Demystifying Mental Toughness is for people who want to reach their goals faster and are curious what high performing athletes and professionals do to fulfil their potential. David Charlton shares insights, strategies and stories from leading athletes, coaches, psychologists and specialists to help you perform to your optimum level on a more consistent basis. If you’re a motivated athlete, coach, sport psychologist, mental game coach or executive listen in for proven and practical advice in ...
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David Charlton discusses the psychological impact on professional footballers who are out of contract, a common issue in the summer months. These players face financial and emotional uncertainty, often without support from their former clubs. The loss of identity and routine can lead to a grief cycle, including denial, anger, bargaining, depression…
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The Olympics in Paris has recently finished and produced some remarkable performances from many different athletes. Yet for some this Olympics was underwhelming where they may have come away with many “what if” thoughts. In today’s short solo episode I discuss preparation for big events like the Olympics and the importance of a challenge mindset fo…
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250 Optimising Your Potential By Understanding Your Nervous System Better
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In today’s episode I welcomed Ruth Chiles and Dr Alessia Bruno back on the show, where they discuss helping individuals achieve their hidden potential. They do by using brainspotting, a powerful approach that works by identifying, processing and releasing core neurophysiological sources of emotional/body pain, trauma, dissociation and a variety of …
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249 Understanding Workplace Collaboration In Coaching In Team Sports
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Today’s conversation revolves around the challenges of collaboration in coaching in team sports. Where Assistant Professor Dr Edward Hall and I discuss research and practical applications. Points that we touch on include coaches' relationships, preparation and planning in order to foster a culture of trust, loyalty, and accountability. Key Learning…
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248 Embracing Fear And The Dreaded Yips
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The “yips” is a word that strikes fear into many golfers, cricketers, darts players and many other performers. With the yips, comes huge emotional and physiological responses. Lack of enjoyment, and often thoughts about and decisions to quit your chosen sport or pastime. It doesn’t have to be that way however as Trevor Jones a PGA Professional Golf…
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247 David Charlton Gets Grilled By Tom Jones
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In today’s episode, I chat with Tom Jones, the founder of Cricket Coach 365 and the University of Manchester Men’s Cricket First Team Coach. Tom goes on to ask me many questions about mental toughness, the role of the environment, how we can help cricketers play to the best of their ability more often and a whole lot more. By listening to this epis…
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246 How To Deal With The Highs And Lows Of Sport
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Emma Raducanu is a great example of someone whose career was on an upward trajectory, after winning the US Open tennis championship in 2021, aged 18 years old. Since then, her career has been dogged with setbacks and challenges. At Wimbledon this year it was nice to see her perform near to her potential reaching the last 16. Without knowing the det…
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245 How To Overcome The Fear Of Winning
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During the Wimbledon tennis tournament this week there will many players who are faced with great opportunities to win matches yet will struggle to close out victory. Future thoughts will fill their head about the draw in the next round or the importance of the next point. Their attention may also flit into the past where they replay key points fro…
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244 How To Deal With Playing Out Of Position In Football
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Currently the European Football Championships are taking place and there has been a lot of talk in the media and with fans about some of England’s footballers playing out of position. With many venting their frustration! In today’s episode I offer my thoughts as a sport psychologist on the challenges of playing out of position as a player, I talk a…
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243 How I Would Help Rory McIlroy Win The British Open
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On Sunday June 16th at Pinehurst Golf Course in North Carolina, Rory McIlroy had a great opportunity to win the US Open and break his 10 year major trophy drought. Sadly, it didn’t happen for him and two missed short putts on holes 16 and 18 in the final round cost him the win. Bryson DeChambeau went on to be the victor. In today’s episode I offer …
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242 What Is The Difference Between Mental Toughness And Resilience #BITESIZE
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We’re now 4 years on since the creation of the Demystifying Mental Toughness Podcast therefore David Charlton the host of the podcast made the decision to go back to basics and share an important message busting a myth that exists, that resilience and mental toughness are the same concepts. Today, we go back to the very start of the podcast, where …
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241 How To Cultivate A Limitless Mindset #BITESIZE
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In this BITE-SIZED episode of the Demystifying Mental Toughness Podcast, Dr. Bob Winters, an internationally recognised sport psychologist who has supported US Men’s and Women’s Open Golf Champions and many other elite professional athletes across a variety of sports joins me. He goes on to tell me about how champions think and cultivating a limitl…
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240 How To Transfer Your Skills From Training to Competitive Situations #BITESIZE
