Mental Edge

MENTAL EDGE NEWS August 2009

Guaranteed to improve the quality of your individual experience!

90-Day

Parent
Challenge

The Mental Edge invites you to participate in our 90-day Parenting Challenge. This challenge is intended to help you cultivate a High Impact relationship with your son or daughter.

As I tell all parents participating in our High Impact Parenting Series, asking quality questions opens up the possibility of a completely different kind of interaction with your child. With that in mind, you will be given a series of High Impact Questions for the next 90 days (30 days at a time) designed to open a door of understanding into your child's life that can give you a brand new perspective on who your child is and how you might adjust your parenting style to powerfully influence them.

To accept the 90-Day Challenge please click here:

I ACCEPT THE 90-DAY CHALLENGE

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One Client's Story...
skates

The Man Who Made Me
a Man

Throughout my life, I have had a multitude of people help make me the person I am today. Ordinarily these people consist of friends, family, or teachers. However, the person that has had the greatest influence on the man I am today is a man named Shaun Goodsell. Shaun has helped me change my negative aspects to positive attributes, my doubt in religion to faith in God, and the unimaginable to determination.

Shaun and I first became acquainted in February of my sophomore year. The overall reason for our uniting was due to my struggle with my passion, hockey. My sophomore season had been a continuous mental struggle, which affected the amount of my playing time. After meeting several times, Shaun was able to help me become more patient and aware of what I need to do to change my mentality. His tips not only benefited my game, but also taught me how to be a better person through respect, honesty, and perseverance. Besides our usual conversations of the typical criteria, Shaun and I talked about faith. I told him I had confusion about God and my faith and he told me that the beauty all around in nature, the small things in life, and everyday miracles has to have been by a higher power. From that point on I had increased my praying from every so often to each night and gained an appreciation for the little things in life.

Shaun listens to what I have to say like there is nothing else that he is concerned with but me. I have never second-guessed the advice I receive from Shaun and implementing it in my life.

Shaun is always encouraging me. When I think something cannot be overtaken, I am told "Andy you have all the gifts and talents I wish I had". As always, his words make me ready for any obstacle. After hearing this, I began thinking that with my talents it is not only my duty to not just sit around and waste what could benefit me athletically and academically, but through hard work other's dreams could be fulfilled through me as well. His words inspire me to continue to drive and work for a starting spot on the team. I truly have been blessed to know someone who has taught me patience, increased my determination, and helped me along my journey of faith. Without a doubt I know Shaun has helped shape me into the person I am today. With his guidance and optimism, I have been able to overcome any unexpected obstacle. Every challenge has been a test and has increased my drive and will to succeed. My next test is college and I know with everything Shaun has taught me this will be an obstacle I am well prepared for.

A Special Shout Out...

CONGRATULATIONS!
JUSTIN JOHNSON
NAMED MN GOPHER'S
GOALIE COACH

Two recent University of Minnesota men's hockey standouts have been added to the Gophers' coaching staff for the 2009-10 season.

Grant Potulny, who was named a volunteer assistant coach in May, has been elevated to a full-time position following a national search process. In addition, Justin Johnson has been named the team's volunteer goaltending coach. Both were members of Minnesota's national championship teams in 2002 and 2003 with Potulny serving as a team captain each year.

"I'm excited to bring both Grant and Justin back into the program," Minnesota coach Don Lucia said. "They were both part of our two national championship teams and have a great understanding of what it takes to win at that level. They are proud alums and committed and excited to be back as a part of Gopher hockey."

"It was just six years ago that I was in the same spots as these guys," Potulny said of the current Gophers' team. "Don and John (Hill) do an amazing job and I think I bring some youthful energy as somebody who can bring a different element to what we're doing already."

Potulny, 29, has served as the interim assistant coach for the past month since the resignation of Mike Hastings. He has been playing professionally since his career with the Gophers that spanned from 2000-04. He was an assistant captain as a sophomore for Minnesota's 2002 national championship team and then captained the team the following two years, including the Gophers' 2003 national title squad.

"Those were the best four years of my life," Potulny said of his days with the Gophers. "I truly believe that every kid who comes to Minnesota should have a chance to play in the Frozen Four and I'd love to help make that happen."

"As a three-year captain, Grant was a tremendous leader and was well respected by his teammates," Lucia said. "As an interim assistant coach over the past month, I've had the opportunity to watch him interact with players and coaches at our model camp and select-16 festival and coach at the select-17 festival in New York. I have had numerous people come up to me and tell me how impressed they were with Grant. He will bring instant credibility based on what he did as a player and captain here and bring new insights after playing professionally the past five years."

