Strong Minds How to Unlock the Power of Elite Sports Psychology to Accomplish Anything

“Highlights the mental strategies elite athletes employ to get an edge on their competition.”—The New York Times

Now in paperback, with an all-new foreword: competition-tested cognitive strategies to help triumph over any obstacle

If you ask research psychologist Noel Brick and bestselling fitness writer Scott Douglas, the “dumb jock” stereotype is way out of bounds. No world-class athlete succeeds without a strong mental game, including unique ways of analyzing situations, self-motivating, and even thinking about time. Cutting-edge discoveries (some by Dr. Brick himself) reveal how champions do it—and how we can, too.

Brick and Douglas pair groundbreaking science with instructive moments across the sports realm to show how legendary athletes like marathoner Meb Keflezighi, World Cup champion soccer player Megan Rapinoe, and Olympian Michael Phelps stay on top of their game. Whether it’s sticking the landing at a job interview or racing your thesis to the finish line, Strong Minds is a slam-dunk approach for accomplishing anything.

Publisher’s note: Strong Minds was previously published in hardcover as The Genius of Athletes.

Noel Brick, PhD, is a British Psychological Society–chartered psychologist, a lecturer in sport and exercise psychology at Ulster University, and a researcher on the psychology of endurance performance. He has published research in the most prestigious sport and exercise science journals, such as Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise (flagship journal of the American College of Sports Medicine) and Psychology of Sport and Exercise (flagship journal of the European Federation of Sport Psychology). He has presented his research at global academic conferences, including the annual congresses of the Association for Applied Sport Psychology, the British Psychological Society, the European College of Sport Science, and the European Federation of Sport Psychology. Noel has completed more than thirty marathons and ultramarathons. He is a native of Kerry and lives in County Antrim, Ireland.

Scott Douglas is a contributing writer for Runner’s World, and has held senior editorial positions at Runner’s World and Running Times. He is the author or coauthor of several books, including Running Is My Therapy, The Genius of Athletes, Advanced Marathoning, and the New York Times bestsellers Meb for Mortals and 26 Marathons. He has written about fitness and health for Slate, The Atlantic, The Washington Post, and Outside, among other outlets. Scott has run more than 100,000 miles since taking up the sport in 1979. He lives in South Portland, Maine.