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Why do athletes work with a Sports Psychologist? One of the biggest reasons is that they struggle to transfer their skills from training to competitive situations. Which provides the topic for today’s episode of the Demystifying Mental Toughness podcast. Former professional basketball player and author Dre Baldwin goes on to tell me his thoughts on…
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239 How To Overcome Batting Woes In Cricket #BITESIZE
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Cricket is a unique sport where despite being a team sport it can also be argued to be an individual sport. One of the biggest challenges is batting and dealing with the aftermath of low scores and the walk of shame. In this BITE-SIZED episode, Tom Jones, a highly qualified youth cricket coach and owner of Cricket Coach 365 and I discuss mental tou…
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238 Are You Really Committed To Your Craft? #BITESIZE
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Penny Mallory was the first woman to drive in the world rally championships. On her way to do so she showed immense commitment to her craft and made lots of sacrifices in pursuit of success. In this bite-sized episode she goes on to share her secrets and the mentality that took her to the top of her sport. Enjoy tuning in! Key Takeaways: Ambition r…
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Do you ever believe you are your thoughts? Do you often take your thoughts way too seriously? If so you’ll enjoy today's podcast episode as my guest, Keagen Hadley author of Torn: Overcoming the Psychological Challenges Post-ACL Injury talks about using Acceptance Commitment Therapy (ACT) as a potentially helpful solution. Specifically we discuss c…
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236 How To Use ACT and Mindfulness When You’ve Got Lots Of Time To Think #BITESIZE
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In different sports such as golf and cricket, athletes can be placed in situations where they have a lot of thinking time. Too much thinking time for some! Due to their high level of motivation, focus of attention, fatigue, emotions and many other factors this thinking time can create havoc in their minds. As a result, indecision, fear and self-dou…
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235 How To Use ACT To Improve Your Coaching In Sport #BITESIZE
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Many athletes, golfers or people in everyday life take their thoughts too seriously. They then get caught up overthinking and it causes havoc with their decision making. In golfing terms, paralysis by analysis can take over, when the pressure is on and the result is often poor shots and missed putts. And lots of frustration! In this episode, Trevor…
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234 How To Combat Overthinking In Sport #BITESIZE
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How often in sport do you see an athlete make the wrong decision under pressure? Often I’d say! Even at the highest level in elite professional sport. Indecision, overthinking, paralysis by analysis, having too much time to think of the consequences, a lack of trust in skills or fear are often the reasons for poor decision making. In this short bit…
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In the last of this 3 part series created for parents of young adults and kids who play football or soccer I discuss how fear can wreck a youngsters fun and enjoyment on the pitch. Common responses to fear before matches include performance anxiety, physical sickness, feigning injury and refusing to play. It’s a hugely difficult challenge to naviga…
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232 How To Remain Composed As a Goalkeeper Under Pressure #BITESIZE
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What is the most mentally challenging position on the football or soccer pitch? Many people would argue it’s the goalkeeper. Common psychological challenges goalkeepers face include; coping with mistakes and bouncing back strongly, dealing with tough and physical opponents, playing the ball out from the back with their feet in uncomfortable situati…
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In the second of 3 episodes created for parents of young people who play football I carry on the conversation about enjoyment on the football pitch. Where on this occasion I introduce the relationship between enjoyment in football, the impact of playing poorly, performance levels and self-esteem. I go on to discuss what self esteem is, what you cou…
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230 How To Help Perfectionists Recapture The Fun Part Of Their Sport #BITESIZE
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Today, with my colleague Dr Alessia Bruno we discuss the downsides to perfectionism and how many athletes can get obsessed by their sports, training harder and harder, pushing themselves to the limit. The result can then be burnout, playing in fear or a lack of enjoyment. Enjoy tuning in! Key Learning Points Sport can be seen as a job by perfection…
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This is the first of 3 episodes created for parents of kids who play football with their enjoyment and the possibility of quitting playing football the topic I discuss today. When thoughts of quitting are considered, it can be very challenging for some parents to navigate as they try to decide the best route to take despite different pressures asso…
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228 Lessons From Overconfident Golfers That Can Help You Perform Better
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A lot of golfers lack confidence and trust in their ability to execute shots and putts and shoot the scores that they are capable of. As a result, they often cause themselves problems by the decisions that they make. Common things I notice are over practicing, reactively practicing, an over reliance on YouTube coaching and a quick fix mentality. On…
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A football coaches role is multi-faceted from being knowledgeable about tactics and technical aspects of the game to being well versed in their understanding of physical attributes and diet. Psycho-social aspects also form a big part of the role too. Developing, managing and disciplining players whilst trying to get the best out of them, day in day…
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226 Helping Athletes Who Have Strong Physiological Responses To Fear #BITESIZE
