Eric Potterat, Ph.D. is a Clinical, Performance and Sport Psychologist who is considered one of the leading experts in high performance psychology, performance optimization, decision-making and teamwork under pressure, mental skills training, and individual and organizational resilience. He retired as a Commander in the Navy after 20 years of service, the last 10 of which he served as the Head Psychologist for the US Navy SEALs and was responsible for all the psychological Assessment, Selection, Development, Maintenance and Enhancement programs for all Navy SEALs worldwide. He also worked for the Los Angeles Dodgers as their Director of Specialized Performance Programs for 7 years, where he managed the mental performance optimization programs, the pre-draft talent acquisition and scouting character assessments, player mental performance profiles/development, etc. His experience in sport is wide ranging. He was also with Red Bull North America for 6 years as their High Performance Psychologist, where he developed and managed the mental performance and mental skills optimization programs for over 850 Red Bull athletes worldwide. For the last 25 years, he has focused his research and practice on teachable and actionable mental performance techniques, stress resilience, character development, selection, neuropsychology, decision-making under stress, mental toughness training, and elite human performance in extreme environments. He is also credited for developing and implementing the Mental Toughness Training Program for the U.S. Navy SEALs and embedding it into their training pipeline, as well as creating the Performance Psychology program for Red Bull High Performance athletes. He has 30 peer-reviewed, professional journal and/or chapter publications, has been featured on national media (History Channel, MSNBC, national magazines, etc.), and has served as a consultant and speaker on human factors, assessment and selection, performance optimization and mental toughness to many organizations including, NASA, Fortune 500 Companies and Executives, the U.S. Olympic Training Center, many law enforcement and government agencies, and numerous professional (NFL, MLB, NBA, etc.) and collegiate sports teams.   Show Highlights  Avoid knee-jerk reactions by having “trusted advisors" outside of your discipline.  Eliminate white space in your schedule by leveraging your time. Practice the 4-4-4 breathing method to reduce stress and enhance cognitive performance before demanding meetings or events. Avoid bias towards action and redefine performance to affect incremental value in your schools.  Modify evidence-based principles with thought management. Minimize negative aspects of traditional teaching methods. Eric suggests changing the term "visualization" to "sensorization" to perform at your best.      “When you look at the best performers in the world, they're focusing on a process and a recipe, and they double and triple down on being consistent and efficient with a process that chips away through segments, through time.”  -Eric Potterat    Get the episode transcript here!   Eric’s Resources & Contact Info: Linkedin Learned Excellence: Mental Disciplines for Leading  Twitter Instagram Read my latest book! Learn why the ABCs of powerful professional development™ work – Grow your skills by integrating more Authenticity, Belonging, and Challenge into your life and leadership.   Read Mastermind: Unlocking Talent Within Every School Leader today! Apply to the Mastermind The mastermind is changing the landscape of professional development for school leaders.    100% of our members agree that the mastermind is the #1 way they grow their leadership skills.   Apply to the mastermind today!   How We Serve Leaders   The School Leadership Scorecard™ Identify your highest leverage areas for growth this year in 10 -minutes or less.    https://betterleadersbetterschools.com/scorecard   Month-to-Month Principal Checklist As