When I left a steady pensionable full-time job seven years ago to set up my own high-performance psychology consultancy, people told me I was crazy and would never be able to make a living out of it.
Only two months earlier, I had taken out a mortgage and bought a house but I knew I had to follow my heart and live my passion.
I was always very interested in psychology, and sport was always a passion of mine. Growing up, I wanted to play every sport and loved the hard work, the training and the attempt to outwit and outsmart your opponent.
Following hearts
Our parents always taught us to follow our hearts and our dreams. They told us that if you were passionate enough about something, you would work hard at it and if you worked hard enough at it, you would be good at it and people would want your services. I have always kept this philosophy at the centre of my decisions and actions over the years.
In my role as a performance consultant, I have been fortunate enough to work with and coach elite athletes for Olympic Games, Heineken Cups, European and world championships. I have worked with people in the fields of golf, sailing, rugby, Olympic boxing and corporate coaching. More importantly, I have got to spend time with incredible people who know the risks of chasing dreams but still have the confidence to chase them.
I had just finished my masters at Trinity College in 2003 when the Irish boxing team started a high-performance team, a new and exciting departure for them.
Despite their success at the 1992 Olympic Games, Ireland had gone through a very lean period when it came to winning anything at international level.
Passion for Irish boxing
I did an interview for the job of performance psychologist and, despite my lack of talent as a boxer, Billy Walsh, now head coach of the high-performance team, and Gary Keegan, director of the Irish Institute of Sport, recognised my passion for sport, detail and innovation and, in particular, my passion for Irish boxing.
We set ourselves a very clear mission from the start that Irish boxers would consistently stand on world and Olympic podiums.
We had a clear vision for the boxing team to work to: we set standards and a list of values that we even painted on to the walls of the gym. Many people would have laughed at our mission statement when Irish boxing had won no Olympic medals since 1992.
They recruited another world-class coach and incredible mind, Zauri Antia, and we set out to conquer the world. We still continue to search for improvements and to deliver the quality system that Irish boxers deserve.
It is a relentless pursuit of excellence in which limits and expectations are constantly exceeded.
In the past two Olympic games (Beijing 2008 and London 2012), the Irish boxing team has earned seven medals and has accounted for six of Ireland’s Olympic podium appearances at those games.
It’s a great return, but the nature of the beast is to wipe away previous successes and start every day with the same hunger and passion that we had at the start.
At the start of my performance consultancy, I was trying to juggle a full-time job with my boxing work.
I drove up and down to Dublin from Galway three or four nights a week and used up all my annual leave with training camps and competitions. I finally had to make the decision to pick one and give it my total focus.
If you are trying to create an elite team environment, you have to create a culture of respect, commitment and connection.
Athletes have to be developed, not only as athletes but as human beings.
Build bigger stronger muscles but, more importantly, build bigger, stronger human beings.
Passion, resilience, belief and unbridled desire do not exist in the muscle or in the gym; they exist only in the heart and the soul of the athlete.
Inspiring performance
So many coaches and employers forget this and neglect the human side of their athletes and employees and, in doing so, miss out on an incredible opportunity to build passionate, committed and loyal teams and employees.
In high-performance sport, people must live out their values all the time. If you want to be an Olympic champion, you have to train, walk, talk and eat like an Olympic champion every day.
The role of a psychologist with high-performance athletes can often be very different from what people think. Week in, week out, I may be working with athletes and not mention sport at all.
They are the experts in that. I work with athletes on all the human things that impact their performance such as stress, anxiety, depression, self-doubt, relationship breakdown, sickness, injury and bereavement.
My average week is split between delivering team meetings, meeting athletes individually, meeting coaches, redesigning performance systems and working with corporate teams and organisations to deliver a culture that inspires the performance and wellness of their teams.
I get to earn a living doing something I would be delighted to do free. Every day I get to meet people who inspire me; it never feels like work.
However, the job is not without its costs. Working in high-performance sport means 5am starts, long days, setbacks and defeats.
You give up a lot of personal time; it’s a big commitment, but it’s an incredible journey.
My own advice
I have to manage my own energy levels and health as well, to live what I sell, or else I could get burned out. I take psychology sessions to ensure I am taking my own advice and I am fortunate to have very good colleagues in the same line as me from the corporate and sporting worlds who are a great support.
Emotional wellness is a critical factor to ensuring that we maintain positive energy levels, motivation and resilience. It’s vital to our own health, our relationships and the various roles and responsibilities we have in life.
Out of Hours
I live on a farm in rural Glenamaddy, Co Galway. I think it’s important when you are at home to relax and switch off from work for a while. I do a lot of driving for work so when I’m off, I try to keep healthy – both physically and mentally – through exercise and diet.
What nourishes my wellness more than anything are the trips I take to Africa each year with the Alan Kerins Discovery programme (alankerinsprojects.org). We go for three weeks twice a year to two orphanages, one for kids with disabilities. Those trips re-emphasise the value of human connection and human wellness.
During our Discovery programmes, we are surrounded by people who are absolutely resilient, passionate and connected.
They have no time for self-doubt or talking about the past; they deal with whatever life throws at them and get on with things, and they do it with a sense of passion and pride.
Chief executives, business owners, athletes, parents and young professionals come on this trip with the sole purpose to strip away all the various levels of self and get back to their real, most passionate, most focused selves.
We take them off-site for 10 days to a remote part of Africa where there are no phones or emails.
The amazing children we meet are not interested in who you are, how much money you have or what car you drive. All they want to know is can you sing, can you dance or can you tell me a funny story; and, if not, why not?
Very often people start off in business life being enthusiastic, curious, optimistic and resilient but sometimes they lose their spark and energy along the way.
Our trips to Africa help people to realise what’s really important in their lives and, at the end of the day, it all comes back to family and community.