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Fear is evident in every sport and affects athletes and performers differently. From overthinking to strong physiological responses in an athlete’s body. Decision making is then naturally impeded, impacting performance levels. In today’s episode an inspirational Olympian, Dan Steele offers insights into how he dealt with an accident whilst competin…
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It’s very easy as a football coach to offer short snippets of praise such as “great goal” or “good pass.” However, is this actually helpful for the footballer? In this episode of Demystifying Mental Toughness, the second of a 6 part series I argue that yes it is helpful, especially for those players who gain confidence from coach praise and complim…
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224 How To Help Professional Rugby Players Perform Better Under Pressure #BITESIZE
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In episode #224 of Demystifying Mental Toughness, I share part of a conversation with Aaron Walsh a Mental Performance Coach with many Elite Professional Rugby Players. We discuss whether elite professional rugby union players view mental toughness as something that they can develop, our role as Sports Psychology practitioners in measuring performa…
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In and around most football clubs you’ll hear statements like “this is a MUST win game today,” “we HAVE to get 3 points today” or “great GOAL”. It’s common and very natural to be talking like this, to be talking about outcomes and results - though is it helpful? This is what I unpick in today’s episode of Demystifying Mental Toughness, the 1st of a…
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222 How To Help Athletes Who Freeze Under Pressure #BITESIZE
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Hypoarousal – what is it in a performance context? It is our freeze response, when our mind and body shuts down when we are faced with significant pressure, at least in our own minds. In today’s episode I discuss with Ruth Chiles, author of The Focal Dystonia Cure how athletes and performers who experience this freeze response can help themselves. …
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221 How To Use Pre Performance Routines When The Pressure Is On #BITESIZE
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In today episode, I'm joined by former international cricketer and Senior Leadership Coach, Jeremy Snape. Jeremy and I discuss pressure, where he explains why our brains can be hijacked and hinder our performance. He also shares some great advice on using pre-shot or pre-performance routines as a way of mentally preparing yourself to execute your s…
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220 How To Build Mental Health Literacy In Your Organization #BITESIZE
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In today’s short episode, Dr Paul Gorczynski who has worked with the International Olympic Committee (IOC) shares his knowledge of mental health literacy in particular offering some excellent advice for decision makers in organisations who are looking to develop and implement mental health literacy strategies. Key Learnings Mental health literacy r…
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219 Golfers: How To Improve Your Putting With A Quiet Eye Approach
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Many golfers get drawn into overthinking situations and overanalysing technique which leads to indecision and a lack of trust in putts and shots. Overtime, some players can then become overly anxious and nervous trying to control their movements and misplacing their focus. When putting this can be a big issue for many golfers especially when faced …
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218 Mental Toughness In Football: How To Deal With Criticism #BITESIZE
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In today’s short BITE sized episode HCPC Registered Sport Psychologist, Michael Caulfield tells me about the challenges and pressures that elite professional football brings whether you are a manager or player. He shares his thoughts on what mental toughness is in this environment as well as offering insights into his role as a Sport Psychologist w…
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217 How A Marginal Gains Approach Can Help You Perform Better #BITESIZE
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Marginal gains is an approach that was created by Dave Brailsford with British Cycling which led to many years of success. It’s an holistic approach where you can reflect on your habits and behaviours, looking for small 1% improvements to ensure you give yourself a better chance of success. In this short episode double Olympian and now, a motivatio…
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216 Self-Care: How to Prioritise Rest and Recovery #BITESIZE
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Commitment is the ability to make and keep our promises which some people can find difficult. Especially as our journeys are often littered with challenges whether that is injuries, loss of form, loss of confidence or technical difficulties. In these moments, some athletes work harder but not smarter. Some cultures promote this “you’ve just got to …
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215 How Ice Swimming And Cold Immersion Can Help You Take Control Of Your Destiny
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On this episode of Demystifying Mental Toughness, David talks to Team GB Ice Swimmer, and Owner of H2O Trails, Fenwick Ridley. We chat about ice swimming and mental toughness, cold water immersion and it’s effects on the mind and body. How cold water can have a positive impact on mental health and help you embrace the feelings of discomfort. Feel f…
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214 How To Create Helpful Eating Habits To Benefit Your Sport Performance
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In this episode, Ellen McDermott an Elite Professional Cyclist and Performance Nutritionist, shares her journey from novice to becoming an elite professional cyclist, taking part in the 2023 World Gravel Championships in Italy. She discussed challenges that she has faced and how she has dealt with them. She also shares why a well thought out nutrit…
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213 How To Set Yourself Up For Success In 2024?
