If you’re listening to this while running, how’s your run going? Hopefully it’s a beautiful day and your run feels fantastic. But what if it’s not? What if your run feels hard, so hard you just want to quit? How do you motivate yourself to keep running? And how do you use these mental challenges both in running and in the rest of your life to become stronger? Dr. Jacob Cooper has the answers. Jacob breaks down exactly what you need to do and exactly when you need to do it, to convert your self-talk that’s telling you to quit, to an ally that lets the real you triumph. So if you want to perform better at running, or really at anything in life that's challenging, keep listening and be ready to apply Dr Cooper's techniques. Jacob is a clinical sport psychologist who serves as the director of sport psychology at Appalachian State University in Western North Carolina. A former college athlete himself, he has worked with professional and amateur athletes, Olympians, and Paralympians.  He has an extensive background in mental health and how it ties to performance.  Jacob has developed a style of working with athletes that focuses on them holistically, with the goal of performance optimization in the pursuit of excellence.    Jacob Cooper Ph.D. - Full Bio Dr. Cooper is a clinical sport psychologist who serves as the director of sport psychology at Appalachian State University in addition to his own private practice serving professional and amateur athletes. He is a member of the United States Olympic & Paralympic athlete mental health registry, which consists of a selected group of specialized sports psychologists who are thoroughly vetted by the USOPC and then made available to current U.S. Olympians & Paralympians. As a former collegiate offensive lineman turned amateur triathlete and runner (Hello Clydesdale Division!), Jacob has worked with athletes at the Olympic, Professional, and Division-1 level over the course of his career. As a sport psychologist, Dr. Cooper brings an extensive background in mental health and performance enhancement. To this end, he has developed a style of working with athletes that focuses on them holistically, across the spectrum of future-oriented performance optimization, current personal barriers/stressors, as well as more significant mental health issues that can inevitably show up in the pursuit of excellence.  As a doctoral student at Boston University, he completed clinical practicums within a variety of settings, including the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), the Federal Bureau of Prisons system (BOP) along with multiple D1 college sport medicine teams as a performance consultant. Additionally, he has published scholarly articles and cultivated a unique approach to working with athletes and teams that integrates the latest research, evidence-based strategies, and technology to help them reach their goals.  In addition to high performance populations, he has a unique background and training in the areas of rural mental health, trauma recovery, serving low help-seeking populations, and military psychology. He has provided performance optimization for military personnel prior to their deployments as well as counseling for veterans transitioning back to civilian life throughout Western North Carolina, Indiana, and Boston.  Dr. Jacob Cooper- Ph.D. Clinical Sport Psychologist.  Director of Sport Psychology Services at Appalachian State University Licensed Clinical Psychologist & Health Service Provider (HSP) U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Sport Psychology Registry Member   Education Background: B.A.- (Psychology) Taylor University (Indiana)- 4 year scholarship athlete & team captain (Football) Dual Masters Degree- Ball State University (Indiana) M.S.- Sport and Performance Psychology M.A.- Clinical Psychology PhD- Counseling Psychology (Sport and Performance Track)- Boston University Matched Clinical Residency - Charles George Veterans Hospital - Asheville North Carolina.  Questions Jacob is ask