Mental Training Lab

In this episode of The Mental Training Lab , I sit down with sport psychologist and three-time national champion Dr. Kate Bennett, founder of Full Send Consulting, to explore one of the most powerful and often misunderstood drivers of performance: genuine human connection. Kate’s work sits at the intersection of athlete well-being, mental performance, and transformational coaching. Heavily influen...

Brent spent years competing at the highest levels of cycling, including the Tour de France, the Olympics, and World Championships. Since retiring from professional cycling, Brent has completed graduate training in mental performance and now works as a coach, helping athletes and high performers translate lived experience into tools for growth, resilience, and well-being. This conversation is a cas...

In this solocast, I’m exploring a paradox I’ve been thinking about a lot lately: the more optimized a system becomes, the more fragile it can get. We start with sleep, but this applies to performance routines, recovery, leadership, training, and the way we prepare for just about anything. When everything has to go exactly right in order for us to feel ready, we end up narrowing the window for succ...

**This conversation is all about psilocybin-assisted therapy, but it is not medical advice. Psilocybin is not appropriate for everyone, laws vary by location, and anyone interested in this work should seek support only from qualified professionals in legal, regulated settings.** In this episode of The Mental Training Lab, I sit down with Adam O'Neil, a Boulder-based licensed psychologist and...

Your nervous system is the foundation of everything else. It shapes the way you perceive reality, and everything flows from there: what you think, how you decide, what comes out of your mouth, and what your people feel when you walk in the room. You can have the right words, the right plan, and the right tools. But if your state is communicating panic, pressure, or disconnection, that's what...

In this episode of The Mental Training Lab , I sit down with Buddhist teacher, meditation teacher, and author Lodro Rinzler to explore a concept that has powerful implications for athletes, leaders, and high performers: basic goodness. So many of us operate from the quiet assumption that we’re not enough. Not successful enough, disciplined enough, accomplished enough, or mentally tough enough. Lod...

In this week's solocast, I’m unpacking something I’ve been seeing a lot lately: the idea of caring less about the outcome and just focusing on the process. That mindset may not seem like that big of a deal to you, but the more I hear it, the more I think it’s missing something important. Because the truth is, you do care. You care about the result, and when that starts to feel uncomfortable,...

What does it really take to build trust and psychological safety in teams under pressure? In this episode of The Mental Training Lab, I sit down with Peter Hodgkinson, high-performance consultant and the former Head of Build at Mercedes F1. Peter has spent decades in elite motorsport, including Formula 1, Le Mans, and the America’s Cup. He shares how environments with razor-thin margins and consta...

In today's solo-cast, I’m digging into something I see all the time with athletes and high performers, the way we misunderstand nerves, pressure, and what it actually takes to access flow. We’ve been taught that the goal is to calm down, relax, and eliminate anxiety before we perform. But in reality, that approach can pull us further away from our best. I break down why being a little “too ac...

On this episode of The Mental Training Lab we are sharing an episode of The Transformational Leader featuring a conversation with Pete Kadushin. "On this week's mid-week episode of The Transformational Leader, Adam Quiney welcomes friend of the show Pete Kadushin for a live coaching conversation that pulls back the curtain on what transformational leadership work actually looks like in p...

For decades, athletes and high performers have been taught to grind harder, push through pain, and silence weakness at all costs. I’m your host Pete Kadushin, and in this episode of The Mental Training Lab , I sit down with clinical sport psychologist and author Dr. Hillary Cauthen to talk about one of the most romanticized ideas in sport and performance: mental toughness. Hillary explains why tha...

In this solo episode, I’m exploring something I see all the time in the performance world: the illusion of progress. From the outside, it can look like we’re doing everything right. We’re building mental skills, trying new strategies, putting in the reps, and staying disciplined. And yet, despite all that effort, we often find ourselves circling back to the same patterns and frustrations. In this...