Potulny recently retired from pro hockey after battling injuries throughout his career. He was injured most of this past season, which he spent with the Tampa Bay Lightning's American Hockey League affiliate in Norfolk (Va.). He competed three full seasons with the Ottawa Senators' AHL affiliate in Binghamton (N.Y.) from 2004-07 before spending one season each with the Washington Capitals' affiliate in Hershey (Pa.) and the Edmonton Oilers' affiliate in Springfield (Mass.).

Potulny played in 146 games for the Gophers, totaling 68 goals and 48 assists for 116 points. He is best-known for scoring the overtime game-winning goal in Minnesota's 4-3 win over Maine in the 2002 national championship game at the Xcel Energy Center.

Johnson, 28, was a volunteer assistant coach at St. Cloud State the past three seasons. Johnson was a four-year letterwinner for the Gophers from 2002-05, posting a 2.88 goals against average and 22-8-3 career record. He was named to the all-tournament team at the 2003 Western Collegiate Hockey Association Final Five after stopping 50 of 54 shots. Johnson was a three-time recipient of the team's community service award.

"I felt it was extremely important that we have somebody who can work with the goaltenders and Justin has been working with goalies since he graduated," Lucia said. "Also working with Mental Edge, he can bring added insights to players and coaches on the psychological aspects of the game. Justin has worked in the WCHA over the last three years and has an understanding of what it takes to compete as a player and coach at this level."

"It's almost like coming home for me," Johnson said. "With the talent they have all around and in net it's going to be an exciting season and I'm really looking forward to it.

"I've known Kent (Patterson) since he was a Pee Wee in camps and we have a great relationship," he added. "Being at St. Cloud, we did a lot of film analysis on Alex (Kangas) and figuring out how to beat him. He's an outstanding goalie and I'm very familiar with his game as well."

In addition to his coaching duties, Johnson has instructed at former Gopher Robb Stauber's Goalcrease and The Mental Edge, which mentors athletes of all ages and abilities by developing mental toughness skills. He has published an interactive and customized preparation manual for hockey goalies titled "GameDay."

F*R*E*E* Group Coaching

"Whose Got Your Back?" Hockey Group Coaching

Many young people seem to be struggling to find the enjoyment and personal fulfillment that once drove their desire to play hockey. This trend has to stop!

This Group Coaching Experience promises to:
~ be an innovative peer-to-peer experience that challenges as well as trains athletes in small groups to acquire new levels of personal experience and fulfillment.
~equip athletes with the tools to create and overcome anything that stands in their way to personal satisfaction and fulfillment.
~help each young player overcome the many challenges that inhibit them from performing according to their skill level.
~work through common social challenges that negatively impact their experience.

We believe the application of the tools learned through the group experience reaches far beyond the athletic realm and could possibly be the one thing missing to empower young athletes to develop the skills to overcome and thrive in any situation.

***F*R*E*E* AUGUST 5TH, 12TH, AND 19TH***

7:30 pm - 9:00 pm
Mental Edge Office inside Velocity Sports in Champlin, MN
***Prize*** Bring your Hockey Buds! ***Prize***
A prize will be awarded on the 19th to the person who brings the most friends!

Call Dawn today at 763 439 5246 to reserve your spot!

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Our Deepest Fear...

Shaun Goodsell, MA
Senior Performance Coach

Shaun@MentalEdgeNow.com

"Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate, but we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light not our darkness, that frightens us. We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, and fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people do not feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine as children do. It's not just in some of us; it is in all of us. As we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same".

This quote comes from the popular movie Coach Carter. In this movie, Coach Carter sought to bring dignity and self-respect to a group of players struggling to create a future for themselves coming out of a culture that sought to handicap them by not believing they could build a life of responsibility and excellence because they had never done it before.

There are many ways we emotionally handicap our children. We inhibit his or her development when we underestimate the talent, intelligence and unique genius that lies dormant waiting to be nurtured in each young person. The question is how do we inspire young people to uncover and cultivate this "Greatness" within?

