What if, instead of deciding exactly how your season should go, you decided who you’ll be however it goes? Playing time, results, mistakes and momentum will change. Your standards don’t have to. Using lessons from Roger Federer, ACT research and implementation intentions, this Mindset Made Simple Tip shows athletes how to choose an identity, define the behaviors that prove it and build confidence from evidence—before the season gets the chance to decide for them.

When reality doesn’t match the story we created in our heads, it’s easy to assume something went wrong. But different doesn’t always mean wrong. A surprisingly emotional moment selling my son’s mini bike reminded me how expectations shape disappointment—and how easily athletes, coaches, leaders and parents can judge what actually happened against what they imagined would happen. The key? Honor the emotion, evaluate reality, and ask: What is still available to me here?

The season may not have started yet, but the mental game already has. Today’s athletes are managing transfers, changing rosters, comparison, unclear roles and questions about where they stand. Research suggests that the goal is not to eliminate uncertainty, but to keep taking purposeful action before the answers arrive. Athletes may crave certainty, but coaches cannot always provide it. What they can provide is clarity about standards, values and what today requires.

Emotions are part of life, but they don't have to control our next step. In this week's Mindset Made Simple Tip, discover how emotional regulation, attention and resilience can help you acknowledge difficult feelings, return to the present and focus on what matters most. Whether you're grieving, competing, coaching or leading, learn a simple strategy to recover, reset and keep moving forward with purpose.

Mindset Made Simple Tip #301 - Watch or listen HERE! Want to up your team's mental game? Click HERE for information on how we can build a program specifically for your orgainzation! Well...more time I’ll never get back! I have replayed one moment from our league semifinal more times than I care to admit. Yep…you guessed it. We didn’t win! We lost 9 – 8 with bases loaded in the top of the 7th! My play on repeat wasn't the only reason we lost. It wasn't. In a one-run game, the

Mindset Made Simple Tip #300 - Watch or listen HERE. Click HERE for information on working with us in 2026-27! “No thanks!” Four guys, on the world’s biggest stage, said, “No thanks!” I still can’t get it out of my mind. I’m not sure if I’m stunned or fascinated. But the 2026 World Cup gave us one of the most riveting mental performance lessons I've seen in years. In case you missed it, Germany found itself in a shootout against Paraguay with the country’s tournament on the

Mindset Made Simple Tip #299 - Watch or listen HERE. Find information on training with us HERE! This week I had the incredible privilege of working with the 18U Women's National Team at the USA Softball Top Performers Camp at Devon Park…the Softball Capital of the World. It was a real chore 😉! I mean, who wants to work with and watch the best kids in the world all week? As I looked around the room during our first mental performance session, I couldn't help but think... the

Mindset Made Simple Tip #297 - Watch or listen HERE! My friend Nathan LOVES the Knicks. During the final game of the NBA Championship, his wife sent a text that said he wasn’t moving…he was barely breathing as the clock ticked to 00.00. Then…the joy of a long-awaited championship for the East Coast guy who has been a ride-or-die forever! Then…she said, “So many good ideas for Tips this week!” And, boy, was she right! Let’s start with MVP Jalen Brunson! I could write a whole m

Mindset Made Simple Tip #296 - Watch or listen HERE. Have you ever watched an athlete, coach…or anyone for that matter…after a mistake and thought: “Oh no...now they're thinking." You can almost see it happen. The pitcher starts aiming instead of throwing. The point guard looks to pass instead of driving the hole. The golfer stands over the putt a little longer. The speaker starts searching through notes on the lectern at 100 miles an hour as if he’s lost something. This is

Mindset Made Simple Tip #295 - Watch or listen HERE! PRESSURE…as the great philosopher, Billy Joel, put it, “But you will come to a placeWhere the only thing you feelAre loaded guns in your faceAnd you'll have to deal with Pressure!!!! Most of you are probably too young to remember this song (Google it, it’s a good one! 😊), but the premise is…we ALL deal with pressure! As we continue our “pressure theme”, we know that pressure shows up in far more places than championships

