High Performance Mindset | Learn from World-Class Leaders, Consultants, Athletes & Coaches about Mindset - 713: The Freedom to Perform with Dr. Karen MacNeill, Mental Performance Coach and Keynote Speaker

Episode Date: November 10, 2025

In today's episode, Dr. Cindra is joined by Dr. Karen MacNeill — former Team Canada athlete and world-renowned mental performance consultant who has supported Olympians, executives, and high-pressure teams across multiple Olympic Games. Karen shares what competing taught her that no textbook ever could, and takes us inside the "pressure ecosystem" of the Olympic Games — revealing what athletes, coaches, and staff need most when the lights are brightest. She and Cindra discuss practical, in-the-moment resets to stay grounded under pressure, the most common thinking traps before big moments, and the habits that transfer from sport to business… plus the ones that don't. You'll walk away with simple and powerful strategies to settle your mind, disrupt unhelpful thinking, and perform with intention when it counts — whether you're on the field, in the arena, or in the boardroom. If you want more confidence, resilience, and clarity under pressure — this episode is a must-listen. HIGH PERFORMANCE MINDSET SHOWNOTES FOR THIS EPISODE 🔹Learn more about Karen MacNeill and Her Work https://macneillperformance.com/ 🔹To Request a Free Breakthrough Call with a Mentally Strong Coach, visit: http://www.freementalbreakthroughcall.com/ 🔹To learn more about the Mentally Strong Institute, visit: https://mentallystronginstitute.com/ Love the show? Rate and review the podcast—and you might hear your name on the next episode!

In today's episode, I am joined by Dr. Karen McNeil, former Team Canada athlete and world-renowned mental performance consultant who has supported Olympians, executives, and high-pressure teams across multiple Olympic Games. Karen shares what competing taught her that no textbook ever could and takes us inside the pressure ecosystem of the Olympic Games, revealing what athletes, coaches, and staff meet most when the lights are brightest. We discuss practical in-the-moment resets to stay grounded under pressure, the most common thinking traps before big moments, and the habits that transfer from sport to business. You'll walk away with simple and powerful strategies to settle your mind,

disrupt unhelpful thinking, and perform with intention when it counts, whether you're on the field, in the arena or in the boardroom. Before we dive in today's conversation, I have exciting news. Our coaching team at the Mentally Strong Institute is growing, which means we have more capacity to support you. I truly believe everyone needs a coach. I've had a coach for over 10 years,

and I wouldn't be where I am today without that support, accountability, and mindset work. Coaching helps you get out of your own way, step into your potential and reach your goals faster. If you're ready to gain clarity, boost your confidence, and experience a breakthrough in your mindset or performance, I'd love to invite you to a free mental breakthrough coaching call. You'll walk away with more clarity, direction,

and one actionable shift to move you forward. Just go to free mental breakthrough call.com to save your spot. That's free mental breakthrough call.com. All right, let's jump into my interview with Dr. McNeil. You are going to love this one. Welcome to the High Performance Lineset podcast. I'm so excited to have Karen McNeil here today. Karen, this is your second time on the podcast.

The last time was during COVID. So I'm so excited to connect with you and catch back up. So just welcome to the show. Thanks for having me. It's great to be back. It's going to be so fun to talk about high performance and mindset and how the best thrive when it matters. most and I love your concept of freedom to reform that we'll be talking about today. So Karen,

let's just start with, you know, you've worked with Olympians over many Olympic games. And I'm just curious when the lights are the brightest. What is one thing that you do help people perform and settle and be their best when the moments matter most to them? Yeah, I think one thing that we really talk about is the readiness to withstand the pressure. So to have the assumption that they're just going to go in, show up at the games and be able to perform when the lights are bright, when the demand is on. So it's a lot about the preparatory activities. It's about the conversations we have ahead of time. It's about being really awareness of what this means to them and how they may react to the moment and then skilling them up, giving them some tools to help them

navigate and normalize the emotions that they may experience during that period. Absolutely. Can you give us an example? example of maybe a skill you might teach an Olympic athlete on how, you know, that they can use when the pressures are, they feel a little pressure. Yeah, one thing that that we talk a lot about, because that's a question I'll get. And I'm sure you get it as well. It's like, okay, Karen, this is great. I can do my breathing exercises, my mindfulness, my focus plans outside. What happens when I'm in the middle of a game? They score. And now I'm, I'm, I'm stewing a bit or I'm feeling the emotions and the intensity of it. So I use a tool comes from act, but it's drop the anchor. And so basically

what it is is it's number one, it's really being aware what's happening for me. So I had a play, I have a pro soccer team right now. They're heading into finals this upcoming weekend and talked about this with one of the athletes where they tend to go into don't mess up, don't mess up the next play. And so they'll they'll kind of come in close. So it's just that awareness. The second step is be where your feet are. Getting in your body. Take a breath. Be in this moment.

