I recently sat down with performance coach Jim Murphy to discuss how athletes use the mind to attain peak performance. Jim has a long and successful career (almost twenty years) training top professional and Olympian athletes to get the very best out of themselves. I respect Jim for his knowledge, his ‘track’ record, and his integrity as an individual. He is presently working on a book, which will be published in the fall, and he has agreed to do a monthly topic for us at that time to further elaborate on his techniques for maximum effectiveness. Some of them will [...]

These are stressful times for many people. The global financial meltdown, job insecurity, our investments decreasing in value, slow growth; we can understandingly feel depressed or anxious, and I haven’t even mentioned the daily media bombardment of negativity. What is one to do in these times? Well… why not be happy? Sounds paradoxical, but no, not at all. In fact in these unsettling times happiness can best be the best antidote to help us through it all. There is never a better time to be happy. But how can you be happy when all this is happening, you might ask. [...]

"Our spirits are offended if we think too much.” -Inuit shaman It is very valuable to become familiar with our ways of thinking and the routines of our mind. Our mind forms habits too, and many of them, we will discover, are not beneficial to us. For example, did you know the mind talks to itself almost constantly? Listen carefully and you will hear it. One of the first things we will notice when we begin stalking our mind is how our internal chatter keeps us prisoner in a fantasy world of its own creation. Stalking Internal Dialogue It was [...]

A wonderful gift to ourselves and those whom we are close to is to make a decision to drop as much pettiness from our lives as we possibly can. A simple decision and promise to ourselves to try to not be petty can, as we implicate this new strategy, cause a radical change in our energy. Every thought and act of ours carries an energetic vibration, and when we act from authenticity, living up to our highest ideals, we gain real and noticeable benefits from this practice. Our vibration will always shift to match our thoughts, beliefs and actions, and [...]

The inner battles that athletes wage within themselves are numerous. The fear of failure as well as the fear of success, are common. Each person deals with it in his or her own way. Canadian golf sensation Lorie Kane knows as well as anyone what this battle entails. "When I’m confident I move forward and when I’m not, I don’t." Sounds simple enough, but confidence and winning can be illusive in both sports and life. Lorie has first hand experience in this matter and her approach to finally winning her first LPGA (Ladies Professional Golf Association) tournament has lessons [...]

It is an incredible discovery when we realize that fun, joy, happiness and beauty are not simply enjoyable experiences but valuable sources of energy as well. They increase our energy when we activate them. We should increase our intake of these activities as much as possible, many times every day. Learning how to be creative and attentive and making fun, joy and beauty a priority in our life is easy once we realize their importance. There are many ways we can bring fun, joy and beauty into our lives and most of them don’t cost a cent. It’s simply attuning [...]