Mindset Made Simple Tip #292 - Watch or listen HERE. I LOVE championship season, no matter the sport! I love watching people celebrate. I love the tears, watching grown men and women jump with joy like little kids, the relief, the parents in the stands, the years of work finally paying off. There is something powerful about watching people achieve something that deeply matters to them. And honestly, while I do not enjoy watching people struggle, I am equally fascinated by the

Mindset Made Simple Tip #292 - Watch it HERE!  I can say this because I can’t get fined anymore for disputing calls after games. The Akron Zips were victims of a bad call in the Baton Rouge Regional Softball Tournament on Saturday!!!! And as I write this week’s Tip, I wonder if I could follow my own advice and what science tells us in this situation. I was THOROUGHLY impressed with the responses of the Akron staff…not sure I would have been allowed to remain in the dugout

Mindset Made Simple Tip #292 - Listen or watch HERE. It is that time of year again in coaching and leadership. End of season evaluations. Anonymous feedback forms. Reviews from athletes, employees, clients, students or staff. As I was thinking about this …and thinking back to my experience with our anonymous evaluation process when I was coaching, I was thinking about how I “kept my head” when reading things about myself that weren’t always true. In my head, someone once s

Mindset Made Simple Tip #291 - Watch or listen HERE! My son has been doing something new. He's not just running new races, although that’s part of it. The 4x800, the 1600, the 800…that’s a lot. He even jumped into the long jump (or not-so-long-jump) and helped set a school record in the 4x8. That should be the story. But lately, something else has been showing up, and as we head into tournament time for spring sports, this experience is something we need to be aware of…so we

Mindset Made Simple Tip #290 - Watch or listen HERE. Last week, we talked about being where your feet are. This week, let’s talk about why that can be so hard… especially under pressure. Because it’s not just your thoughts that show up in those moments. It’s your history. Over the past few months, I’ve been doing a lot of reading and learning about grief. One of the most powerful things I’ve come across is the idea that the brain is constantly updating its internal map of

Mindset Made Simple Tip #289 - Watch or listen HERE! This is the time of year when focus can start to drift. You see it in practice. You feel it in games. You hear it in conversations. Athletes start thinking about the upcoming tournament rather than the next opponent. Coaches start looking at standings and scenarios. (I remember my assistant’s scribbled-up notebook with who needs to do what and where we would be if…then!) Families are already talking about summer plans and v

Mindset Made Simple Tip #288  It’s hard to tell by looking outside in most of the country right now…but it’s college softball season! Get out your shovels and thermals, because ready or not, here comes February! After coaching for more than a quarter century in Northeast Ohio, thinking about layering up for a 9 – 10-hour outdoor excursion to a softball field makes my teeth chatter! But whether the thermometer says so or not, it’s time for spring sports to ramp up, and so do

Mindset Made Simple Tip #287  I can’t believe I am going to quote Mike Tyson, but here I go! Except for the quote below and a guy with a partial ear, my only other memory of the guy is the night our dorm went on lockdown…way before lockdowns were a thing...because the best friend of the girl accusing him of rape lived below me…and someone threatened her. FUN. Nevertheless, what he said is true! “Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the mouth!” And we get punched in

Mindset Made Simple Tip #285 Read it on my new website at www.ssbperformance.com That’s a loaded question. Are you a good focuser 😉 or does your mind feel like it’s being pulled in a million directions…a lot? This is a great question for me this week as I send this out in the nick of time to keep my 5+ year streak of one Tip per week going! I am sure I had time to send this, but every time I sat down to do so....well...here we are! So last night, to keep the streak going,

Mindset Made Simple Tip #285 - Watch or Listen HERE Every coach I know is looking for an edge. Better drills. Better data. Better development plans. But here’s what we miss: Our mindset determines how much value we actually get from everything else we do. It shapes… • what you notice • what you expect • how you explain success and failure • how your body responds under pressure These are the tools and data we need to be evaluating every day, every play…every way! Research co