That was that moment. So just be where you are. And then the third thing is feed your focus. What's the one thing that's going to have most impact on performance right now? And it might be a breath. It might be an inner dialogue. It might be, you know, pass the ball accurately, whatever it may be for that individual. So steps, once again, is it's first of all awareness.

What's going on? for me. Number two, get in the moment, shrug your shoulders, squeeze your fingers together. And then number three, feed your focus. Feet your focus. I know that. Yeah. Feet your focus. That's right. Feed your focus. Perfect. Okay. So it's really about like getting back to the present, maybe the one thing that you need to do in the moment. Yeah. I love it. Gives you an action. Gives the brain a job, gives the body a job. So it just kind of settles. And once people get back into the actions, like, oh yeah, I got this. It's okay. Yeah. Yeah. Absolutely. Yeah, and I have this acronym in my book Beyond Grit called Pop the Pressure, which is similar, but it's like it stands for pop is like take a breath. Oh, is like what's the opportunity right now? Like what can I do right now? And then the P is like focused on the process, which is, you know, so many times when athletes are feeling pressure, they're focused on the future and right the things they could go wrong instead of, you know what? What can I do right now? How can I do my best right now?

absolutely and that critic or that fear really rears those head and so we don't want to get hooked into it we want to notice it just means that we care means you want to perform well well how do I go about doing that and you've done it a lot before so don't forget about that right so just giving them a little bit of that agency and empowerment yeah well that's awesome you know you have such a typical story because you competed at the Olympics as an athlete and then now work with Olympians and so and you know fortune 500 companies and other high performers. But I'd love for you to tell us your story of your experience at the Olympics and then how that led you to the field of sport performance psychology. Yeah. So just to clarify, I played for Team Canada for a decade and we actually did not qualify for the game. So I played in Commonwealth games.

I played in a couple of Pan Ams, Pan Am medalist, but didn't get that coveted birth. It was actually, I retired the very next year. I went as a sports psychologist, as a mental performance consultant. So that was a wild ride. Wow. Transition. But what I would say of going from the playing field to where I was, and it was really my first international match where I, like, since I was a little girl,

I wanted to be an Olympian, I wanted to play for Team Canada, finally got the opportunity. And so I'm so excited. And then we're in, we're in Holland. It was a nothing match, just a friendly competition. And there was the band playing, there was the high content. And I just felt this wave of intensity. And my heart was pounding, my mind was racing. I'd say five, six minutes on the field before I got yanked.

I was a hot mess. My first opportunity to represent my country and I blow it. And so the whole idea there is that I trained my body, train my craft. I hadn't trained my mind. And so in that moment, as I was consoling myself, never again was my mind going to be a thief of that big moment. And that's what led me on this path. Four degrees later, working in the field for almost 30 years, helping others to unlock

their full potential so they can shine in the moments that matter. Well, thanks for clarifying that. It seems the same to me. You're an elite athlete. And but the Olympian is a very small club as athletes by whole life. Right? So there is this knee to it. At the same time, yeah, I was just meant to go in this capacity, not that one, right?

Saudi U.S. shows it. Yeah, that's interesting because I have a similar story. Not that I competed for my country, but that I was a really high-level athlete in college and just kept on getting in my own way. And that's how I found the field, too, just to honestly understand myself. And that's what fuels me today. Yeah. Because it's like, I don't want people to feel similar the way that I did and didn't

have the skills and tools. Exactly. That's right. Yeah. Yeah, absolutely. So what would you say, you know, competing for Team Canada and then consulting at multiple Olympics, you can have lived on both these sides. What do you think you've learned that maybe a textbook couldn't have taught you about the mental game? Yeah, it's a really good question. And I think when you've walked in someone's shoes when you really understand what it means and what it feels like to be on that world stage, I think there's a, there's a shared experience or an ability to really see or make a make an individual feel seen and heard. An example from the mental health, I actually was doing a PhD in in psychology and then experienced about a depression myself lived in Vancouver.

