Strong Minds Quotes

“Sport can teach us how to set and achieve goals, solve problems, cope with stress, manage our emotions, refocus after mistakes, and build self-confidence.”
― Noel Brick, Strong Minds: How to Unlock the Power of Elite Sports Psychology to Accomplish Anything

“These findings show that nature can have a calming and restorative effect, giving our mind a rest from the intense and mentally fatiguing focus and concentration required in much of our day-to-day lives.”
― Noel Brick, Strong Minds: How to Unlock the Power of Elite Sports Psychology to Accomplish Anything

“A second way we can use a journal is to practice expressing gratitude for the positive things in our life, no matter what the source. This can include writing about things that our family, friends, or colleagues have given us or done for us, or even the difficulties and challenges we’ve come through.”
― Noel Brick, Strong Minds: How to Unlock the Power of Elite Sports Psychology to Accomplish Anything

“Accepting thoughts and understanding that they’re just like passing clouds in the sky is sometimes easier than struggling against them.”
― Noel Brick, Strong Minds: How to Unlock the Power of Elite Sports Psychology to Accomplish Anything

“After you achieve a goal or complete a project, the first thing to do is celebrate. Take time to congratulate yourself on your accomplishment, thank and be grateful for the people who helped you reach it, and indulge in areas of pleasure you might have had to set aside while focusing on your just-completed goal. Spend time on other important areas of your life, like self-care, family, and friends, that you may have neglected during your goal-striving efforts.”
― Noel Brick, Strong Minds: How to Unlock the Power of Elite Sports Psychology to Accomplish Anything

“No matter how you choose to record snippets of information about your progress and achievements, the important bit is to draw on them regularly to feed your self-confidence. Reading about them—and recalling each event—can help you overcome doubt-filled moments. The key point is that you ensure that your self-confidence is secured to controllable preparation and milestone achievements.”
― Noel Brick, Strong Minds: How to Unlock the Power of Elite Sports Psychology to Accomplish Anything

“Journaling, a tool to help us express, rather than suppress, our thoughts, feelings, and insights. Journaling has been shown to lower distress and depression, enhance psychological well-being, and improve physical health. This is especially true when we try to make sense of a situation and deal with it constructively as we write about it.”
― Noel Brick, Strong Minds: How to Unlock the Power of Elite Sports Psychology to Accomplish Anything

“Expressive writing is helpful in many situations. Although difficult and upsetting, writing about the thoughts and emotions associated with traumatic life events, has been shown to increase our sense of personal growth and self-acceptance and decrease feelings of distress. Writing about a traumatic experience, and developing a greater insight into the event, can also increase our sense of personal resilience, meaning that we feel more optimistic and have greater control of the event and our emotions.”
― Noel Brick, Strong Minds: How to Unlock the Power of Elite Sports Psychology to Accomplish Anything

“Focusing on things under their control and accepting events that were uncontrollable.”
― Noel Brick, Strong Minds: How to Unlock the Power of Elite Sports Psychology to Accomplish Anything

“Instead of learning from someone else, however, you act as your own role model.”
― Noel Brick, Strong Minds: How to Unlock the Power of Elite Sports Psychology to Accomplish Anything

“All the controllable aspects of a situation—including things you can influence, if not outright control—can be listed in the first column. All the uncontrollable ones can be recorded in the other.”
― Noel Brick, Strong Minds: How to Unlock the Power of Elite Sports Psychology to Accomplish Anything

“Acceptance means that we abandon our futile efforts, allowing the ball to float on the surface. It might stay near us, and that can be uncomfortable. But like storm clouds in the sky, the ball—and our unwanted thoughts and unpleasant feelings—may also, eventually, drift away.”
― Noel Brick, Strong Minds: How to Unlock the Power of Elite Sports Psychology to Accomplish Anything

“As three-time Olympic ski jumper Andreas Küttel puts it, “Nature . . . gives me absolutely a lot of energy on a daily basis but also for special occasions it gives you calmness.” The ability of natural spaces to help us de-stress is reinforced by former Irish rugby union player Rosie Foley, who enthuses, “The emotions are just pure relaxation and just that lovely feeling of this is where I’m supposed to be!”
― Noel Brick, Strong Minds: How to Unlock the Power of Elite Sports Psychology to Accomplish Anything

