Episode 63: How Are High Performers Made? – features Dr. Alex Auerbach, exploring the science of how high performers optimize stress, environment, and psychology to deliver consistent results under pressure.

Episode Summary: This episode features a conversation with Dr. Alex Auerbach, a performance psychologist who has worked with the Toronto Raptors and now the Jacksonville Jaguars.

Listen as Dr. Auerbach breaks down what it really takes to become a high performer, how performance psychology principles apply well beyond professional sports, and why self-regulation and pressure management matter as much as raw talent.

In this episode we discuss:

• 00:52 – Introducing Dr. Alex Auerbach

• 01:42 – How Dr. Auerbach became interested in performance psychology
• 04:45 – Earning a PhD in sport and performance psychology
• 06:34 – Choosing the Toronto Raptors and building out a team mental performance program
• 07:36 – The move from the Raptors to the Jacksonville Jaguars
• 08:19 – Common challenges athletes bring to a performance psychologist
• 09:19 – Navigating hierarchy and relationship issues between athletes and coaches
• 12:02 – Understanding and managing performance anxiety
• 14:44 – Concepts that carry over from athletes to high performers in any field
• 17:04 – How high performers are made, using Steph Curry as an example
• 18:09 – Why discipline looks different for every performer, from Jay-Z to Eminem
• 19:47 – Finding and doubling down on your natural strengths
• 22:37 – Solving the "transfer problem" between practice and real performance
• 25:39 – Guidance for parents supporting a young athlete
• 29:13 – The most surprising and humbling parts of the work
• 30:51 – What to say to someone skeptical of performance psychology
• 32:11 – Practical performance strategies anyone can use
• 34:12 – The right and wrong ways to use visualization
• 36:03 – Building better self-talk habits
• 38:26 – Reframing rest and recovery as part of performance
• 41:14 – Where to learn more from Dr. Auerbach and other resources
• 42:09 – Conclusion

Resources:

• ⁠⁠Professional Website
• ⁠⁠Called to Greatness Book

This episode includes the track 'RSPN' by Blank & Kytt. The song is used under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License. You can find more of Blank & Kytt's music ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠here.⁠