Not Knowing What We Don't Know

Okay...this is just an exercise in stating the obvious...but strangely enough I believe we kind of need to hear it...constantly.  Here's the gist of this little nugget of wisdom.  We seriously do not know poop from applesauce (quote from the cat in the movie Stuart Little) when it comes to most of the wisdom of the ages. Yes, it's true there are those trivia geniuses who will dominate on Jeopordy and kick anyone's butt in Trivial Pursuit.  But, I guarantee you they know only the surface concepts of a ton of random stuff.  I guarantee you that they wouldn't be able to give a detailed schematic on how Enrico Fermi went about developing the first nuclear reactor.  My point though, is a lot simpler than Fermi's unique genius.  Each of us is a specialist of sorts.  We each know a lot about one or two areas.  We sport psychologists, know a lot about about our field and our task, I believe, is to educate our clients in the complexities of the hard and soft science behind the resaerch and practice of sport and performance psychology.  To start with, here's a short list of what sport and performance psychology is not.  It is not a series of positive affirmations.  It is not the skill of giving good pep talks.  It is not coaching.  Sport psychology has been heavily researched for more than three decades and we are entering a new and exciting age in understanding how elite performers essentially have developed very different brains.  Their brains, as viewed on functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) machines, light up differently under stressful situations.  In fact, they function at optimal levels under the stress of competition.  Volumes have been written on this stuff.  I've personally been studying peak performance for over a decade.  Elite athletes, surgeons, people who need to maintain peak performance levels over time...do yourselves a huge favor..work with someone who will take you to levels unimagined.  The brain and the mind have the inherent power to make magic happen...peak performance is transcendant...people who have found the zone, however briefly, know this.  People who have learned how to spend most of their lives in the zone have found the key to creating optimal performance and optimal living.