How Do We Change?

This question is a topic iBELIEVE focuses on everyday. That's why we were excited to receive an invitation to attend a conference at Yale University asking the same question. The conference is a combination of the country's top minds in medicine, psychology, law and philosophy.

The purpose of the conference is to examine how "human beings can act both habitually and reflectively, both automatically and in a controlled fashion. How can we harness these two components to increase well-being? How do we change maladaptive patterns of response? What enables us to choose better strategies for momentary regulation of emotion and action, and what enables us to sustain these changes over time? How do we break habits and act in accordance with our long-term goals?" These are exactly the types of issues we address in our educational programs and mental training sessions.

Stanford Psychologist James Gross kicked-off by eloquently discussing his modal model of emotion (Situation-Attention-Appraisal-Response). Regulating emotions is essential in long-term, sustainable change. This was a highlight for me as I referenced much of this work when I was a researcher at NIH. Another highlight was listening to esteemed philosopher Richard Holton speak with no formal presentation about finding space for an addict's self control. "Either addictive behavior is freely chosen, and addicts are free to resist and hence responsible. Or it is the result of a pathology, and they are not free to resist and hence not responsible." It was really cool to hear a philosopher discuss free will, self control and decision making.

Day 1 ended with Dr. Roy Baumeister who has published over 200 peer reviewed articles and 30 books on self-esteem, will-power, and ego. His most recent research results suggest that self-regulation (will-power) is in fact a limited resource.

We believe this conference is the beginning of something really great! Looking forward to Day 2

iBELIEVE Meets with Leaders at the University of Bridgeport

It has been one week since iBELIEVE traveled down to the University of Bridgeport. Little did we know we would be transformed after working with such incredible student leaders. Over the course of the last four years, we have had memorable experiences while presenting our workshops and educational programs all across this country. This was one for the books. Working with the enthusiastic and intellectual student leaders was an absolute pleasure! We are hopeful for another opportunity to engage in purposeful pauses, intentional actions, and mindful reactions with the UB student leaders. Thanks for your critical thinking and engaged participation!

Jonathan Kroll is an educator at Emerson College in Boston and is currently pursuing his Ph.D.

iBELIEVE Works with QU Men’s Soccer

Most say that Sunday is a day of rest. It should be a day that is typically spent, mentally, physically, and emotionally as far away from work as possible. A day that should be reserved for ‘YOU’. Doing only what you are passionate about and. Doing what you want to do, when you want to and at the pace that you want to. It’s a day that should be filled with no thoughts of suits, ties, deadlines and emails. It’s a perfect day to settle in at home and spend time with loved ones.

So with the 10th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks in the thoughts and hearts of everyone across the country, the start of the NFL season getting kicked off and the northeast air beginning to feel like fall, this past Sunday should have epitomized that Day of rest (and passions). Thankfully the iBELIEVE team does a great job of blurring the distinction between work and passion. We had the opportunity to work with the Quinnipiac Men's soccer team in Hamden, CT. So on Saturday night, 3 members of the team set our alarms for 5am to make the trek towards Connecticut to make some changes at QU. With 2 of the 3 members being QU alum and the third member (me) having attended school right around the corner at Sacred Heart University we were all excited about getting back to our roots.

After coming off 3 straight loses the QU soccer players seemed anxious to work on training the mental game. We spent 90 minutes clarifying the team's vision for this season and the future. This vision is not what they want to DO (we know and they know that what they want to do is win), we wanted to know what they want to BE as a collective group. We also spent time clarifying ideas of mental resiliency on and off the field. The group was fun to work with and seem to mesh very well together despite their diverse backgrounds. We look forward to the next training session in a few weeks.
In summary, the day was a success. As usual, the iBELIEVE team learned just as much as our participants in a day filled with purposeful pauses, intentional action, mindful reaction, house building, vision creating and attitude adjusting. We are thankful for the opportunity to work with these student-athletes and are inspired by their optimism.

To all those in favor of reserving Sunday for all that you are passionate about. I believe we did...
Until the next time, Stay believing!