“A 2014 study found positive results following eight weeks of mindfulness training with a group of US marines exposed to stressful training exercises.16 The program was designed to develop concentration and a greater acceptance and tolerance of physical pain, distressing thoughts, intense emotions, and harsh environmental conditions.”
― Noel Brick, Strong Minds: How to Unlock the Power of Elite Sports Psychology to Accomplish Anything

“The marines who had received the mindfulness training recovered more swiftly after stressful combat exercises.”
― Noel Brick, Strong Minds: How to Unlock the Power of Elite Sports Psychology to Accomplish Anything

“When we are confronted with stressful and difficult situations, focusing more on aspects that we can control—or at least influence—can alter our emotional response to the situation.”
― Noel Brick, Strong Minds: How to Unlock the Power of Elite Sports Psychology to Accomplish Anything

“These include some of our most common New Year’s resolutions: exercising regularly, eating healthy foods, and focusing on self-care activities like getting sufficient sleep and dedicating time to rest and relax.”
― Noel Brick, Strong Minds: How to Unlock the Power of Elite Sports Psychology to Accomplish Anything

“Being able to accept that unexpected things can happen is important to managing our mindset. Sometimes adopting a “fuck it” attitude, as self-diagnosed overthinker Steve Kerr did during his NBA career, can be important to help overcome an endless loop of debilitating thoughts and irrelevant distractions.”
― Noel Brick, Strong Minds: How to Unlock the Power of Elite Sports Psychology to Accomplish Anything

“Accept it rather than attempt to suppress it, and subsequently focus on overcoming the challenge it represented.”
― Noel Brick, Strong Minds: How to Unlock the Power of Elite Sports Psychology to Accomplish Anything

“Accepting that there are some things you can’t change can lead to more helpful emotional responses.”
― Noel Brick, Strong Minds: How to Unlock the Power of Elite Sports Psychology to Accomplish Anything

“Sometimes adopting a “fuck it” attitude, as self-diagnosed overthinker Steve Kerr did during his NBA career, can be important to help overcome an endless loop of debilitating thoughts and irrelevant distractions.”
― Noel Brick, Strong Minds: How to Unlock the Power of Elite Sports Psychology to Accomplish Anything

“Avoid overthinking and instead concentrate on the critical steps you need to take to perform at your best.”
― Noel Brick, Strong Minds: How to Unlock the Power of Elite Sports Psychology to Accomplish Anything

“Logic and reasoning help us solve problems, but too much blue during performance means we overthink and lack the drive to act decisively. What’s important is being able to recognize and understand which state we are in and adjust our mental thermostat so that our red/blue balance is just right.”
― Noel Brick, Strong Minds: How to Unlock the Power of Elite Sports Psychology to Accomplish Anything

“Effective self-talk strategies can give us a greater sense of control over our doubts, worries, and fears.”
― Noel Brick, Strong Minds: How to Unlock the Power of Elite Sports Psychology to Accomplish Anything

“Techniques like reappraisal and mindful acceptance can help us navigate these moments of self-doubt.”
― Noel Brick, Strong Minds: How to Unlock the Power of Elite Sports Psychology to Accomplish Anything

“Spend time on other important areas of your life, like self-care, family, and friends, that you may have neglected during your goal-striving efforts.”
― Noel Brick, Strong Minds: How to Unlock the Power of Elite Sports Psychology to Accomplish Anything

“We might imagine the immense pride we’ll feel and congratulations we’ll get from friends and family.”
― Noel Brick, Strong Minds: How to Unlock the Power of Elite Sports Psychology to Accomplish Anything

“Create a list of all the important areas of your life right now. The list might include sport, study, work, family, and friends. Next, rank each of these spheres in terms of personal importance, time spent on each.”
― Noel Brick, Strong Minds: How to Unlock the Power of Elite Sports Psychology to Accomplish Anything

“Getting a good support crew around you can be helpful to develop self-confidence. For athletes, support might come in the form of positive feedback and encouragement from trusted and respected individuals, such as a coach, teammate, family member, or friend.”
― Noel Brick, Strong Minds: How to Unlock the Power of Elite Sports Psychology to Accomplish Anything

“Athletes get confidence from the leadership of their coach, the support of others, such as family and friends, the environment they perform in.”
― Noel Brick, Strong Minds: How to Unlock the Power of Elite Sports Psychology to Accomplish Anything