The answer is calling young people to high expectations and commitment. Not expectations that are unrealistic, and therefore unbelievable, but expectations that require those involved to reach deep, rely on each other, and engage themselves in a journey that creates a vision of the type of life that inspires perseverance and resiliency. The problem with this is that along the way there will be resistance from the young person often encountering fear and uncertainty that they can become the person it takes to qualify for the vision laid out. These are moments of "truth". Moments that reveal the power the young person has to convince those around them of their incompetence, lack of ability, and fears of greatness and character. Why are we so easily persuaded to lower our expectations? Do we lack the ability to challenge young people to a life of discipline, self-mastery, and excellence? Maybe, we have all been fooled by the power of young people to convince us that they can't, won't and are unable to? In this case their deepest fear of "being powerful beyond belief" is legitimate and needs to be challenged with parents, coaches, teachers, and peers that believe a life of deep character, discipline, and belonging are possible through each person realizing their "greatness within".

Let's be careful not to under-estimate what young people are capable of. It may be how we participate in handicapping them for life!

Shaun

For more information regarding this topic or to schedule your an Initial 30-minute performance consultation with Shaun, please call Dawn today at 763 439 5246.
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5PerformanceKeys.com

Mind Strength: An Edge on Your Competition

(Mind Strength is available in 8 sport-specific versions: Sports (general), Golf, Football, Baseball, Basketball, Tennis, Hockey and Soccer)

Click on the logo to listen to a clip from each audio:

5 PERFORMANCE KEYS
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10-YEAR ANNIVERSARY

MENTAL EDGE TURNS 10!

IN HONOR OF OUR MILESTONE ANNIVERSARY WE WILL BE ANNOUNCING INCREDIBLE SPECIALS FOR OUR COACHING PACKAGES!

WATCH FOR DETAILS IN YOUR INBOX IN THE COMING DAYS!
YOU WON'T WANT TO MISS THESE!

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Bonds That Go Further Than the Hockey Rink

Brady Greco, BA, Performance Coach
Brady@MentalEdgeNow.com

Every hockey player has encountered and endured a "chalk talk" or team meeting throughout their career. These environments occur on a daily basis and though the coach or team may differ, they all have one thing in common: a coach is lecturing about essential information that is important for you the player to comprehend. What the majority of coaches do not understand is that it is very easy for their team to become unengaged. The fact that it takes three to five minutes per year of age for children and a maximum of twenty minutes for adults to lose their attention creates a huge barrier. In this case, the obstacle blocking a team or player's ability to be great may not necessarily lie in the hands of the players, but rather the coach's ability to maintain the attention of the players. Because it is nearly impossible for a coach to uphold every player's attention throughout the course of a team meeting, vital information is being missed due to the attention spans' of the players.

As expert performance coaches, the Mental Edge understands and knows that the ability to focus one's attention on a certain task is critical for the achievement of one's goals. For this reason, the Mental Edge team has revolutionized and produced what is called "Whose Got Your Back?" Group Coaching. This concept differs from one-on-one coaching and/or team coaching due to the participation, which is rapidly shared through players individual and team experiences for mutual benefit. This results in great ideas that are quickly integrated and distributed within the group. Also, in this environment, players who may be timid to share opinions or thoughts are able to relate closely with other players who may be dealing with the same hindering issues, resulting in special relationships and bonds that go further than the hockey rink. Lastly, the wisdom from each player accelerates the transfer of knowledge, which in turn will increase the ability to attain every player's goals. If you wish to become a better hockey player and overall teammate, take the first step towards greatness and inquire about this truly organic experience called "Whose Got Your Back?" Group Coaching for Hockey presented by the Mental Edge team.

Remember, you control your journey!

Brady

For more information on this topic or to schedule your initial 30-minute performance consultation with Brady, please call Dawn today at 763 439 5246.
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Cultivating Your Elite Mindset

Justin Johnson, BA, Performance Coach
Justin@MentalEdgeNow.com

Over the last handful of years I've witnessed a number of young athletes grow in their physical gifts from one season to the next to become elite athletes. Some handle their physical gifts and the mental transition that needs to follow with grace and poise. Others never capitalize on their physical abilities because they struggle to manage such gifts mentally. It is my belief that to play consistently like an elite athlete, you must first believe that you are one. From there you must continue to think like an elite athlete. There are various facets of an elite athlete mindset but for this month I'd like to focus on a fun exercise that allows you to take your personality traits and leverage them just like elite athletes do. By following this exercise you will begin to feel the power of turning up the volume on your personality traits in the same way elite athletes do.

The first step is to take inventory of your personality traits. Odds are that if you are thinking of ways to better yourself as an athlete or as a leader you have a handful of personality traits that are needed to be your best but may have trouble harnessing them. Such personality traits may include social, creative, optimistic, organized, hard working, and driven. If you feel like you have a solid awareness of what personality traits you have to offer then great! If not, a great exercise is to recruit the thoughts from two to three friends on what their interpretations of your personality traits are. Remember that you want honest helpful feedback not a sugarcoated version of you. Once you've gathered a list of personality traits you are ready for the next step.