Pete Athans is a strength and conditioning coach at West Point Military Academy and the director for Athletics programs for iBELIEVE. He received his masters degree in Sports Psychology from Boston University.

iBELIEVE Gives Keynote Address at A.L.E. Conference

From Sunday, July 10 – Tuesday, July 12 the iBELIEVE Team traveled out west to Denver, CO. This trip marked the furthest iBELIEVE has been out west in the USA. The trip was also the first time iBELIEVE ever participated and presented at the Association of Leadership Educators (A.L.E.) conference. The iBELIEVE Team attended a number of research poster presentations, round-table discussions, leadership presentations, and networking opportunities throughout the entire conference. During Tuesday’s luncheon, iBELIEVE Team Members Dan McCaffrey, Jon Kroll, and Drew Chin gave the keynote presentation to educate attendees about iBELIEVE’s history, teaching methods, and upcoming programs. A number of valuable contacts were gained from the A.L.E. Conference and iBELIEVE looks forward to participate in future A.L.E. Conferences. A special thank you to Nicole Stedman, A.L.E. President, for introducing us to this wonderful organization.

iB-LIEVE Visits Nicaragua: With Great Power Comes Great Responsibility

Jon Kroll shares with us about his time in Nicaragua.

Six years ago, after graduating with my master’s degree, I created an opportunity to volunteer in Leon, Nicaragua. Needless to say, the six-month experience was transformative. Because of the impact it has had on my life, I have gone back every year since to provide leadership development programs. For each of the trips, I’ve developed and presented leadership development programs that aim at unearthing misconceptions about leadership and providing tools to enhance leadership capabilities.

For my most recent visit, I delivered programs that focused on the Three C’s – clarity, connection, and compassion. Although I was seen as the educator, there was plenty for me to learn. The most glaring lesson for me was that with great power comes great responsibility. ‘Great power’, in this instance is synonymous with ‘great privilege’. Out of the ten days spent in Leon, Chinandega, and Jinotega, eight of which were filled with leadership development programs. I had the opportunity to work with high school students, university students, educators, business professionals, and others who are interested and invested in creating positive change.

For context, Nicaragua is the second poorest country in this hemisphere. People live in abject poverty and in a systemic culture of corruption. Needless to say, there are scarce opportunities for experiencing leadership like we have in the USA. Boy Scouts or Girl Scouts, nope. Youth sports programs, nada. Student Governance and extracurricular activities, absolutely not. In other words, practicing leadership, as youth, like we do in the United States of America is almost nonexistent in Nicaragua. It is for this reason that leadership programs like the ones I provided are so critical.

Because of the privilege I am accustomed to as an educated American, I have great responsibility. It is this privilege that encouraged me to share my knowledge. It was my responsibility to dig deep and find ways to share how cultural change (from that of corruption towards compassion) can happen through shifting our mental frames of leadership. A transformation of seeing Leadership, not as power, prestige, position, or the purse, but leadership centered on the person (who am I) and the purpose with which we lead. It is that transition that will lead to cultural transformation.



We had a chance to catch up with Jon and ask him some questions about his recent trip to Central America.

How do Nicaraguans students define leadership differently then the students you have worked with here in the US?
In Nicaragua, leadership is all about position, power, prestige, and the purse (money). Leadership is about getting what I want – it is about rising to the top and being the boss, at whatever costs. It is very self-centered. Leadership in Nicaragua is hand in hand with corruption.

Are local politician’s and other leaders attempting to establish these nonexistent programs?
At present, politicians and local leaders are not focusing on leadership development.

Do you have any future plans to continue your work down in Central America
Absolutely. I will continue to go to Nicaragua at least once a year, if not more often in the near future. My goal, is to create a master’s granting university in Nicaragua focusing on leadership and organizational development to continue this pursuit of shifting the culture of corruption to a culture of compassion. The young people in Nicaragua deeply desire this type of cultural change and I believe it can happen through a new leadership lens.

6 Degrees of Separation and Your Support Network

When I was younger one lesson my father taught me that still resonates today was the concept of 6 Degrees of Separation. From April 7th - April 10th, I lived this concept during LeaderShape's Lead Retreat & 25th Anniversary in Chicago, IL. As I was welcomed into a room full of members of LeaderShape's community, I quickly found out that I was connected to so many within one degree of separation! As I thought more about this both during the retreat and post retreat, I came to the realization that:

A group of people coming together + united by a common purpose + guided by a shared vision = COMMUNITY at it's best.

