Meet Our Coaches
Shaun Goodsell, M.A., Certified High Performance Coach, President/CEO of The Mental Edge, Inc.
I help athletes, business owners, business leaders, and students Master High Performance Principles so they can live daily with increased levels of clarity, energy, courage, influence, and productivity. This became my passion when I attended a personal development seminar 25 years ago. I was inspired to live my life with greater intention by learning and living the principles and practices of the highest performing people in the world. As I applied these principles and practices in my life my life was literally transformed.
Prior to this experience I struggled significantly. My confidence was at an all time low, my motivation was unstable and my vision for a better life was clouded to say the least. This was most obvious growing up as a three sport athlete struggling to overcome significant anxiety and fear. Everyday was a struggle to simply overcome deep doubts and a desire to please others with no real success. I grew so desperate that I can remember contemplating suicide. Because of the pursuit and consistent care of a number of adult mentors, I survived this!
However, I still wanted MORE!
What I didn’t realize is the MORE I wanted was MORE CLARITY, ENERGY, COURAGE, PRODUCTIVITY, and INFLUENCE. Simply stated the intentional and daily pursuit of these brought HOPE, VISION, POSSIBILITY, and maybe most importantly a CONFIDENCE that I had never experienced up until that point.The more I learned the more I became absolutely obsessed with anything that could help strengthen and reinforce these principles. I have been geeking out on these ever since.
In 1998 I committed myself to teaching and coaching others to learn and practice what I learned by launching my company, The Mental Edge. The Mental Edge has coached, trained and mentored over 900 students. We are empowering them to experience heightened and sustained levels of confidence, clarity and courage to propel them to live a life that they really could not conceive of prior to their experience. Our clients include professional athletes, sales professionals, business owners, concerned parents, and individuals desiring to improve all aspects of their lives.
Zach Van Sant, Mental Edge Coach, Bodybuilder
My purpose is to coach my clients to live a life of happiness by teaching clear, practical, and actionable strategies gained from my personal life and experience. My clients will be challenged to hold true to their convictions and live boldly in spite of opinions from others. By doing so, they will have clarity, inspiration, and freedom to fully express themselves without limitations. I found this purpose through my years of experience being a client of Shaun Goodsell. I was inspired by the way I was able to take control of my life and master the principles that I was presented.
Before my life altering mindset shift, I was a hockey player looking to make a name for myself. I was a starter on Minnetonka Varsity as freshman and captain my senior year. Following that, I played junior hockey in Bismarck, North Dakota within the North American Hockey League, where I was the first rookie captain in the history of the organization. However, it seemed that sports had set me up to look for validation from others through my performance, and subsequently, my perception of myself followed suit. Thus, after many years of being overlooked, disrespected, invalidated, I pursued other passions of mine within bodybuilding. Immediately, I found success within the bodybuilding space as I won my first show that I competed in.
My affinity within a so called, “life pivot”, set me up for a lifetime of enhanced mindfulness towards the happiness of my own life by turning my self image into self ideal through self awareness, realization, discipline, and actualization.
In turn, I resonated with the idea of helping others achieve true happiness within themselves. Therefore, I’m devoted to bringing my clients a life full of purpose, passion, clarity, and freedom to conquer every single day.
