The Psychology of Performance: How to Be Your Best in Life

Overview

Tackle life’s challenges and carry those dreams to the goal line—all with a little help from the science of performance psychology.

“How do you get to Carnegie Hall?” “Practice. Practice. Practice.” Today, the relatively new science of performance psychology tells us that old answer is incomplete at best. In The Psychology of Performance: How to Be Your Best in Life, clinical sport psychologist Eddie O’Connor, Ph.D., shares the best ways for you to reach your personal Carnegie Hall based on the latest scientific research—whether your performance environment is music, dance, business, or sport.

These often surprising research results will make you rethink your own performance strategies, offering approaches you might never have considered and busting myths you might have taken as truth. As Dr. O’Connor explains, the work of a sport psychologist is not defined by sport, but by the science of performance psychology, the mental aspects of superior performance in settings where excellence is central—usually sports, the performing arts, business, and high-risk professions such as the military.

In Dr. O’Connor’s work and in this course, sport is a lens through which to view the issues of practice, anxiety, injury, confidence, and more—issues that apply to any performer. We’ve always known that physical training can reshape our bodies. This exciting research reveals that mental training also can modify the structure and function of our brains, resulting in increased neurological ability to perform a particular skill. Purposeful practice gets you there. Learn why it’s the only thing that can.

Course Structure

01: Sport and Performance Psychology

Sport psychology uses psychological knowledge and skills to help athletes achieve optimal performance while caring for their overall well-being and development. This lecture begins your introduction to a relatively new field, revealing the science behind the most appropriate cognitive and physical practices leading to top performance.
Duration: 32 min

02: Deliberate Practice: Essential for Experts

You say you don’t have athletic talent? You’ll be surprised to learn talent is overrated and can even become a disadvantage in the long run. Instead, discover the benefits of focusing your attention on practice—deliberate, purposeful practice with well-defined goals.
Duration: 30 min

03: How Values and Goals Drive Performance

If you want to reach your best performance level, you’ll need to answer this one very important question: Why? Identifying what you want your performance life to be about will help determine your goals and values, guiding you through the hard work, wins, and losses ahead.
Duration: 27 min

04: The Benefits of Mindfulness in Performance

Performers in any sport or art must be aware, intentional, and purposeful in focus, attention, and action. While the application of mindfulness meditation to sports performance is in its infancy, initial scientific studies reveal both short- and long-term benefits.
Duration: 33 min

05: When Positive Thinking Doesn’t Work

We’ve all heard it: “Think positive! You can do it!” But when it comes to peak performance, is positive thinking a help or a hindrance? Cognitive defusion can help you see your thoughts for what they really are—experiences inside your head and nothing more.
Duration: 29 min

06: Acceptance and the Willingness to Feel

All human emotions are based upon these basic four: anger, fear, happiness, and sadness. So why should you expect to be happy and positive all the time? Learn to accept the full range of your thoughts and emotions to free up your energy to focus on your performance goals and values.
Duration: 34 min

07: Commitment Means “No Matter What”

If you want to achieve your peak performance potential, you know you must be committed. But committed to what? To the behaviors that lead to success. Learn how that choice affects your performance.
Duration: 30 min

08: Finding Internal Motivation

What keeps elite performers motivated, continually sacrificing so much for their art or sport? Understand your intrinsic needs for competence, relatedness, and autonomy to stay motivated.
Duration: 28 min

09: Using Imagery to Prepare for Action

Athletes and coaches have believed in the power of visualization for decades. Now, medical imaging reveals how imagery impacts the brain and the body’s nervous system.
Duration: 30 min

10: Confidence and Self-Talk

Self-efficacy and sport confidence affect your ability to reach your practice and performance goals. Learn how instructional and motivational self-talk can work in your favor.
Duration: 30 min

11: Developing Focused Attention

Focused attention is the single most important psychological skill for all performers. Learn why hyper-accessibility leads to problems and how effective concentration can improve your performance outcomes.
Duration: 29 min

12: Superstitions, Rituals, and Routines

What’s the difference between an athlete’s legitimate pre-performance ritual and a long-held superstition? Learn how routines improve performance while superstitions may not.
Duration: 29 min

13: Peak Performance: Getting in the Zone

Learn how to prepare mentally and physically to increase your chances of entering “the zone,” also known as flow, where you’re completely immersed in your performance.
Duration: 33 min

14: Performance Anxiety and Choking

Anxiety is normal, but it does not have to negatively affect your performance. Learn about Quiet Eye training and how it can help refocus attention away from anxiety.
Duration: 33 min

15: Being the Perfect Perfectionist

Perfectionism can energize achievement but also undermine performance. Learn how to harness its positive attributes while avoiding the negative aspects.
Duration: 32 min

16: Self-Compassion for Self-Improvement

Research shows that acknowledging and processing your feelings affects the psychological variables that improve performance. Learn exercises to increase self-compassion.
Duration: 31 min

17: Burnout and the Need for Recovery

Explore the underlying causes of burnout, how to avoid and treat it, and the serious issue of burnout in today’s youth sports.
Duration: 32 min

18: Pain Tolerance and Injury Rehabilitation

See how pain exists within a unique bio-psycho-social context and how it influences an athlete’s relationship to pain and recovery strategies.
Duration: 30 min

19: The Dangerous Pursuit of the Ideal Body

Learn about the pressure athletes face to achieve the “ideal body” and the health risks associated with disordered eating and performance-enhancing drugs.
Duration: 32 min

20: Fan Psychology, Identification, and Violence

Uncover the social and emotional health differences between higher- and lower-identified fans, and explore the risks and benefits of passionate fandom.
Duration: 30 min

21: Four Qualities of a Successful Team

Learn how the four correlates of teamwork—cohesion, cooperation, role relationships, and leadership—function together to enable teams to reach their goals.
Duration: 31 min

22: Talent: A Developmental Process

Understand why the typical talent identification model works against the development of athletic talent and explore a more effective model.
Duration: 30 min

23: How to Be a Great Sport Parent

Learn how to avoid common mistakes sports parents make and what you can say to support your child’s goals.
Duration: 30 min

24: Aging Athletes: Competing and Retiring

Learn what it takes to maintain skills and performance levels as we age, and how to prepare for the transition out of competitive sports.
Duration: 33 min