The LeaderShape community is currently 40,000+ and will continue to grow with more participants graduating from LeaderShape Institutes/Catalyst programs and an increase of new cluster facilitators to assist the Lead Facilitators, and on-site coordinators in teaching the vision of LeaderShape: "A just, caring, and thriving world that leads with integrity, and has a healthy disregard for the impossible." What was so special about being apart of this historic moment for LeaderShape was being amongst people who not only believe in this vision, but have already experienced it from their own LeaderShape experiences.

While iBELIEVE continues to develop its community, it's empowering to know that an organization such as LeaderShape is not only doing similar work to help others reach their potential, but recognizes that iBELIEVE is doing this work too. As iBELIEVE continues to evolve, there is no doubt our organization's paths will continue run beside each other, cross at certain points, and even become intertwined in the near future.

In leadership it is important to remind ourselves that our ability to create positive change enhances as we utilize more of our networks. When we find allies whom are bettering this world with their contributions, it not only significantly shrinks the degrees of separation, but it also grows our networks of support.

As iBELIEVE continues to reach out, searching for others that are putting their passion(s) into action, will you be one to answer our call to help? Want to join our CommuniTEAM? We'll see you (with)in 6 degrees.

The Puzzle

In this installment I want to give you a technique that I use to stay focused and motivated throughout a long training period. This is something that you can use during your training and season to help you stay on track working toward your individual and/or team goal. As we enter our pre season the air is filled with optimism and excitement and we all have a general idea of what we want to do personally and as a team but we rarely put down on paper the day to day things that will help us get there. This has led me to the “The Puzzle”. Think about putting together a really hard puzzle with a lot of pieces and of a picture with a lot of colors and shapes. That’s the type of puzzle we are putting together every season. But this puzzle is an everyday road map of your season starting from day 1 of training to the final game, match or race of the season. If done correctly the puzzle will put you and your team in the best position to achieve your goals.

Setting up The Puzzle: The way I set up my training periods of the 4.5 months before a marathon is by taking a calendar and literally writing out every run I have to do every day. Whether it’s a 20 mile run, a 12 mile Tempo or a day of rest, I put it down on paper and look at it every day so I know what I have to do and I can hold myself accountable to getting after it and getting it done. This can be applied to any sport. For example, Sunday- rest, Monday- hitting to the opposite field, Tuesday- glove side ground balls, Wednesday- turning 2 and BP, Thursday- Game vs. ___.

It is very important to be specific on the things that you want to work on from day to day. Don’t just write “Practice” because when you are done for the day you go back to the calendar and highlight the day if you accomplished that day’s task with purpose. And what I mean by purpose is that you set out that day to work on the thing that’s going to bring you and your team one step closer to the goal. It also helps to journal every day so you have personal feedback and reflection on how you are working. As the days go by you will be able to look at your calendar and see how you are progressing. So why is the calendar called the puzzle? Think of each day you complete with purpose as getting a piece to the puzzle. Then when it is time to put the puzzle together (tournament time) it will be clear what fits together and you will have all the pieces you need to achieve your goal. On the contrary, if you do not have all the pieces it becomes very difficult to put it together and there will be holes in it.

Here is a real example from my last 2 training logs for the Disney Marathon and the Boston Marathon.

Disney Marathon: Goal 3:10, 18 weeks of training, 92 scheduled work outs, 92 work outs made/highlighted, 678 total miles, 0 work outs missed, Goal Accomplished 3:09:34.

Boston Marathon: Goal 3:00, 18 weeks of training, 108 scheduled work outs, 91 work outs made/highlighted, 704 total miles, 17 work outs missed, Goal not realized 3:19:43.

I hope its clear how important each day is to the realization of your goals. So be consistent and commit to it one day, one step at a time and when the time comes to put your puzzle together you will have everything you need to achieve your goal.

Joe Villapiano. is an assistant football coach at Harvard University and the co-director for athletics programs for iBELIEVE. He received his masters degree in education from UCONN.

Character and Courage

For centuries, the idea of courage has been regarded as the basis of character for all great men (and women). For this reason courage has been pondered by philosophers, researchers, psychologists and coaches since the beginning of recorded history. From Aristotle to former NFL coach Bill Parcells and the thousands in between, they have regarded this character trait to be superior to all others in defining a great player and person. They have tried to devise techniques to recognize courage and understand that it is a fleeting concept that comes out only when pushed to the extreme of our physical and mental tolerance.