it was seasonal affect disorder, but the way I understood depression and my clients was way different once I was in it. And once I'm like, oh, you can't just get out of bed. You can't just, you know, and so I think that felt, knowledge, that felt experience really creates that capacity to meet them where they're at with the caveat. And this is where I got to trouble earlier on, not making assumptions, you know, like not saying, oh, well, I know what that. like because when I, blah, blah, blah, blah, so it's really like, hey, this is what I experience. That's what's going on for you. So more using it as a tool of curiosity and joining, but also clarifying where that human is at. So I think that really what that experience gave me and just

really understanding the pressures from the inside out. Well, I think that's also a way that you can relate to the people that you work with. That it's like, you know, I've, I've experienced this as well. Maybe it's not the same, but, you know, I know how it felt at least for me. Yeah, absolutely. And I mean, I think like I went through double ACL injury in and out. And so a lot of the times with that and understanding the grief, the loss, those kind of things, whether it be a championship win or loss, you know, so I think there's just a lot of relatability that can occur when you're in those scenarios. Yeah. Absolutely. So what I'd love to hear, Karen, is what is a psychological principle or idea that's really essential to your philosophy of mental performance. Yeah, great question

again. So for me, I think where I center a lot of my work on is this whole notion, the whole concept of the freedom to perform. And I define that as your ability to bring your full self to what you do without restriction or constraint. So if we go back to that first field hockey game where I represented my country, fear, fear of not being good enough, fear of failing, created this psychological prison on me and did not allow me to bring my best that day. So around that, I think working with athletes, with leaders, with surgeons, whoever it may be, whoever the performer may be, it's really around how do we name and acknowledge what some of those, those restrictions may be, but helping them to really lean into who they are, who they are

their best, and how do they bring themselves fully no matter what the circumstance? I love that definition of freedom to perform is the ability to be your full self without restriction or constraint. And I was just thinking about, you know, my own ability to perform and, you know, my performance now as a mental performance consultant or a speech. And sometimes it's like the judgment of myself gets in the way or my perceived judgment that others have a week, especially maybe when I'm speaking, you know. Yeah, yeah. And I'm curious like, what do you see are the constraints and restrictions? What are maybe some common ones you see of high performers?

Yeah, it falls into the buckets of really what us humans want. we we want to belong you know and so any fear of abandonment of am i going to get rejected by this audience am i going to get rejected um by this leader by this team and so so that will come up for for people the fear of uncertainty can i produce i i know i have what i need but can i produce on this day right so we'll see some of those things um fear of failure and disappointing others um you know, as humans, I think we want to have impact. We want to self-actualize and bring our best when it counts the most. We are wired to avoid pain and failure is painful. We care about what other people think because back in the day when we were put into tribes, if we were shunned,

we would die. And so all this means is, you know, these are all normal and valid. And so it just means that we care. And so I've developed, I know you like your acronyms, so I've developed a care practice that allows us to cultivate that freedom to perform. Well, cool. And you know what I think is interesting about like all the 30 things you said start with fear. You said like fear of abandonment, fear of, you know, failure, fear of not meeting, you know, your own standards. You know, so that's interesting that, you know, you would say that fear is, and I agree, like, as a mental performance coach, it's like the number one roadblock or maybe inner limit I would describe, you know. And so, how do you see that manifest in performers? Yeah. And I think once again, as we know, zero to two,

two to 12, those are those formative years that that kind of bake in some of these beliefs that we have. And so, you know, once again, um, I think. think there's some of the fears, but just wanting to be significant, wanting to be worthy. And so I think some of those, when we get hooked into the need to prove and it no longer being about the performance, but about our identity or our self-worth being attached to the performance, that's where a lot of pressure can come. So once again, with that freedom piece, we want to tease those apart so that you can bring, bring your your full self. And there's a few ways that we can do this. I think number one,

whether we're dealing with fear, whatever it may be, or just really, I would say, and this is where I got the freedom piece. I heard a lot of things in our field or trying to avoid something, avoid the fear or avoid, you know, thinking negatively where I wanted us to go towards something. So let's cultivate the freedom. Let's build that. Let's unlock our full potential. And so the care practice, the four steps that I've identified, when I look at what separates the best of the best, kind of whether it's on the world stage of having gone to six Olympics or working with Fortune 500, they all share these common elements in my opinion. And I'd love actually your opinion on this. So number one, they're clear. Yeah. They know who they are, period. They work to really get to know themselves. They also know who they are at their best. And so clarity comes conviction. It drives intent and leads to consistent actions.

So the C would be they get really clear. So that's the first step. Number two, they're aware. They know about the fears and worries that hold them back. You even said, yep, sometimes I get my own way and I get overthinking. You're aware of that, right? they know how they react under pressure and stress and they have the tools to regulate that. So that would be the second piece, which is aware.

The third piece is they're ready. They are whipped with the tools, the skills, the awareness, the insight to withstand the pressure. So it's like if I'm going into a snowstorm, I'm going to put on my tube, as we call it in Canada, my mitts, I'm going to put on my coat, and then I'm ready for the elements. same with any pressure situation or demanding situation where I'm going to skill myself up with all these great mental fitness and resilience tools before I even get to that scenario. And then, so that's the R ready. And then the E is execute, which is all about fully immersing yourself in the present moment

going with what is versus how you want it to be. A lot of the time we get trapped in, um, you know, the game's supposed to go this way or I'm supposed to be feeling this way, well, you're not. And so it's a matter of just accepting what's going on, but then feeding your focus in terms of how you want to show up and fully immerse in that moment. I love that. So clear is the C, A is the where.

