How Athletes Can Effectively Manage Uncertainty — Insights from Mental Skills Coach Shaun Goodsell

In the world of sports, uncertainty is a given. Whether it’s the unpredictability of an opponent’s game plan, the possibility of injury, or the looming unknowns of season performance, uncertainty can cast a long shadow over even the most confident athlete. As a Mental Skills Coach, I have spent years guiding athletes on how to navigate this challenge. My approach emphasizes cultivating mental resilience, staying grounded in controllable factors, and using uncertainty as a tool for growth rather than fear.

1. Accepting Uncertainty as a Constant

Athletes often face resistance to uncertainty because it brings discomfort and, sometimes, fear. I advise athletes to shift their mindset to accept uncertainty as an inherent part of competition and life. When athletes embrace uncertainty as normal, they reduce the urge to control every aspect of performance, which can lead to...

Learning to Earn Your Playing Time: A Mindset Shift in Competitive Sports

In competitive sports, there comes a time when simply showing up is no longer enough to guarantee playing time. Earning your playing time becomes the new reality, a concept that challenges athletes to take ownership of their growth, performance, and mental strength. Yet, for those accustomed to always being in the starting lineup, adjusting to this shift can be tough. Inspired by my teachings on mental toughness and resilience, let’s explore why learning to earn your playing time is a transformative experience that every athlete can benefit from.

The Comfort Zone of “Guaranteed” Playing Time

For many athletes, especially those who have always been among the best on their team, playing time may have felt like an unspoken right. This can create a “comfort zone” where the athlete expects their place on the ice/field/court regardless of their performance, effort, or attitude. However,...

The Hidden Damage of Always Winning: A Mental Skills Perspective

Winning is something we all strive for, whether in sports, business, or personal growth. After all, success brings accolades, recognition, and a sense of accomplishment. But what if the pursuit of winning becomes an unhealthy obsession? What if always winning does more harm than good, especially when viewed through the lens of mental skills development? Let’s explore the hidden damage of always winning.

The Illusion of Mastery

In life, we often equate success with mastery, assuming that consistent winning means we’ve reached the pinnacle of our abilities. However, I’d like to remind us that true mastery doesn’t come from easy wins. Instead, it comes from pushing through adversity, embracing failure, and enduring challenges that stretch our mental and emotional limits. Winning too often—or too easily—can create an illusion of mastery, leading us to believe we’ve arrived when, in...

Today, on the Hockey Journey Podcast we have a truly inspiring guest, Kelsey King, a former Division I hockey player turned Mental Performance Coach. Kelsey knows firsthand the challenges student athletes face on and off the ice—having played five years of college hockey, set records at Minnesota State, won a National Championship at Ohio State, and represented the USA Women's National Team. But it's her personal journey through struggles with confidence, mental health, and identity that sets her apart. Kelsey now uses these experiences to empower hockey players and athletes to break through their limitations, sharing powerful strategies for mental toughness and personal growth. One of the most enjoyable episode's I've ever recorded. Inspiring journey, lot's of learning nuggets and to top it off, she's an amazing human being. I know you're going to love this one :) Thanks for stopping by and enjoy this diamond in the rough episode!!

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Mental Skills: Unlocking Peak Performance through Shaun Goodsell’s Approach

In the world of competitive sports, athletes constantly search for ways to improve their physical skills, push their limits, and achieve peak performance. Yet, often, the invisible, internal battle taking place within the mind is the deciding factor between success and failure. I am Shaun Goodsell, a highly respected mental performance coach, and I have dedicated my career to helping athletes sharpen their mental skills, emphasizing the importance of emotional resilience, mental focus, and self-mastery in unlocking their true potential.

My approach is rooted in the belief that success in any sport is not merely the result of physical ability, but a product of the mind’s power to influence outcomes. Let’s explore the key themes that athletes can adopt to strengthen their mental game and thrive under pressure.

1. Emotional Resilience: Turning Setbacks into Growth

One of the...

What does it mean to believe in somebody?

There are many athletes pursuing some kind of dream. This dream could be to go to college and play their sport, move on to play professionally, and finally, get paid to do something they love.

For those of us that work with athletes on a regular basis, how do we communicate a credible, helpful belief in the people we work with without enabling a delusion that can be destructive for years to come?

There seems to be a prevalent idea that says,

“To believe in somebody you have to go along with THEIR ideas regardless of if there is any reliable, tangible, ongoing information to base that belief on.”

Who of us would place our trust in someone that has shown zero evidence of tangible information in the area of hope?

Have we become so disconnected from quality impact on those we love that we have resorted to blind trust? Why do we engage in this? We do it because we are afraid of crushing the spirits of those we love. In essence, we...

As I shared in past writings, gaining an edge on the competition can take on many points of focus. One can improve their strength, agility, skills, and speed. However, one of the skill sets that often gets overlooked is that of the MIND. I realize that the reason is often a lack of understanding of what it means, along with some MYTHS that cloud one's understanding keeping them at a distance from the experience. I am writing about some myths because if that is the reason why you have not pursued this work I want to attempt to take away that barrier.

Myth 3:  Doing MENTAL SKILLS work will be boring, painful, and a waste. I can do this on my own by just trying harder and being more positive.

If you talk to the people I work with, you will find that some started with this very thought. It was not too long before their Mental Skills work became their absolute FAVORITE part of training. It was INSPIRING, INSIGHTFUL, ENCOURAGING, HELPFUL, and maybe most importantly, SO BENEFICIAL!

...

Myths are beliefs that guide our thinking and behavior that may contain partial truth while also containing misguided information.

When I was growing up my mom would tell me I could not go swimming after dinner because I would drown from immediate cramping. For many years I thought that eating and swimming were dangerous only to find out that it was not true. I could now eat and the jump in the water! FREEDOM.

I suspect that we all have hooked our wagons to mythical beliefs only to uncover or find out the error of our ways. When myths are uncovered, it is because a NEW TRUTH that dispels that myth is learned or discovered through experience. My purpose for writing about myths and mental skills training is to bring new and fresh information to you in a manner that helps open up new roads of understanding. When this happens, you just may uncover something that could help you reach new heights of living and performance.

Myth 1: You have to be struggling to benefit from mental skills...

One evening I got a call from a young athlete that had tried out for a specific team, and he was struggling to understand why he did not make the team. With great frustration and anger, he detailed for me all the work he did and how angry he was that the work did not seem to make a difference. As is often the case, I dug a bit deeper to understand what was truly fueling his intensity. He went on to describe how many of his friends would be on the team and how sad he was to miss out on those experiences. I replied; “Is there anything else that is hard for you?” He then said; “I know my dad is really disappointed in me. He told me that I needed to work harder to keep improving rather than play video games.”

I have had this type of conversation too many times to count.

Tryouts bring with them fear, anxiety, anger, frustration, joy, relief, and uncertainty.

This blog is not designed to be about the fairness, or lack of it in youth sports, although there might be...

Some months ago I was talking with a young athlete, and I asked him how things were going for him. His response was, “I DONT KNOW.” To most people this response would be a dead end and the conversation would have moved on to something else.

Not this time!

I continued to explore with him what “not knowing” meant. My next question was, “Does 'I don’t know' mean you don’t know how to describe how it is going?" With immediate tears, he said, “YES.”

This experience opened my eyes to the reality that many young athletes are living with deep disappointment, discouragement, and despair without the words to describe their reality. This has emerged as a trend as I have worked individually with young athletes. Much of their experience leaves them confused, frustrated, and without direction.

Recently, I spoke to a young athlete that expressed to me his deep desire to succeed, but with frustration and anger he said, “I have no idea what...