Performance Psychology

As one of Britain's best-respected sports presenters, Jake Humphrey has witnessed first-hand the highs and lows of some of the most remarkable athletes on earth. And in his multimillion-download podcast, High Performance, he teams up with Professor Damian Hughes to examine the secrets of the world's highest-performing people - in sport, in business and in life.

The first book of its kind, Peak Performance combines the inspiring stories of top performers across a range of capabilities - from athletic, to intellectual, to artistic - with the latest scientific insights into the cognitive and neurochemical factors that drive performance in all domains. In doing so, Peak Performance uncovers new linkages that hold promise as performance enhancers but have been overlooked in our traditionally-siloed ways of thinking.

In Whatever Works, Thalma Lobel explores groundbreaking psychological research on job performance, satisfaction, and creativity. Did you know that just doodling in a certain way can increase your creativity? That looking at something green for forty seconds will improve your attention? That crossing your legs similarly to an interviewer could get you the job? That the mere presence of a smartphone on your desk can lessen your performance, even if it's turned off? These are the invisible factors that nudge our behavior on a daily basis.

Are you looking for unique ways to "get into the game"? To enhance your training and find focus? You aren't alone. Increasingly, athletes and coaches are incorporating mindfulness practices into their training. That's because mindfulness can help you lower your stress levels, connect with the moment, and mentally bounce back after setbacks. So whether you're a sports enthusiast or a professional athlete, mindfulness can also help you deal with physical aspects of training, such as fatigue, aches, pains, injury, burnout, and exhaustion.

To perform better in any situation - in your career, hobbies, relationships, or in any facet of your life - it is critical to develop psychological skills, which, just like physical abilities, can be taught, learned, and practiced. Both as individuals and as groups, we can tone these psychological skills and use them to heighten awareness, foster talents and technical abilities, and reach peak performance. Mental preparedness and psychological awareness are the keys to thriving in any environment.

Most people want to be successful in life. And of course, everyone wants to be happy. When it comes to the pursuit of success and happiness, most people assume the same formula: if you work hard, you will become successful, and once you become successful, then you'll be happy. The only problem is that a decade of cutting-edge research in the field of positive psychology has proven that this formula is backwards. Success does not beget happiness.

How high or far or fast can humans go? And what about individual potential: what defines a person's limits? From running a two-hour marathon to summiting Mount Everest, we're fascinated by the extremes of human endurance, constantly testing both our physical and psychological limits.In Endure, Alex Hutchinson, PhD, reveals why our individual limits may be determined as much by our heads and hearts as by our muscles.

As founder of Fitness Quest 10 in San Diego, California, Todd Durkin is used to pushing high-profile, high-performance athletes to their physical limit. But that's only half the battle. A crucial aspect of creating any kind of success - whether in business, sports, health, or relationships - is having the right mindset. 

Biofeedback is the process of training your body to control its involuntary actions, such as breathing and heart rate. Minor changes to these actions can significantly improve physical and emotional well-being. In Biofeedback and Mindfulness in Everyday Life, Harvard Medical School faculty member Inna Khazan pairs biofeedback techniques with mindfulness practice to address some of life's most common ailments - from anxiety and fear to stress and insomnia. 

This phenomenally successful guide has become a touchstone for hundreds of thousands of people. Not just for tennis players, or even just for athletes in general, this handbook works for anybody who wants to improve their performance in any activity, from playing music to getting ahead at work.

Neuroscience is revolutionizing our understanding of human psychology and behavior. By showing how to apply this new understanding to how you recruit, manage, and develop your people, Brann is enabling you to deliver a step change in organizational performance and individual achievement. 

From best-selling author Bob Rotella, America's preeminent sports psychologist, a groundbreaking guide to success in all aspects of life - not just sports - from business to relationships to personal challenges of every variety.

In Put Happiness to Work, Karpinski draws on his deep experience at the intersection of business and psychology to lay out a step-by-step program that includes specific activities to enhance engagement and generate happiness at work. Utilizing existing work habits and meetings, these dynamic yet simple tools will hardwire effective changes into leaders' and employees' behavior, creating long-term, sustainable engagement.

Today brain power is more important than ever. As technology gets faster and faster, our brains need to keep up. Luckily, the human brain has virtually infinite potential. You just need to tap into it. Brain Power, written by a master of the mental arts, will show you how to unleash the magnificent abilities that lie in your brain. You’ll learn exciting new techniques that will help you remember more, think more clearly and creatively, solve complex problems, read and study with speed and efficiency, and climb the ladder to success!

Did you know that anyone can learn to achieve flow? This book shows you how. Discover the secret weapon of champions: Flow. Unlike a rare talent, anyone can learn to cultivate this state and access peak performance in their sport. Create the optimal conditions for cultivating flow in your own athletic career. Cultivating the flow state in sport can be a powerful way to improve your performance and achieve a greater sense of satisfaction and enjoyment in your athletic pursuits.

You can train your brain to pay attention more effectively. Acclaimed neuroscientist Dr Amishi Jha has dedicated her life's work to understanding the science of attention at every level - from brain-imaging studies in the lab to field testing soldiers, firefighters and athletes. Her mission has been to scientifically determine how we can harness the full power of our attention to better meet all that life demands. 

Michael Jordan credits George Mumford with transforming his on-court leadership of the Bulls, helping Jordan lead the team to six NBA championships. Mumford also helped Kobe Bryant, Andrew Bynum, and Lamar Odom and countless other NBA players turn around their games. A widely respected public speaker and coach, Mumford is sharing his own story and the strategies that have made these athletes into stars in The Mindful Athlete: The Secret to Pure Performance.

Famous three-time Grand Slam winner Arthur Ashe pointed out that many in sports fall victim to “paralysis by analysis”. Athletes on any level can experience the pain of overthinking and sabotaging their performance. Blame many traditional methods of teaching and training. How can we train smarter, not harder? If only our body and mind could perform in a way that’s more natural and instinctive. The best athletes have this quality, but many feel it is simply unattainable for them. I assure you it is not.

For more than twenty years, Dr. Dana has worked with the best of the best to improve results, from NFL, MLB, NBA, and NHL teams to IndyCar drivers and Olympic athletes. She helps performers shift their focus and deliver optimal performance in high-pressure moments that define greatness. Her methods also work for students and teachers, business leaders and managers—anyone motivated to improve. Her approach is simple: figure out what gets in your way, develop actions to address it in the moment, and then stick to the plan. It’s not about how you feel, it’s about what you do!

Many golf psychology guides offer mental strategies and techniques to cope with the apparent pressures of the game and to address how golfers feel on the golf course. This audiobook is different. It reveals the cause of the doubts and fears rather than trying to fix the symptoms.