Home > Work > The Brave Athlete: Calm the F*ck Down and Rise to the Occasion
1 " Living in mental cruise control and making nothing but safe choices leads to boredom and complacency. A breakthrough in happiness, self-awareness, and mental toughness requires new experience. "
― , The Brave Athlete: Calm the F*ck Down and Rise to the Occasion
2 " Admitting that we’re flawed and then showing the entire world what that flaw is scares the hell out of us. And your brain has a Nobel Prize in protecting your ego and self-image—the perceptions you have about who you think you should be. "
3 " When we practice suffering we are reinforcing neural pathways associated with discomfort and behavioral persistence. "
4 " It should come as no surprise that stressful situations become less stressful the more you get used to them. Psychologists call this cue desensitization—the process by which you experience a lower emotional response to a stimulus after repeated exposure to it. It’s the reason that seasoned pros can still perform well in front of thousands of spectators, why public speaking becomes easier and easier, and, ahem, why it only feels kinky the first time you do it. So stop avoiding things that scare you. The goal is to seek out opportunities to experience pressure and confront it head-on. "
5 " There is now good scientific evidence that expressing appreciation for what you have has a remarkable effect on your self-judgment system and your overall well-being, most likely because it confronts negativity and increases the production of dopamine—your brain’s pleasure juice. Scientific studies have also revealed that the simple act of looking for things to be grateful for is as important as finding them. "
6 " This is the life that strives to thrive, not just survive. "
7 " Reward. The feeling you get once you’ve done or are doing the behavior. For new behaviors that aren’t intrinsically pleasurable, you might need to pair a separate reward (something that does provide a dopamine squirt) with the new behavior so you still feel good after completion. "
8 " Sometimes your chess pieces attack other pieces, and sometimes they defend. "
9 " Uses powerful neurotransmitters like dopamine, serotonin, oxytocin, acetylcholine, and noradrenaline to get your attention and move you to act. "
10 " Think only about what the next few minutes hold. The more intense the suffer-challenge, the shorter the segments need to be. "
11 " The neurological beauty of segmentation is that once the segment is completed, you get a mini-squirt of dopamine (pleasure juice) that resets the coping clock. Use this principle to your advantage by exploiting how your brain reacts to completion and accomplishment. "
12 " A great way to open the dopamine floodgate is to watch and listen to inspirational stuff about the activity you are prone to quitting at. Unlike meme-turds, videos are a more immersive sensory experience, and virtually all capitalize on the dopaminergic power of music. Music has the ability to not just arouse pleasurable feelings but also increase craving or wanting—two critical elements of sports motivation. "
13 " When the suffering does come (and it will), we need to use mindfulness techniques (nonjudgmental awareness) to cope with it. "
14 " When you commit and act despite feeling a bit scared, when you side-step or clamber (however clumsily) over obstacles and setbacks, when you seek out adversity to learn from suffering, not despite it, and when you scour your world for tiny reminders of things to be grateful for in life, you are on your way. "
15 " High self-esteem and confidence come from experiencing adversity and accomplishment. In other words, confidence is earned, not given. "
16 " When athletes are deceived about the amount of suffering that remains, perceived effort and exercise tolerance change. "
17 " In contrast to dopamine-fueled feelings of pleasure, feelings of happiness are caused by another neurotransmitter—serotonin. Serotonin also helps create feelings of contentedness, significance, and importance. Among other functions, serotonin is a mood stabilizer. Sure, dopamine will give you the quick pleasure rush, but serotonin will keep you happy in the long term—a positive upbeat mood that chases the blues away. "
18 " Athletes who are willing to put themselves out there, who can handle failure and criticism, take risks, rarely panic, and enjoy the challenge of getting stuck in. "
19 " Brave athletes aren’t perfect, but they know their “why,” believe in their ability, and know how to turn intentions into action. "
20 " Concentrating on the little things hidden in your daily routines and actions that you might otherwise take for granted. These positive droplets create a micro-squirt of dopamine (pleasure) and serotonin (happiness). "