The next step is to identify which personality traits could best be leveraged for high performance. Now that you have a list of personality traits begin to look them over for ways to leverage them in a way an elite athlete would. For example, how can I use creativity in my play? How can I use my ability to easily organize with my team? What are some situations I can be more optimistic in? Once you've been able to brainstorm some answers to these types of questions now it is time to get to work.

Finally you must, practice those traits around friends, family and teammates. Until this point, cultivating an elite athlete mindset has been purely theoretical and writing about how you want to have this powerful mindset will do little to get you there. We must practice it in our daily lives! Here is how the exercise works. Pick one trait for an entire day as a theme to live with great purpose. If creativity is your theme, look to implement it into as many facets of your day from what you eat, the route you take to practice, the moves you try in practice to the solutions you come up with to a problem. Pick as many traits as you have and assign a day for each. At the end of each day write down how the day went focusing on that trait. By practicing these traits you will begin to recognize and grow your ability to utilize your personality and your mindset in the same way elite athletes do. Continue to practice these traits as often as you can, soon you will be exhibiting the type of mindset athletes require when becoming an elite athlete.

Justin

For more information on this topic or to schedule your initial 30-minute performance consultation with Justin, please call Dawn today at 763 439 5246.
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The Championship Game
By an Assistant Baseball Coach and Dad from Minnetonka, MN

This summer I had the opportunity of helping coach my son's 13 year old warrior baseball team. Throughout the spring and summer, the boys played well and their overall record reflected their success.

However, towards the end of the season, the boys began a psychological downward spiral. They would criticize a teammate for making an error or would say, "I suck" after striking out. What began as one player's self-criticism, like a virus, quickly spread to others on the team. It did not take very long before "the team" began unraveling--losing a few games we should have and could have won.

As coaches and Dads, we sat the team down and warned them that if they didn't stop with their self-defeating attitudes, they would have to ride the pine. This strategy only partially worked. During the next game, the boys got a bit creative after not reaching 1st base. Instead of saying, "I suck" they changed it to, "I can't hit." How does a team change and/or modify this type of behavior from their players and sons? The solution was actually pretty simple.

We ordered 11 "5 Performance Keys for Baseball" CD's from the MentalEdgeNow.com website. One for each player. I gave each boy a CD and instructed them to listen to the disc and write down each of the 5 performance keys and hand the list back to me before they could play in the next game of the league championship tournament.

Everyone turned in their list and said the CD was good. We won the semi-final game easily and then set our sights on the championship game which was scheduled for a few days later.

In the first inning of the championship game, we found ourselves down 0-2. After 2 innings we were down 0-4. The boys battled back and tied the game at 4-4 in the 3rd. In the 4th inning, we were down again at 4-7. We battled back once more to tie the game at 7-7. In the top of the 5th, we slipped behind yet again by a run and the boys started some self-defeating negative chatter.

So, with the score at 7-8 in the bottom of the 5th, I called the team together and reminded them of the "5 Performance Keys" CD they had listened to earlier in the week. I asked them to remember what the CD said about "managing disappointment" and "mastering the control game."

As we came to bat in the bottom of the 5th with positive attitudes, they boys began quoting the CD as we scored 5 runs to take a 12-7 lead. As I sat at the other end of the bench keeping the scorebook, I could hear them say, "be intentional about here and now thinking as to not affect your opportunity," "never let yourself get too emotionally high or too emotionally low" and "keep your focus on high-impact actions." From memory they were citing portions of the "5 Performance Keys" as a means to keep the rally going.

We ended up winning the championship game by a score of 16 to 9. Great hitting, good fielding, steady pitching and the "5 Performance Keys" Baseball CD's helped us bring home the big trophy! It was a fitting end to a great season. The wonderful team memories along with learning how to better deal with disappointment are the two things that will remain with these boys for the rest of their lives. Isn't this why as parents we have our kids play sports?

Thank you Shaun for recording the 5 Performance Keys! It is like having a real Sports Psychologist in the dugout!

Dad and Coach from Minnetonka

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We appreciate your interest in the Mental Edge and thank you for taking your time to read our newsletter! Lots of cool programs are lauching at the Mental Edge and more are on the horizon...stay tuned!

We would love to hear what's on your mind...call or email us today!

Shaun and Dawn Goodsell
Shaun@MentalEdgeNow.com
Dawn@MentalEdgeNow.com