R is ready and E is execute. And I mean, I think of, you know, the athletes and performers I work with, they definitely know who they are. they definitely know who they are at their best. They are aware they can check in with themselves and they have the skills to be able to regulate themselves. I go back to like Ken Riva is a stoplight idea, right? When they're in their yellow light, they can move to their green light

and they know how to, you know, be able to regulate themselves and execute. Stay more about them. I'm just thinking about a team I'm working with right now when you said like accept what is. of like what you what you want it to be. How do you think we can do that? Because I think our own expectations can be a barrier to perform. And sometimes we expect, you know, expect maybe a certain outcome at the Olympics or I'm

thinking about some of the USA track and field athletes I worked with as well. You know, they wind of expected to get in the top three and then with things I go playing perfectly. You know, it's difficult to like manage those expectations. So tell us where I'm out, what you see there. Yeah, it's a great question. And something that I read this amazing book and recommended to all our listeners, it's called Deep Survival, Who Lives, Who Dies, and Why?

And it's written by a fellow last name, Gonzales. And he chronic those survival stories. And really, the main tenon is those that transcend their circumstances, all adapted to the current context. So, for example, he had a story of a Navy SEALs who had, every survival skill in the book, but thought he was lost in the mountains, thought he was on a different mountaintop, and he almost perished because his mind did not track to where he was. You know, there was kids who were in a plane wreck, and they were the best at just being in the

moment and going with what the circumstance is in front of us. So if we go back to our teams, and once again, I have a team going into the finals this weekend. and it's partly doing some scenario planning. It's looking at the other team goes up first. We go up first. There's a red card. You know, things get get to audit. What are some of the things?

How may you react to it? And how do we need to be type of thing? So we have a bit of sub contingency looking at the context and more what does the context demand from me? In order for me to rise in this situation, what does it demand? So we have who are who we are at our best. You add pressure. You add stress.

That changes the internal climate, which can direct external behaviors in ways that are more aligned with soothing us than being performance focused, if that makes sense. Yeah, it does. And I think about Dan Gould's research who looked at Olympians and those who had a contingency plan who were ready for anything who had thought through, like maybe things that didn't go. perfect and then their response and their reaction, they performed better at the Olympics because maybe they weren't expecting things to be perfect, but they had a plan. I think that's what you're talking about related to scenario planning, right? Would that be the kind of similar? I think so. And I think also in that research, it's been interesting because some athletes are like, why am I looking at all the things that can go wrong, you know? And so that's why we kind of talk about

scenario of Navy SEALs do it, a lot of the best. And what you're doing is, A, you're creating a sense of familiarity in the brain. Oh yeah, we've been here before. Okay, so I'm not going to panic. The second thing you're doing is, you know, when we are activated, even when we are under duress, the thinking brain goes offline. And so we're not going to grab that good thinking stuff. We're not going to be able to problem solve as well as when things are calm. And so we're giving ourselves a few reps and giving ourselves some scenarios. But then in the moment, the plan's not going to be It isn't going to fit exactly right. So then that's where you use yourself as the tool.

And that's where you get to problem solving. And you get to say, actually, I get to be creative here. And this is what I'm going to do, but you're grounded in a few things to get you started. Yeah, that's awesome. Hi, this is Cindera Campoff. And thanks for listening to the high performance mindset. Did you know that the ideas we share in the show are things we actually specialize in implementing? If you want to become mentally stronger, lead your team more effectively.

and get to your goals quicker. Visit free mental breakthrough call.com to sign up for your free mental breakthrough call with one of our certified coaches. Again, that's free mental breakthrough call.com to sign up for your free call. Talk to you soon. You know, I had someone asked me today, how long every day should people practice the mental game or like how much time should they set aside to practice the mental? game every day. I'm curious what your answer to that is. Then I'll share the answer I gave to this

reporter. What comes up for me, it's a great question because like, well, people want a formula. The internal world, it's not linear. And so what I must say to that is partly, you know, it's a matter of, there is some science around, you know, six to 15 minutes mindfulness a day after eight week period's going to get lead to these outcomes. There's some stuff like that, but I really would invite my individuals. What do you need in that moment? What is your body telling you that you need? Yeah.

