In a career spanning over twenty years, Richard has acquired extensive academic credentials and practical expertise in business, athletics, and education.   He is a mental performance enhancement expert with a wide range of experience and clients (such as The Toronto Dominion Bank, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Tiverton Petroleum Ltd., Nova Chemical, Lafarge Cement, Samson Canada Ltd., Movie Central, The National Screen Institute - Canada,  The Canadian National Rugby Team,  The Canadian National Nordic Combined Team, The Banff Hockey Academy, and numerous professional athletes including Olympic medalists and World Champions.

Richard offers keynote presentations, group and individual training to help people reach the highest level of performance in their chosen endeavor.  Richard can be reached for consultation at www.innerwarrior.com. 
 

Questions for Richard

Question:  When I lose a game I freak out, then act like it never happened.  How can I handle losing better?

Answer:  Defeat and loss, though painful and unavoidable can be cornerstones of success.  From that perspective my prescription is simple:  when you lose be a man, not a guy.  Overcome your need to escape pain as quickly as possible.  Try and understand which emotion caused your reaction.  Once you pinpoint it, justify it.  In most cases, you'll be validated for the way you feel and that'll help ease the pain.  Finally move on and grow.  Maybe your reaction showed you a weakness in yourself, so try to change and improve on it.  Bottom line:  being able to turn setbacks, defeat and loss into applied knowledge is the ultimate key to becoming a better, more successful person.

Question:  I always lose the mind game.  It seems I get intimidated easily.  How can I turn this round?

Answer:  Five quick tips to gain a mental edge over your opponent.

As a sport psychology consultant and executive coach, I always instruct my clients to play within the rules.  Yet, we all know that what we say and do will influence others.  Here are five strategies that will influence your opponent¹s train of thoughts, while playing by the rules.     

Be advised, not two opponents are the same.  Choose the strategy that will fit your game, but always have a back-up plan.

The pink elephant principle ­ Direct your opponent¹s attention to their own weaknesses.
Make your opponent focus on his/her weaknesses by complimenting them.  In golf for example, mention to your opponent how fantastic their drives are.  How glad you are that they got rid of that duck-hook they use to have...  If you don¹t believe this will work, what is the first thing that comes to mind when I ask you NOT to think about a pink elephant...

Ignore your opponent ­ Concentrate on yourself
One of the worst castigation for human being is to be ignored.  Acknowledge everyone, except your opponent.  Put on your game face.  Avoid eye contact.  This strategy is especially effective if your opponent lacks confidence in herself/himself.  You will reinforce their belief that they don't deserve to win.

Time is on your side ­ Control the tempo.
Know how fast or slow your opponent likes to play and do everything in your power to play the opposite.  This will get your opponent out of their comfortable natural rhythm.  This requires that you learn to adapt to different tempos yourself.

Use flattery ­ Inflate your opponent¹s ego.
Make your opponent feel stronger, smarter, better prepared than you are.  If you do this well, they will believe in their own greatness and let down their guards ever so slightly...

Be unpredictable ­ Keep your opponent guessing.
We are creatures of habit.  If you are predictable and act according to what your opponent expects, you will give him/her a sense of control.  Instead, keep you opponent off-balance by acting in unpredictable ways.  Unconsciously, a part of their mental focus will drift toward possible explanations for your erratic and seemingly purposeless behaviors.


Question:  My name is Jessica, I am a goalie in high school, and whenever I play in a game I seem to get really freaked out.  I¹ll do great in practice and block almost every shot except for in the game?

Answer:  This is a big question and I could go on for awhile, but here are a few basic points I teach goaltenders:

Key concept # 1:  Simplify what it means to be a good goaltender....
Many goaltenders tend to make their job more difficult than need be.  The ultimate state of mind for a goalie is to be in the moment (i.e. focused in the right here, right now) and relaxed.  When you achieve this state of mind, the game becomes simple:  you track the puck and stop it!  nothing more, nothing less.  

You must show up at games repeating to yourself that you've worked hard in practice and that you are ready to do the job.  You must also know and believe that you are in the process of improving yourself.  That a mistake is not the end of the world.  

