Dialed In

Book excerpt: For readers of Atomic Habits and Grit, a top performance psychologist, who has coached elite athletes, surgeons, and business leaders, shares her proven plan to getting the best results when the pressure is on. What do a major league baseball catcher struggling with pop ups, an operating room doctor tense before a surgery, and a slumping sixteen-year-old tennis prodigy all have in common? They’re elite performers who are not achieving excellence, and they’re not sure how to improve. Enter Dr. Dana Sinclair. For more than twenty years, Dr. Dana has worked with the best of the best to improve results, from NFL, MLB, NBA, and NHL teams to IndyCar drivers and Olympic athletes. She helps performers shift their focus and deliver optimal performance in high-pressure moments that define greatness. Her methods also work for students and teachers, business leaders and managers—anyone motivated to improve. Her approach is simple: figure out what gets in your way, develop actions to address it in the moment, and then stick to the plan. It’s not about how you feel, it’s about what you do! Now, for the first time, her method to improve performance is available to everyone. In Part One of Dialed In, Dr. Dana shares her key concepts: -the true nature of confidence (it’s overrated) -the difference between good routines and unhelpful superstitions -good communicating vs. common bad advice -why character is better than talent, and much more In Part Two, she takes us through her three-step process for making your own performance plans, with five helpful examples to illustrate how it’s done. There are also leading questions and quick tips to help you better develop your personalized performance plan for whatever challenges you face. Simple, smart, and effective, Dialed In is like having your own performance coach in your back pocket.