“Emotions are simply a natural occurrence like an undertow. If we try to fight back, we just exhaust ourselves into defeat. Instead of going against them, if we move with them, parallel to the shore, until we are out of the riptide of feelings, we will be better able to reach our intended destination.” (Excerpt from my upcoming book Everything I Got)
“As we learn more about our brains, it has become clear that emotions provide us with insight and direction. We need them to guide us. In addition, they are critical when it comes to motivation and spurring movement in that right direction, especially in sports. That is why it isn’t surprising to discover that the words motivation and emotion both come from the same Latin root, motere, which means ‘to move.’” (Excerpt from my upcoming book Everything I Got)
“Whether you are an athlete or a coach, or neither, you will experience times when people criticize you. In addition, you will experience times when people praise you. You’ll hear it all from where you are, but none of it really benefits you. The attention, the comments, and the opinions are all noise. You need to identify what information coming in will help you move forward and listen closely to that. Then allow your brain to turn down the rest of the static.” (Excerpt from my upcoming book Everything I Got)
“You won’t do things well the first time, and maybe not even the second or third. I can guarantee you won’t make any mistakes if you never try, but I can also guarantee that you will never succeed or do it well either. For athletes who strive for perfection, this can be one of the most painful parts of the growth process. . . Overall, we need to care less and do more. Care less about the results, or what other people think, and just go after it.” (excerpt from my upcoming book Everything I Got)
“The more both athletes and coaches accomplish in their sport, the more places and unfamiliar situations they find themselves in on and off the playing field. . . A new city, a new team, a new experience can throw you into uncharted territory that fills you with fears and anxiety. As a result, many athletes struggle in strange environments because they let so much of their context throw them off their game. Newfound media attention, flashing lights, bigger crowds - all these things can cause an athlete to overthink their performance and to question their every move, a process that not only slows down their reaction time but impairs the accuracy of their decision-making. The reality is that none of those external things changed anything about the game itself.” (Excerpt from Lesson 9 in my book Everything I Got)
“Picture yourself standing on the podium, I often tell the athletes I am working with. Imagine the weight of that gold medal hanging around your neck, everyone cheering for you, proud of your accomplishment. Now imagine all the feelings and thoughts you would have in that moment. Most likely you imagine a sense of pride, mixed with exhaustion, excitement, elation . . . and I would bet you imagine those feelings with a sense of accomplishment, replaying the hours of preparation, practice, and hard work that got you to that moment. Now hold that thought, and imagine the same moment, but take away the journey. Remove every challenge, battle, mistake, or obstacle you had to overcome. Take away all the tears, all the pain, and all the laughter. Imagine, you walked into the Olympics without trials and were handed the medal. How proud do you feel now?” (Excerpt from my book Everything I Got)
Allain Mental Performance 