Today, sport psychologists have defined Courage as the willingness to act despite the presence of fear in the pursuit of a worthy goal. It is important to recognize the “mean” or middle ground necessary for courageousness. An excess of courage would simply manifest itself through reckless actions and decisions. On the other hand, a lack of courage would manifest through cowardice actions. A courageous athlete would find him/herself somewhere in the middle of these 2 extremes.

Many would say that athletics is a great place for courage to be developed. While others would say that either you have it or you don’t. Lastly, some would explain athletics as a place for this virtuous character trait to be revealed. I believe the ladder to be the most appropriate description of courageousness within athletics. Athletics will allow the opportunity for an athlete to display both physical as well as psychological courage:

Physical courage- This is the type that we see every day when we turn on ESPN. It is the image of an athlete playing after sustaining a painful injury. It is the athlete that leaves every ounce of physical energy out on the field for the sake of something bigger than him/herself.

Psychological Courage- This type is much more subtle. This courage is what happens behind the cameras. It is waking up early before the competition day after day. It’s telling your friend and teammate that he/she is not pulling their weight or recognizing that you might be outmatched but continuing to compete and fight. It is pushing on in the face of insurmountable odds when everyone would understand if you gave up.

In both examples of courage what is expressed is a quality of selflessness that cannot be denied and that defines an athlete’s character on and off the field. Not only does it make a good athlete great, but it also makes a great friend, teammate, husband, wife, mother or father. Like many of the qualities explained in these weekly installments, courage, although very easily recognized on the field of play is just as necessary in the Field of life.

Be courageous & Stay believing.

Pete is a strength and conditioning coach at West Point Military Academy and the director for Athletics programs for iBELIEVE. He received his masters degree in Sports Psychology from Boston University.

Reflections on the ACPA Convention

The ACPA Convention planning team asked us to Be More. Little did we know that this Convention was going to Be More! It was motivating, thought-provoking, and learning-filled. Typically, sessions tend to be hit or miss. This year, the sessions seemed to all be hits. Opportunities for both reflection and engagement were purposefully added to the schedule. And the Opening was tremendous! I left humbled knowingly being in the company fellow educators and eager to bring back new knowledge and ideas to campus. After several yeas of partnering, iBELIEVE is proud to call ACPA our professional association ‘home’.

Injuries, Self-Efficacy and the Circus

As the season progresses, nagging injuries become a part of normal life. Daily visits to onsite physical trainers become all too familiar. Aside from the obvious on field collisions, sprints and nose dives, what else causes us to acquire injuries? Can the mental side of the game attribute to this? Does my confidence (self-efficacy) have an impact on acquiring sport injuries?

A study appearing in this April’s Journal of Sports Medicine, and covered recently in a NYTimes Health article, examined 47 elite competitors in gymnastics, trampoline, swimming and diving. All of which were trying to earn a spot on a Cirque du Soleil team. This team performs athletic dances, tumbles and contortions which requires elite physical abilities. The researchers wanted to determine if self-efficacy separated the injury prone from the impervious during an intensive 8-week training camp. Self-efficacy is the feeling of confidence a person has in performing a task. (NOTE: If I feel I am 100% capable of hitting the ball to the opposite field on a hit and run, I have high self-efficacy towards this task.)

Results from the study suggested that the athletes who had a low self-efficacy score were almost twice as likely to be injured when compared to those who had scored high on the self-efficacy measure. In this case, low athletic self-confidence increased injury. Researchers believed this could be attributed to attention, fear, and worry resulting in falling during the desired task and therefore causing an injury. These results suggest that effective performance enhancing interventions are necessary to build self-efficacy in all sports for every individual.

The Cirque du Soleil team psychologist suggests a solution for athletes with low self-efficacy, “Someone who thinks rightly or wrongly that he can’t complete a physical task should think small. Concentrate on the process, not the end result. Succeeding at a portion of the task will show you that you have the capacity to succeed at the rest.”

This is applicable to my marathon training. Instead of trying to complete a daunting 10-mile run, I attack 2 miles at a time. This helps me stay focused on what’s important (form, energy, rest stops) and allows me to build confidence while I succeed portion by portion/mile by mile. This also prevents me from being distracted by all the miles that lay ahead.

