Your Mental Weight Room

In Episode 35 of Your Mental Weight Room, host Desi, a mindset mentor and certified life coach, explores the transformative power of gratitude. She clarifies that gratitude isn't toxic positivity—you can feel pain and still be thankful. Backed by science, she outlines six key benefits: greater happiness, improved emotional well-being, better physical health, improved sleep, stronger relationships,...

In Episode 34 of "Your Mental Weight Room," host and mindset mentor Desi uses a relatable personal story about feeling cold at home to illustrate a powerful mindset lesson. Rather than adjusting her thermostat, she bundled up and accepted the discomfort — mirroring how people often resign themselves to difficult circumstances. She explains that while we can't control external "weather," we can alw...

In episode 33 of "Your Mental Weight Room," host Desi, a mindset mentor and certified life coach, tackles scheduling challenges faced by busy college athletes. She explains how proper scheduling reduces decision fatigue, increases productivity, and creates more downtime. Desi shares practical techniques, including writing down all tasks, estimating completion times, prioritizing non-negotiable com...

If you or someone you know is struggling with mental health, pleasecall to call or text 988 to reach the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline In Episode 32 of Your Mental Weight Room, Desi opens up about a recent tough week battling anxiety and depression, describing the experience as a "low vibration" state where she functioned outwardly but struggled internally. She clarifies she's not a medical profes...

In Episode 30 of Your Mental Weight Room, host Desi, a mindset mentor and certified life coach, explores the importance of how athletes show up mentally. She challenges college athletes to embody the mindset of the player they want to become, rather than defaulting to their current circumstances. Drawing from personal volleyball experiences and coaching calls, Desi explains how negative mindsets c...

In episode 28 of Your Mental Weight Room, host Desi explores how athletes can mentally handle uncontrollable circumstances. Drawing from a personal experience playing in a sand volleyball playoff — where she battled strong winds and severe calf cramps — Desi shares four practical tips: Stop hating what you can't control Breathe into your experience Release uncontrollable factors to refocus your en...

In Episode 27 of Your Mental Weight Room, mindset mentor Desi tackles the overwhelming feelings many athletes experience. She clarifies that overwhelm stems not from the number of tasks but from how we think about them. Desi shares five practical tips to manage overwhelm: calming the nervous system through deep breathing, reflecting on what can be simplified or delegated, doing a thought download...

In Episode 26 of "Your Mental Weight Room," mindset mentor and certified life coach Desi shares four keys to building confidence for college athletes. She explains that confidence stems from practiced beliefs about oneself and outlines four strategies: being willing to question limiting beliefs, stepping outside your comfort zone, recognizing and validating personal progress, and reshaping your in...

In Episode 25 of Your Mental Weight Room, host and mindset mentor Desi explores how college athletes can better handle correction from their coaches. She addresses common negative reactions—such as self-doubt and shutting down—and reframes correction as a sign of a coach's trust rather than inadequacy. Desi also distinguishes between constructive correction and emotionally-driven criticism, offeri...

In Episode 24 of "Your Mental Weight Room," host Desi redefines mental toughness for college athletes. Drawing from personal experience playing volleyball through hairline fractures, she challenges the misconception that mental toughness means pushing through pain at all costs. Instead, Desi argues it's fundamentally about self-trust — knowing when to push forward and when to rest. She shares four...

In Episode 23 of "Your Mental Weight Room," host Desi explores the "Upper Limit" concept from Gay Hendricks’ book The Big Leap. She explains how people subconsciously sabotage themselves when they exceed their internal success comfort zone. Desi shares personal stories and examples from athletics and daily life, encouraging listeners to recognize and raise their own upper limits. The episode empha...

In episode 22 of "Your Mental Weight Room," mindset mentor Desi explores "The Model," a mental framework by Brooke Castillo rooted in cognitive behavioral therapy. Building on the previous episode about Byron Katie’s "The Work," Desi explains how The Model helps athletes and individuals gain awareness of how their thoughts shape feelings, actions, and results. Through practical examples, she demon...