To achieve this ultimate state of mind:

A.  Create a mental picture of how you WILL be in goal.
Create a mental picture of what it means to be a good goaltender:  Imagine yourself being in goal, feeling physically relaxed and ready and tracking the puck to perfection.  This picture will be your focusing point.  It will be your CLEAR INTENTION for the game.  It will remind exactly HOW you will perform.  In my experience, the clearer an athlete is in terms of HOW he/she wants to perform, the better they perform.  Once you have you have your picture of HOW you will perform, link the image to one key word or concept that describes how you will FEEL in goal.  Some good key words could bee "Track" "Right Here, Right now" or like Patrick Roy "Be a warrior"

B.  Create and implement a routine during the game.
Incorporate the clear image of HOW you want to perform and the reminder of how you will FEEL during the game into a routine on the ice.  For example: After each whistle, make sure your are relaxed by taking a slow, deep breath.  Then, get back to the right here right now state of mind by doing something physical (tapping your pads with your stick or getting a drink of water for example).  The goal of this step is to move on from the past (i.e. a great save or a goal) and get back into the present.  Then visualize your clear image and repeat your key word to refocus yourself on your job and how simple it is.

Key concept # 2:   Preserve your mental energy before games.
Many goaltenders drained themselves by worrying.  I train them to plan the time they will think about the game and then rest their mind by distracting themselves.  I have a feeling that you are a player that would benefit from making sure you are ready early and then distracting yourself from the game.  For the 3 days before each game, plan to visualization sessions.   I suggest 3 sessions of 10 minutes each.  During those sessions, repeat mentally the picture of how you WILL be in goal as well as repeating the key work in game situations.  Also imagine yourself following your routine in between whistles.  In between your visualization sessions, make a point to distract yourself by focusing on your school work, watching inspirational movie or reading.  I also suggest you make sure your equipment is ready a day in advance.

Key concept # 3:  Always play to learn
Remember that time is on your side.  Your  purpose as a young goalie should be to learn as much as possible.  My suggestions are not magic pills ­ they won't magically change your game but if you apply them, you will become better at controlling your mind and finding what works for you.  Make sure that you commit enough time to these suggestions.  Make sure that you practice them during practice.  As well, I suggest you evaluate yourself on your performance of the critical success factors for a goalie:  

• To be focused in the right now.

• To be relaxed

• Your ability to track the puck

• Your ability to move on emotionally from a good save or a bad goal.

Make a scorecard in which you rate yourself on each of those point on a scale from 1 to 10, then rate yourself during practices and after games.  This will give you the knowledge and further direction on what to focus on.

Question:  When I get scared by something ­ work, my love life, my taxes ­ I get totally frozen and can't get anything done about it (I tend to procrastinate).  How can I bring myself to dealing with these things that I know aren't just going to go away?

Answer:  To turn around irrational fear, you need to reprogram the way you react emotionally and physically to stressful triggers.  
To do so, here are 3 important steps:

Step 1.  Rationalize
Make a plan.  When you are calm, write down WHY and HOW you will change your reaction to stressful situations (i.e. calmer, take time to reflect, poised, etc.).

Step 2:  Reprogram  
When you are scared, you freeze because with time, you've programmed yourself to do so.  The goal is to link the stimulus (what ever scares you) with more appropriate emotional and physical responses.  

This is easily achieved by combining basic visualization and relaxation techniques.  First, VISUALIZE a special space where you feel comfortable and relaxed.  It could bee the beach, the mountains, you hometown, anywhere you associate with calm and serenity.  Then practice a relaxation technique while visualizing your calming image.

Step 3:  Practice and improve
Next time something scares you, first read your plan, and then visualize your calming image.  Finally, take a moment to write down a reaction plan ­ how you will react to the scary situation.

With practice, you will reprogram yourself to react in a more rational, calm and pro-active way to all those irrational fear.


Question:  You If I try to diet, all I can think about is food.  If I decide not to watch TV, all I can think about is CSI.  Why is that and how do I stop my mind?

Answer:  "You only achieve as much as you feel you deserve"
In 20 years of consulting with top achievers in sports business and life, I have realized one universal truth: "You only achieve as much as you feel you deserve" and what you feel you deserve is always expressed via what you tell yourself.  In your case, your inner dialogue is coaching you to failure.

Create your own "InnerCoach"
To change the nature of your inner dialogue, create your own "InnerCoach".  When Ben Hogan, one of the greatest golfers of all time, joined the PGA, he was convinced he could not win.  Early in his career, Hogan's own inner dialogue led to defeat and failure.  To survive as a pro golfer, Ben created Hennie Bogan, an imaginary coach that sat on his shoulder.  When Hogan's own chronic insecurity surfaced, it was Hennie's more positive and confident message Hogan chose to listen to.  The rest is history.

How?
In your case, you need an InnerCoach that will exemplify the resilience, will power and determination you lack ­ someone like Sydney Crosby or Wayne Gretzky might help you.  Next time your Inner voice attempts to lead you to failure, ask yourself  "What would Sidney Crosby say and do in this situation?" and act on it!

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