What are the parts of your game that you have high and low confidence or self-efficacy in? Can the low confidence part be broken down into smaller components, focused on in practice and built up over time? If so, this may be the key to a healthier season.

And Knowing is half the battle.

Peak Performance

In this installment I will talk about factors that will help you achieve peak performance and some factors that may be preventing you from reaching peak performance. When talking about athletic peak performance you tend to think of athletes like Lebron James, Usain Bolt, Shawn White, Serena & Venus Williams. These athletes are considered the best at their sport. But anyone who plays or follows sports closely knows that peak performance is not limited to those who are at the top. Every sport has participants who achieve remarkable accomplishments while finishing behind the leaders. Likewise, every team has members who are invaluable to the success of the team but are not recognized as the star. Here are a couple strategies that can help you achieve peak performance in your sport and on your team.

• Have a positive pregame mindset before competition.

As an athlete sometimes we hold ourselves to very high expectations. For example, I have spoken to the Harvard baseball coach who has problems with one of his starting pitchers. He said the pitcher expects to throw a no hitter every time he steps onto the mound. So what happens when the pitcher gives up his first hit? The pitcher would get upset and frustrated that he gave up the no hitter and would feel that he had failed. The coach says it often takes him a couple innings to regain control of his emotions and get back into a rhythm. But by the time he regains control the damage has already been done.
What can we do as athletes to get ourselves into a positive mindset? The first step is becoming aware of our mindset and thoughts before we play. We have to identify these expectations and factors that may cause us to get upset during competition. To achieve peak performance you cannot let a minor setback ruin your whole performance. Throw out the idea of being a perfectionist! If you carry these high expectations into your competition you set yourself up for feeling like you are failing. This leaves yourself very little room for success.

• Let go of errors before emotions snowball out of control.

I was watching Phil Mickelson lead the final round of the 2010 Masters. He had trouble all week hitting the fairways off the tee. In the last round he again put a drive into the woods and had a very difficult recovery shot under the pressure of The Masters Championship gallery. He stepped up to his ball and hit a shot through the trees and onto the green. He then made the putt for birdie, kept the lead and eventually won the Green Jacket. The announcer who was following him went on to say that this is what separates Phil from all the other golfers in the world. When Phil hits a bad shot he regains control of his emotions and it allows him to focus on hitting a great next shot.
Having control of your emotions is when you stay even keeled and poised when you are challenged with adversity. Even top athletes like Phil and Tiger Woods get frustrated and upset when they make errors. But they are able to regain control quickly and get back on track. Recovering quickly from mistakes separates champion athletes from those who crack when adversity strikes.

Every athlete has the capability of achieving peak performance, not just the top athletes. I hope you can use these simple strategies and examples on your way to peak performance and success throughout this season.

Positive Thinking vs. Effective Thinking

Up to this point in your athletic career you have excelled at your respective sports. You would not be playing at this level if you didn’t figure out a way to adapt to whatever the game throws at you, overcome the challenge in front of you and improvise to find a way to succeed. This week I want to speak specifically about how thinking effectively will increase your ability to ADAPT, IMPROVISE & OVERCOME!

Your ability to adapt is strongly related to your ability to think effectively. As Dan explained last week, our thoughts can be the difference between success and failure. We all know that thinking positively can have a major effect on how we perform. There are countless research articles documenting the benefits of a positive mindset. But let’s be real, things aren’t always positive. Things aren’t always great. You WILL be challenged and WILL face defeat. This is why we play our sports, to be challenged and to see what we are made of.

As an athlete, the last thing I want to hear after facing defeat is, “Everything is going to be okay”, while I am thinking to myself, “We just got our asses kicked!”. During the moment when we are challenged is when we need to transition from positive thinking to effective thinking. When we are thinking effectively our default mindset is ABSOLUTE CONFIDENCE. An unshakeable belief that no matter what happens we will keep fighting to achieve what we set out to achieve. This mindset will keep you working and keep you and your team motivated. You have adapted the ability to deal with stress. It has come through the countless hours of training and competitions that you have undergone.