What do a hypnotized high-school wrestler, Olympic athletes, and modern neuroscience all have in common? In this episode of The Mental Training Lab, I sit down with Dr. David Spiegel, one of the world’s leading experts in clinical hypnosis, to clear up the myths, misunderstandings, and stage-show baggage surrounding hypnosis. Next, we explore how it’s actually being used to reduce pain, manage str...

It’s officially the Olympics season, and I was stoked to join endurance athlete Travis Macy and Olympic ski mountaineer Cam Smith to talk about the mental skills behind peak performance. This episode is shared here on the Mental Training Lab feed as part of a crossover with Skimo Gold , and I’m excited to bring this conversation to you.  We get into what it truly means to train your mind like an O...

On this week's solocast I'm taking a hard look at the way motivation and discipline are talked about online — and why a lot of the popular advice actually works against long-term performance. You’ve probably seen the posts: discipline beats motivation , motivation is weak , success is just showing up no matter what . It all sounds tough and inspiring… until you actually try to live it. A...

What happens when the Mental Training Lab host hands over the mic? I’m your host Pete Kadushin, and in this special reverse interview episode, I’m interviewed by psychiatrist, meditation teacher, and longtime contemplative practitioner Holly Rogers. The conversation grew organically out of our previous episode together, one that sparked more questions, deeper curiosity, and the realization that it...

In today’s solocast, I explore one of my favorite mental training mantras: “No big deal.” We look at how quickly we label experiences as good or bad, and how those judgments (often made without the full story) can quietly hijack our nervous system, emotions, and performance. Using a classic Zen parable alongside examples from sport, I unpack how unexamined thoughts start to feel like reality, and...

In this episode of Mental Training Lab, I sit down with psychiatrist, meditation teacher, and author of The Mindful Twenty-Something,  Dr. Holly Rogers. We’re breaking down how mindfulness and meditation can transform our relationship to the present moment, performance, and our lives as a whole.  Holly has spent decades working with college students, emerging adults, and high performers, helping t...

In today's solocast, we hit the slopes and explore the transformative power of acceptance through my own experience of learning to ski.  We touch on how embracing the possibility of injury actually unlocked my ability to be present to the joy of skiing, and 10x'd my skill level after a decade away from the sport. We also look at some of the reliable barriers to acceptance and outline a c...

How does stress impact the experience of sport? In this episode of the Mental Training Lab , I sat down with Megan Bartlett, founder of the Center for Healing and Justice through Sport, educator, and faculty member of NM Sport, to explore the fascinating intersection of stress science, sport performance, and human development. Megan’s work brings together neuroscience and coaching practice through...

Today's solocast explores the role that negative visualization can play in generating gratitude, wonder, and a connection to the present moment. I share a vivid story from my early days as a mental performance coach, and outline practices that can support you in appreciating your current capacity in a way that will support your growth and best performance. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -...

In this episode of the Mental Training Lab, I sit down with Dr. Ryan Hamilton, someone who truly lives the work he teaches. Ryan is an Associate Professor of Psychology at the University of New Brunswick, a certified mental performance consultant, and the mental performance coach for the Tampa Bay Lightning and Canadian National Team. Ryan embodies what it means to truly practice what we preach in...

Today's solocast explores the difference between positivity and optimism, and how positivity can often get in the way of both presence and progress.  I also cover how to practice The Stockdale Paradox in real time, and the importance of practicing this shift in mindset in order to create lasting change.  - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -  Learn more about The Mental Training Lab Connect w...

In this episode of the Mental Training Lab , I sit down with Jilyne Jarvis, co-founder and executive director of ZGiRLS, a confidence-building program transforming the lives of middle school girls. Jilyne was a professional ski racer who built a nonprofit that tackles one of the most pressing challenges facing young women (and human beings everywhere) today: self-doubt. We talk about the baby step...

In this episode, I explore a common motivation pattern that presents itself as people walk the path of mastery. I'll outline the  negative motivation model , why we get hooked on being driven by fear, and how it holds us back. Then, I roll out the alternative approach and offer up some practices that will allow you to cultivate more sustainable motivation over time.  - - - - - - - - - - - - -...