And then it's a matter of upgoing about and doing that. And then I think, like for me, I have a 10 to 15 minute practice every morning. And then throughout the day I determine, okay, I need a little bit more of this or I need a little bit more of that. for my athletes it's it's kind of looking at what we have coming up and once again with that readiness it's almost i think i mentioned this on six years ago in the podcast but it's the same that mental fitness golf bank right like i'm not going to go around the the course um with just a putter it's not going to be effective so i want to make sure i'm skilled up once i have the clubs in

my bag how i use them once again is going to depend on the need so so it depends on i'd say it depends on where the individual is at in terms of how much time. Maybe they need to do a little bit more development in the front end. And then as they get into it, once they're equipped with everything, maybe it's just some maintenance that they might want to consider. Yeah, that's awesome. Well, what I said, and I was like, this morning, I was like, is that actually what I really wanted to say.

But what I did say is that practicing the mental game is like throughout your day. And it's about how like you respond to circumstances. How do you respond to setbacks? you know are you catching yourself when you're ruminating or overthinking or being really harsh and critical of yourself so i said you know and i i'm thinking about this um applied sports psychology textbook that says you know 15 minutes a day i'm actually you can imagine the page it's on you know yeah but i i describe that like the mental game is more about like how you're responding throughout your day how are you a practice and you know what are you thinking about what are you feeling and how are you, you know, working to be at your best, regulating yourself and

understanding yourself. I think that's great. And I kind of talk about it in the same language of getting reps, you know, when when life gives us an opportunity to get a rep, you know, like whether it's a challenging situation or whether, you know, it's an opportunity to build confidence, you know, you get that rep. So I think it's similar to, you know, what are the needs in the moment and what do you need to do? But it is, it's kind of a continuous person. process. I think once again, I don't know about you, but I have a few clients that really like plans. They like challenger. And so, okay, 10 to 15 minutes a day, where you want to put that and then get your reps as thing comes up for you. Right. So I think it all depends on that. Yeah.

That's great. Well, when you think about like in the moment strategies, and I know you often talk about like being your best when it counts. And I heard you even say that a few times a day so far. What would you say are like your top in the moment resets, you know, that you might teach a performer. And then, you know, what's your opinion on which one they should choose when? Yeah. So I think with the in the moment, once again, I like to match the intervention with what's happening. Similar to the mental fitness golf bag, I'm not going to use a putter off, you know, to drive off off the tea. I'm going to use a driver. And so if someone is distressed and their physiology is acting up and their shortness of breath, then we'll go into an intervention. The in the moment is, you know, breathing is always a

good conduit, whether it's that psychological or physiological sigh, which it's the double breath in and then exhale fully and deeply, that can kick in that parasympathetic system. So it kind of calms the system. So I'll give them that. If it's, um, the critical, in there that's, you know, being disruptive and being destructive, then we'll use a self-talk tool or the inner coach I like to call it in terms of what do we need to tell the critic in this moment and how do we want to show up? If it's a distraction thing, then I'll use the focus club. So, you know, once again, at the moment, what I like to do is kind of give them an arsenal of tools and for them to really say, what do I need? And then it just empowers though, because they feel in control

because they're like, oh, I can use this one. I can use this one. I can use this one. Bring it on versus I am out of control here and I don't know what to do. Yeah. Yeah, I love that. It's similar to how I talk about it. I don't necessarily call it a golf bag, but it's like a mental toolkit, right? And you have all these tools you can use. If like, if the breath doesn't work for you, you have something else. And say more, Karen, when you said about two breaths in double breath. Oh, I didn't tell me more about that. I don't know. Yeah, so the physiological sigh, I think it's called, and I don't know whose it is.

I know Huberman Lab was talking about it. And if anyone Googles physiological sigh, they'll take you through it. But basically, okay, you and all our listeners, what we're going to do is we're going to take a deep breath in. Just take a breath in. Now take another sip of air in. Oh, nice. Exhale as fully as you can.

And it's almost like back in the day when we're running back to the cave and we're like, and we exhale fully, it tells our brain that we're safe. So it's going to kick in that parasympathetic system. So that's just a quick. And there's some science around it suggesting that it's a quick way to kick in the calming system in the body. And yeah, so I'll use that or the deep belly breath. You know, we all know that guy.

If our mind is racing, do a ratio breath where you can count in for six, bold for two, eight for out. So there's an arsenal of those physiological ones. Yeah. Yeah, that's awesome. That's awesome. That's super helpful as people are listening. And, you know, as we've been talking quite a bit about athletes so far,

but obviously we know that the mental game isn't just for athletes. And you do a lot of keynote speaking where you talk about freedom to perform. So I'm curious, like, you know, you do a good job of like bridging elite. to of Fortune 500 leadership. What do you think are the performance habits that really transfer perfectly? And do you think there are any that don't? I think, you know, what I find in the,

in the organizational space. So, right, I do a bunch of speaking, and it's a matter of, you know, how do people unlock their full potential? So giving them some of these principles and the care practice. And then I do a lot of performance coaching are working with leadership teams in organizations.