This type of resiliency will translate to all areas of your life. In sport and in life effective thinking involves a proactive approach to embracing reality - embracing what IS. Not simply searching for another “better” reality, one in which you don’t have to adapt to and overcome the challenges before us. WE should know that the more time that we spend disconnected from the challenges the more time we face not working towards our goal. This is particularly important in sport when success is a matter of inches and seconds. As your season progresses look the challenge right in the eye and adapt, improvise and overcome.

Until the next time, stay believing!

Mental Skills Training - Performance Inhibitors

I believe that mental skills training can directly affect an athlete’s within-competition performance. When an athlete’s mental state is acting in a counterproductive manner, what’s known as performance inhibitors (anxiety, confidence, concentration and motivation) can creep up and lower performance. For me, it’s much like running into a strong headwind affecting my skills and coordination. Becoming aware of these performance inhibitors can enable you to control and minimize the negative affects of this headwind on your performance.

Think back to a previous game when your performance was optimal or near perfect. This may be the best you have ever performed. What led up to this performance? Was it a uniquely good week of practice and training? Take a few minutes and think about your performance this day.

Now think back to a previous game when your performance was far from optimal or near perfect. This may be the worst you have ever performed. What led up to this performance? Can you identify and mental performance inhibitors. Take a few minutes and think about your performance on this day.

Becoming aware of what was working for you and what performance inhibitors were present can help you make the necessary adjustments and perform closer to your optimal level. Detrimental thoughts, attitudes and beliefs can all affect an athlete’s ability to execute at the level that they are physically capable of. Developing strong mental skills has the ability to help athletes compete as close to 100% of their potential as possible.

Mental Training - Finding Strength From Within

“Beyond the very extreme of fatigue and distress, we find amounts of ease and power we never dreamed ourselves to own; sources of strengths never taxed at all because we never push through the obstruction.” William James

I'm writing this after a 22 mile run in preparation for the Boston Marathon, April 18, 2011. I chose this quote to share on the run today for a couple reasons. First, because I want to challenge everyone (myself included) to find this source of strength that lies beyond fatigue and second, because I want to talk about how our mind plays a huge role in getting there or not.

One of the most important lessons iBelieve teaches individuals and teams is that our thoughts and beliefs can help us achieve what we want. This is the basis for our company and we work with athletes and young professionals on how to choose empowering beliefs to help them reach their highest potential. On the flip side, our thoughts and beliefs can also limit us from reaching our highest potential. If we don’t think or believe we can fill in the black, we won’t. This is the obstruction William James is referring to and the reason some people don’t find that strength and power that lies beyond.

How can we push ourselves past the obstruction and tap into this source of strength? It starts with awareness. When you get fatigued, become aware of it and embrace it. Don’t do anything to distract yourself from it, “it is what it is”. As an athlete we need to perform under these circumstances and not be distracted. Next, there is NO limit. If you believe there is a limit then you are limiting yourself. If you think the sky is the limit, then you will only reach for the sky and you take away the potential of reaching higher. It’s that simple.

No matter what we are training in or for, lets continue to push ourselves to break through the obstruction and find that endless source of strength. I believe it’s out there for the ones willing to go beyond and find it. To learn more about iBelieve, and when we are visiting a team or organization near you visit us online at www.goibelieve.com

The iBELIEVE team works with Brown University

A few weeks ago, a few members of the iBELIEVE team spoke at Brown University. The IB team loves to speak about iBELIEVE, inspire students and work with future leaders. So the Boston IB team hopped in a car and drove out to Providence, RI to meet with the Bears.

We believe that some of the brightest and best students are not leading on purpose. Leading on purpose requires a clear intention that results in action. Jon Kroll and Kevin Bickart led the discussion on iBELIEVE’s core components of intention: beliefs, attitudes, thoughts, feelings values, desires, and dreams.

We were so impressed by the energy and participation shown by the students at Brown. These student leaders seemed to really get what we were saying. By the end of the day, everyone had developed an actionable leadership vision and applicable skills and tools.

It’s days and partnerships like these that inspires and keeps the iBELIEVE team going and growing. We believe in these group of leaders from Brown University. Thanks Bears!

Check out pictures on facebook and learn more about our programs by visiting us online at www.goibelieve.com



e: dmccaffrey@goibelieve.com
t: @goibelieve & @demccaffrey