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Today, in our first episode of 2024 I am joined by Sandro Forte, an inspirational professional speaker, author and successful entrepreneur. We discuss Sandro’s view on success and how to go about setting your goals for 2024. He also shares with you how to view obstacles and challenges this coming year, as well as sharing how he copes with his “litt…
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212 33 Ideas That Will Optimise Your Performance
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Welcome to episode #212 of Demystifying Mental Toughness! This is the second part of two specially created episodes over the festive period to show our gratitude to our fantastic guests in 2023. The episode is hugely insightful where a number of our guests from this year, share many fantastic takeaways. The messages come from different angles where…
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211 25 Ideas that will boost your Performance and Mental Health
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Welcome to episode #211 of Demystifying Mental Toughness. Today we bring you the 1st of 2 compilation episodes over the festive period. The key takeaways from this episode come from the worlds of sport, business and healthcare. Mental health, burnout, injury recovery, managing difficult conversations and motivation were topics that were unpicked. E…
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210 Why Breathwork is so Powerful
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Have you ever thought about whether you breathe properly? Or do you take breathing for granted as something that we as living humans do automatically? Today’s podcast episode will be a big help to you should you wish to know more about breathwork, where the founder of Influential Breathwork, Anna Parker-Naples and I discuss how our breathing patter…
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209 How To Create Better Decision Makers On The Football Pitch
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Mental toughness development is all about helping people deal with pressure better. In general, you’ll see sports psychology practitioners advocate psychological skills training to create better decision makers in this regards. Our toolkit includes visualisation, cognitive restructuring, strategic goal setting, relaxation and sports hypnosis. In to…
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208 How To Help Footballers Ensure That They Keep Their Foot On The Pedal When Their Team Is Winning
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Today, in the last of this 10-part series for footballer or soccer players, coaches and parents, I talk more about managing expectations, this time when your team is winning comfortably. Many players are guilty of taking their foot off the pedal, going into protect mode individually and collectively when this happens. I share why, because your atte…
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207 And Breathe: How To Prevent, Manage and Master Difficult Conversations
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In business and sporting organisations conflict is widespread and there is a need for leaders and managers to be able to prevent, manage and master difficult conversations to improve the overall culture. As a result, people then feel more respected and valued, job satisfaction improves, as well as performance and the mental health of those involved…
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In episode 206, I add a further step to what I discussed in the previous episode, 204, when I talked about managing expectations. The situation I consider is big matches when football and soccer players can be guilty of focusing too much on opponents. The key message I look to spread includes how you can set process goals to shift your expectations…
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205 Rehabilitation And Returning To Sport: How To Support Injured Athletes
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Today's podcast episode looks at how we as Sports Psychologists support injured athletes. My guest, Dr Carl Bescoby, the Injury Psychologist, goes on to share his knowledge in our discussion about the psychological and emotional difficulties that athletes can face, especially in the case of long-term injuries. Strategies to help athletes during the…
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A phrase you often hear from football managers, coaches and pundits is that football and soccer players “need to manage their expectations.” You also hear that playing “expectation free” is a good thing so that you can play your football with freedom. In episode 204, the 8th of our 10-part series this is the theme that I discuss where I go on to gi…
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203 How Boxing Can Help You Build Up Your Levels Of Resilience
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Episode 203 of The Demystifying Mental Toughness Podcast features Jack Sunderland, a former professional boxer, currently a boxing coach and entrepreneur. Jack goes on to tell me all about the mental and physical challenges that come with the boxing. We also talk about how he helps the local community in West Yorkshire with the social enterprise, T…
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