And I think what everyone can relate to is pressure, is constant stream of demands, is, you know, being able to recover and regulate the stress and pressure and manage the fatigue. And I think the one big difference that I've found is in sport, you're working towards this World Cup, you're working towards this game, this championship, in organization, it's a marathon.

It doesn't end. Does it end. And yes, there's some big projects you're working to. And so to really give them some energy management practices, some high performance recovery practices to go along with the other tools. So for example, with a leader, I just had a meeting last week. And really we're going at, you know, what is high performance leadership? You know, how do you know if you're operating a lot?

as a high-performance leader, getting clear, giving them some skills around pressure moments and how to show up as their best. Really, it's the energy management plan because there's a bit of burnout happening or teetering on that. So really, the mental recovery is such an important element on the high-performance pathway because it just allows us to have that stress buffer and tolerate that stress a little bit more as well. So I'd see that's up. What I talk about with these teams is they want to, they want their people to excel, but also be able. Right? So we're, yeah, excel, be well.

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And I think what's interesting is like a high performing athlete, they know they have to take good care of their body because their body is like their vehicle and what allows them to perform their best. And sometimes I think that high performing leaders or executives, you know, that they get in the grind and they don't, they don't care for their body and their mind because they're so busy

or they're not prioritizing, you know, things that they should be, or they're trying to balance work and family and kids and parents that maybe are sick, right? Yeah, that's exactly it. And I think it's just another thing that's going to demand their time. And so I think it's helping them with the planning and the strategy on how we trim it in. And so, you know, it might not be the luxury that athletes have because this is their full-time job, but it's how do we plan it in our day? So for example, I had one leader where we're parking 20 blocks away. So we get a good 20 minute walk in the morning and the 20 mark at night. And so it's

part of the day. It's not an added extra kind of thing. And yes, we got to, you know, get up a little bit earlier, but not too much. So how do you drip it in so that it's not an added extra all the time? Yeah. Yeah, I love that. What a great example. Are there any time? Are there any time? time management or energy management principles that you think are really important that you want to share with everyone who's listening? So when I'm making it, I almost call it your psychological hygiene or your psychological or your mental fitness recovery plan. And so the really four pillars that I work with is number one, the physical bucket. So like our mama said, we need to eat, sleep, and nap.

A hour, sorry, and play, right? So, okay. It's, it's, we need to make sure that we're, we're just having a bit of a plan around our nutrition. Like for me, athletic greens, I take absolutely every morning. So if I'm traveling, I know I'm getting my douse of nutrients that I need for the day, right? So that's just an example and the sleep and then just the moving or play for that matter. The second bucket is mental fitness tools, daily mental fitness tools back to that,

that question we had before. So just dripping that in. So whether it's moment of mindfulness, whether it's some journaling to get a sense of where you're at, whether it's some gratitude just to remind you of what's good in your life, right? So dripping in mental fitness tools, the third bucket is your connection plan. And this is, we know when we feel supported, when we feel connected, we feel safe. And we also get a little drop of that oxytocin, that cuddle chemical. And that's going to be that feel good.

So it's kind of putting a, and I put this in a two-week plan because if we put it open-ended, it can seem too arduous. But who are those people that you really want to connect to? And who are you actually going to cut out in these next two weeks that may draw energy? And then lastly, it's the passion, purpose and, yeah, your passion and purpose bucket, which really is around, when's my fun meter the highest? I love skiing with my buddies. I love mountain biking.

When I go do two-hour rip with my my girlfriends, I am recharged and ready to go. And then so also, oh, passion purpose and novelty. What is one thing I'm going to do that's completely different? Like when I was in Japan Olympics, I was in Olympic Village jail. We weren't allowed to leave the village. So you were there for three weeks. So every day I'd find something novel. I'm going to go to the China building.

Oh, there's Yao Ming. Let's get a selfie. you know so it's just and that was kind of a cool thing for the day and it just gave me that dose of energy so so i would do it in those four buckets create a bit of a plan if all those four seem overwhelming pick one start in one area and and just see what you can do for the week cool so physical mental connection and then national purpose and novelty yeah action purpose and novelty. I love it. And when you were just kind of talking about being at the Olympics for three weeks straight, tell us a little bit about like, you know, what that's like for you as the

consultant, because you have to be on demand and be ready for you to help the athletes, but also you have to take care of yourself, but you're there really to support others. So just paint us a picture what that's like for you. Yeah, really great question. And it's good to bridge it off of what I just described. And I would say my first Olympic Games was in 2002. And I was a rookie in so many different ways. And I didn't know how important doing the work on yourself was. And so that was a lessons learn games. I don't think I did any harm, but I definitely came out with a bunch of lessons. And, you know, fast forward to the 2018 games, I know prior to that, I did an eight-week course in mindfulness just before I went because I just wanted to dull down

