doesn't really matter what someone else says, as long as you're feeling that progress and noticing it and seeing it tangibly. That's what matters most.
Speaker 1:What is the most surprising thing you've learned from your guests? I would say one thing I do daily and I've talked about it today already is energy Learning how to control energy. Just because someone's your family doesn't mean they deserve your energy. Just because someone's been your friend for the last 10, 15, 20 years doesn't mean they deserve your energy anymore. And when you grow and you evolve and you know what you want and what you need in life, sometimes the people around you change, and that's okay. It's just. You have to be incredibly guarded and protective of your energy. It is a finite resource and when you can, you know, fill your cup more than you drain your cup, you're just going to be a much happier, pleasant person. You're going to feel more fulfilled in life. You're going to feel like you're progressing further, and you are going to progress further because you're able to dictate that energy in the right way.
Speaker 1:How do you see the conversation around mental health and sports evolving? I think in general one, it's just going to become a more prevalent topic. I think, in a lot of ways, there's still a lot of stigmas around it. I think those are going to slowly go away and I think every single organization, every single place in the world is going to end up having resources. How long it takes to get there, I'm not sure. There's a lot of schools out there. There's a lot of schools out there. There's a lot of organizations out there that aren't properly equipped. I see that changing drastically in the next 10 years. I think every staff is going to end up having some type of psychologist, some type of program, some type of psychiatrist that's going to guide and put together protocols and be able to implement these things across the sports landscape. What resources do you recommend athletes looking to improve? What resources do you recommend for athletes looking to improve their mental fortitude, athletic fortitude? Baby, we have all kinds of resources online. Myself as a resource podcast newsletter and any one of my guests that have come on, go to them, listen to the podcast, reach out to them. I always give my interviewee the opportunity to shout out where to find them, so I'll say come here and you're going to have a bunch of different resources to use.
Speaker 1:Lastly, how do you handle difficult topics during interviews, and this is a big one. This is one that I'm going to have to learn as I dive into some more touchy subjects. We talked about sexual abuse and sexual violence and predators on one episode super sensitive topic, really hard to discuss Dr Mitch Abrams, one of my favorite guests I've had on um. We went deep into there and just being sensitive in understanding the the importance of the topic but still knowing I do have to ask tough questions from both point of views. And the same thing goes into politics. That you'll see with jonathan lucroy and any future guests I have on. Where politics comes up is.
Speaker 1:I always want to give my guests the platform whether I agree or disagree with them to discuss what they feel is best and let my listeners determine the truth. So that involves asking tough questions. It also involves letting opinions go and letting my listener or my interviewee have the ability to go and speak and, without being interrupted, and give them their opportunity to share what shapes their point of view and why they believe what they do, and it's my job to bring that out of them from an unbiased, unjudged position. So I do my best to do that. If I disagree with something adamantly, I try and ask follow-up questions without being directly and being empathetic in my question style, asking yeah, that's it, that's number 20.
Speaker 1:I appreciate you guys listening to me talk. I'm not used to talking that much consecutively, so I appreciate you listening sticking through a really cool episode for me, for me to do. I hope to do more of these in the future. I hope everyone has a fantastic, you know Christmas and Merry Christmas. Uh, happy new year, holiday season Um. Check us out at athletic42.com. Download the podcast, subscribe on YouTube. Five stars, only baby. Thank you guys, so much.