In episode 21 of "Your Mental Weight Room," mindset mentor and former college athlete Desi shares the first in a three-part series on mental tools she wishes she had as a player. Focusing on Byron Katie’s method “The Work,” Desi discusses overcoming limiting beliefs like “I’m not good enough” through four self-inquiry questions and a turnaround technique. Drawing from her own volleyball experience...

In this quick episode of "Your Mental Weight Room," mindset mentor and former college athlete Desi explores the concept of worthiness. She shares how realizing that worthiness is inherent—unrelated to achievements or failures—transformed her life. Aimed at college athletes and anyone struggling with self-worth, Desi encourages listeners to disconnect their value from external outcomes and embrace...

In episode 19 of "Your Mental Weight Room," Desi, a mindset mentor and former college athlete, explores the concept of pressure, especially among college athletes. She discusses the difference between external and self-imposed expectations, encouraging listeners to recognize and release unnecessary pressures. Using the metaphor of a basketball full court press, Desi emphasizes trusting oneself and...

In episode 18 of "Your Mental Weight Room," mindset mentor Desi challenges the belief that there’s never enough time to improve or achieve goals. She explains that time is a mental construct, not a barrier, and that feeling “behind” is a self-imposed thought. Through personal stories, Desi shows that real change and growth come from conscious decisions and intentional effort—not the passage of tim...

In episode 17 of "Your Mental Weight Room," host Desi explores the dangers of playing sports—and living life—for the approval of others. Drawing from personal experience, she explains how seeking validation from coaches, teammates, or parents can create pressure, fear, and self-doubt. Desi discusses the brain’s evolutionary need for acceptance, how this mindset can lead to resentment and burnout,...

As a reminder, this episode was recorded in March of 2023. Some of the content has ties to that point in time but the information and value in this episode remains valuable today. In this episode of "Your Mental Weight Room," Desi, a mindset mentor and former college athlete, explores how lower-seeded teams can upset higher-seeded opponents in big games. She highlights the crucial role of mindset...

In episode 15 of "Your Mental Weight Room," host Desi explores the true meaning of acceptance for athletes. She debunks the myth that acceptance equals giving up, emphasizing that it’s about acknowledging reality without attaching negative stories or emotions. Through personal experiences and athlete examples, Desi illustrates how accepting facts—without defeatist thinking—empowers athletes to res...

In this episode of "Your Mental Weight Room," host Desi, a mindset mentor and former college athlete, tackles the topic of perfectionism in sports. She explains how perfectionism keeps athletes stagnant, overly defensive, and under unnecessary pressure, ultimately limiting growth and performance. Desi shares personal stories and client examples, offering practical advice: stop apologizing for mist...

In this episode, mindset mentor and former college athlete Desi shares practical strategies for athletes facing tough moments in competition when it feels like there’s nothing more they can do. She explains how this belief is a thought, which means it can be changed.  Then she shares the 3 best things you can do to gain control when nothing is working. Desi emphasizes that these tools not only imp...

In episode 11 of "Your Mental Weight Room," host Desi explores the concept of loss in sports, emphasizing that losing is a neutral event and not a reflection of self-worth. She discusses the emotional impact of loss, the dangers of negative self-talk, and the importance of reframing what losing means. Desi shares practical strategies for processing disappointment, distinguishing between “clean” an...

In episode ten of "Your Mental Weight Room," mindset mentor Desi revisits a favorite mental tool for college athletes: questioning limiting beliefs. She explains the difference between facts, thoughts, and beliefs, emphasizing how unchecked beliefs can hold athletes back. Desi introduces the simple but powerful question to challenge self-defeating thoughts and encourage listeners to redefine their...

In episode nine of "Your Mental Weight Room," host Desi explores the concept of comebacks in sports, contrasting emotional comebacks—driven by adrenaline and crowd energy—with disciplined comebacks, which rely on skill, focus, and consistent effort. Drawing from personal experiences in volleyball and observations from basketball, Desi explains why disciplined comebacks are more sustainable and eff...

In episode eight of "Your Mental Weight Room," host and guest Desi, a mindset mentor and former college athlete, discuss the common advice for athletes to "leave your problems in the locker room." Desi critiques the idea of compartmentalizing, arguing that athletes are whole people whose lives naturally intermingle. Instead of suppressing problems, she encourages athletes to practice mindfulness a...