in getting myself regulated. I had a fitness trainer and had a bit of a fitness plan. And athletic greens every day and then I had my connection plan with my family. And so I think before going in, I did a bunch of things and then during the time is not yours. You don't know what it's going to need in that moment. And so you've got to carve it out. So I would stop and get off the bus a stop before and I'd walk to make sure I got those steps in or I'd do a mindful walk to the dining hall or I'd find a quiet little space and just put in my music just to recharge. So, so I think it's a lot of different plans and then just having my games buddies so that I have people that understand what's going on that I can kind of offload. And then of course,

your friends and family back home to make sure that you, you get that. So it definitely is cool. asserted action plan and effort when I did not do it. Yeah, I was, I was drained. I got sick, you know, all those things. So I'm very disciplined, if you like, on my own, getting, making sure that I'm, I'm ready. And also, as a performance side, what does good look like for me? If I'm performing at my best, what are those key elements and how do I want to show up? And then I'll monitor myself throughout the week just to make sure I'm on track. That's awesome. It sounds like you were using your own mental fitness recovery plan, a physical, mental connection, and then passion, purpose, novelty. So you were following your own advice. Yeah, yeah. Funny when that happens, eh? I know what I would do that. Do you know sometimes when you know and you're like, like, what's your profession? You know, like it's like you wish, but sometimes we just need that dose of awareness, right? Yeah. And we're not perfect either. You know what I mean?

You know, our audience hears a lot about this idea of confidence. And we just conducted a confidence study. I think you were in my talk at Ask the Association for Applied Sportsicably, and I talked about it a little bit. But I would love to hear your definition of confidence and how do you think we can train our confidence? Mm-hmm. Yeah.

To me, confidence is that unshakable inner belief that you, you can achieve the goal in front of you, right? So to me, it's kind of the difference between hoping you can and nobody. Yeah. Yeah. So you just have this in your gut. You're like, yes, I got this. In terms of how we traded, I just did a bit of an exercise. And, you know, we know of Banjura's work and the source of the confidence. So past experience, we're going to look back to, excuse me, what is the evidence? What gives me the right to be able to say when I got this, right? So we're going to go into and we're going to look at all those different things in terms of what I have. And I think, you know, and there's other sources for Benjura, but I think for me, one exercise that I like to use,

I use a variety, but one thing I did actually just yesterday getting this team ready is, first of all, looking at, okay, for us to perform in this context, what does the winning team need to win the championship game what do you need well we need talent we need tactics we need you know emotional regulate whatever and they just name it all just so there's no surprises it's like yeah it actually isn't anything more than what we do then we look at what do we have and that's where we really look at what are superpowers what is you yeah us what are what are what are some of the the the elements that actually will help us adapt to this situation. And then basically, because a lot of the time, you have everything that you need within you. And then the last step to it is, given this

context, what will we use? So that gives you that agency, that gives you that empowerment. It's like, you know what? We're going to double click. We're going to double down on these superpowers because this team reacts in this way and this will really help us. us. So it's kind of framing it in terms of, first of all, equalizing, we don't need to be more than we are. We have everything. Yeah. Really highlighting the superpowers in terms of where you're at, and then giving that agency and empowerment and really specializing, what are we going to use? So that's one I find where people kind of think, oh, yeah, okay, we've got this. So that's just a little bit of a tool I'll use sometimes. I love that. I love that. And I think you're right. Like when I

When I heard you say past experiences and performances, many times athletes, we forget our successes, especially we've had a step back. Or even, you know, as professionals, we forget what has brought us here because of our negativity bias, right? We're more likely to think about what's wrong or what's missing or what we don't have instead of like taking a step back and look at where we've come from. And I love the idea of the superpowers because it's like everyone is unique and has unique skills and knowledge and gifts and dreams. And it's, again, that comparison culture can get in our way as well. That's right. And really the Pareto principle, which suggests that, you know, like 80% of the peas come from 20% of the pods, meaning you're going to get way more out of your strength than you are a weakness.

So double down on that. And that's going to actually have more impact on performance outcomes. Right. So we're like, oh, but what if I'm not so good at that? Well, it doesn't actually really matter if you're really using this, then that's actually going to trump everything and that's going to carry over the line. Yeah. Love it. Love it. Okay. So I have some rapid fire questions here as we close. What is a tool that you've retired? Like maybe you've used before, but you're just like, you know, that really isn't the goal. Goal setting. Goal setting. Oh, how nice to hear about that? Yeah, I mean, I think back in the day and the smart goals and setting intention, being clear on how you want to show up, you know, kind of creating a roadmap, a performance plan. Yes, those things will be in there. But I think when I started and years ago, like maybe 30, goal setting, here's my goal setting sheet and this is what you do. And it just doesn't land for people. I think it can kind of sometimes put people in boxes, Versus when they have more of a pathway, it creates more room and more flexibility. And I also find that when people talk about goal setting,

particularly athletes, they go to the outcome goal instead of, you know, like, and then that creates so much pressure and anxiety to you leave it feels like it's far away, right? So. To me, not using it, but just in a different way. Like, it's like, more about the process or more around performance plans. I just language are different. But I think goal setting gets a bad rap with some of the athletes now. Yeah.

Yeah, yeah, that's super interesting. What's the best advice you've ever received? Yeah, what is the best advice I have ever received? I think it's, it's, you know, it really comes down to, like, be authentic, show up as yourself, you know, it's trust you. And I think that's the thing. When I'm always searching outside of myself where all the great mentors, all the humans around me, they tell me to go inside myself. The answers are there. So I think that's where I really lean on that because I'm a definite, what's the podcast? What's the book? I always look to all these experts where it's actually it's within me, right? I have all. Yeah, that's cool. Yeah. And I think that's such a great advice for

people who maybe are new to the field too. I think when I started, I like tried to be like someone else and like it took me a while to embrace my passion and my energy and just like show up as in my authentic self you know like that to me has been a practice that I've had to work on absolutely absolutely yeah okay all right last question here what is your favorite mental performance tool or strategy and why I think we're going to have to go with mindfulness you know it's the low hanging fruit of mental performance I think there's so many benefits from it the ability to deep awareness of this present moment in an open and curious way, the practice of it. Yeah, I think it's just, you know, if any human I'm working with, I do a four-week program of it,

and I just see multiple benefits for it. So that would probably be one. And then now the accessibility of it with the call map or headspace or all those kind of things, it's really an easy one to train. And I think there's just so many benefits from emotional regulation, focus. you know, our relationships, how we react in the moment to things. So yeah, I think that would be one of my favorites. That's awesome. And if people aren't really sure what that is, it's like I like John Cabotson's definition of it is like being in the present moment non-judgmentally as if

your life depended on it, right? So you're in the present. Tell us a bit more about that four-week program. That sounds really cool. Yeah. And so a lot of the, I don't know why I like rhyming, but mindfulness may. And so I'll just give them a set of, of exercises. And once again, I'll use, I don't need to reinvent the wheel, but whether you get a, you get a free month pass for calm if you sign up won't so I can send people to that. So I'll pick different packs within that, depending on what they're dealing with. And, but it just gives them a bit of a challenge that will track how many mindfulness minutes will drip it into their daily lives. So mindful eating, mindful walking, mindful music listening, whatever it may be. So depending on the scenario of

this situation, I'll create a week and I'll just create a very simple program, but a daily program that they can easily drip in and we'll kind of do a bit of a pre, give them some questions before and ratings and then posts, how do they feel after? And we can kind of see some movement in different areas, depending on what the goal is for the individual. I love that. Well, great, great idea. And hopefully as people are listening, they were thinking about themselves too and how can we practice mindfulness more often. Karen, tell us how people, can find more about you as a speaker, mental performance coach, and just kind of give us the low down there where people can follow you. Yeah, thanks. So McNeil, performance consulting, I can punch over to

my website. I think it has all the information and how to contact me and book me as a speaker. LinkedIn is also a good one under Karen McNeil. I'm hopeless on social. I thought it get better, but maybe Instagram, you'll see a post perhaps, but I'm pretty hopeless on it. But yeah, those two, those two means would be a good way to find me. Amazing. Well, Karen, I loved everything that you said today. I loved when we were talking about like what gets in the way of the freedom before, which is really the ability to be your first full self without restriction or constraint. And you talked about like fear is one of the things that get in our way.

I love your care acronym, which is clear, aware, ready, and execute, which helps you be freedom to perform. We talked about scenario planning. We talked about working through adapting in the circumstances, and I love the book that you suggested, deep survival. And then at the end, we were talking about breathing, as well as like the physiological or the psychological mental fitness recovery plan. So thank you so much for being here.

It was so fun to reconnect and to see you in Montreal a couple of weeks ago. So thanks for crushing it today. sharing your wisdom with us. Yeah, thanks so much for having me back. It was a blast to see you again. Way to go for finishing another episode of the high performance mindset. I'm giving you a virtual fist pump. Holy cow, did that go by way too fast for anyone else? If you want more, remember to subscribe, and you can head over to Dr. Sindra for show notes and enjoy my exclusive community for high performers, where you get access to videos about mindset each week. So again, you can add over to Dr. Sindra. That's D.R.

c-I-N-B-R-A dot com. See you next week.