Summary

(03:37) Lorna’s ambition to run her own business

• Inspired by her father’s self-employment

• It’s enabled her to work in a niche area

(04:53) What drew Lorna to psychology

• She is a natural listener

• A desire to have a career that involves working with people

(05:44) The difference between a coaching psychologist and a traditional psychologist

• Coaching psychology is very future-oriented and for the non-clinical population

(07:16) Successes from coaching psychology

• Identifying the barrier that stops people from achieving their goals

• ‘The person has the answer within themselves’

• Sustainable change comes from small incremental changes

(10:28) The key elements of high performance psychology

• Mental toughness

• Being able to handle stress and to see the growth opportunities

• Focus on your strengths to boost your motivation

(13:07) The impact of coaching remotely

• Easier for one-to-one coaching sessions

• It is difficult to maintain the right energy for team sessions

(15:47) What makes a high performing team?

• Communication is key

• The need for psychological safety

• Have compassion towards yourself and others

(20:56) The components of lasting, sustainable change

• We fall back into old habits if we don’t tell the right story to ourselves

• Develop self-awareness

• Be willing to change

(23:01) The definition of mental toughness

• It’s a personality trait

• We are 50% nature and 50% nurture

• Identify where the person’s fear is coming from, and what needs to change in order to move forward

• The power of visualisation

(35:46) Box breathing

• Inhale for four seconds, hold for four seconds, exhale for four seconds, hold for four seconds

• It calms the fight or flight response and engages with the parasympathetic nervous system

• Helps you to think clearly in the moment

• The Navy SEALs use it

(37:15) The comfort zone

• Mental toughness is a spectrum

• The opposite of mental toughness is mental sensitivity

(39:56) Common insights from psychometric testing

• Mental Toughness Questionnaire

• ‘Any psychometric test is the beginning of a conversation’

• Use the results as a way to evaluate your development through a coaching program

(43:43) Coaching on the Wimp2Warrior program

• It’s Mixed Martial Arts-based transformational program

• You train five mornings a week for 20 weeks

• It’s a physical and mental transformation

(48:08) How Mixed Martial Arts is great for the mind

• It helps you let go of the ego

• It makes you embrace vulnerability, which is where growth comes from

• Lorna trains in jiu-jitsu

(50:57) The power of positive self-talk

• Practise ‘catching’ your negative self-talk

• Become aware of any themes

• Practise saying ‘I can’ instead of ‘I can’t’

• It’s very difficult to practise positive self-talk at the start, but trust the process

(58:34) Lessons from sport that can be brought into the workplace

• Athletes embrace vulnerability

• ‘Anyone can be a great winner, but it’s about what makes you a great loser’

• Engage in regular reflection

(01:01:41) Lorna’s interest in the Flow State

• The idea that psychological fulfilment comes from a balance of positive emotions, engagement, relationships, meaning and accomplishments

• It’s a state that can be coached

• It’s powerful to learn the different states for the flow state, and that it starts from a challenge

• There are 19 known environmental conditions that contribute towards the flow state

• The state sits at the heart between confidence and anxiety

(01:11:00) Popular coaching psychology questions Lorna asks her clients

• ‘What would that look like?’

(01:18:33) The impact of the pandemic and people working from home

• It’s hard to maintain the flow state when you’re at home with the family

• Lorna encouraged clients to be creative about getting into their flow state during lockdown and isolation

(01:21:15) The ‘negative’ flow state

• Interesting research by Steven Kotler

• The dark sideof the flow state is that it can become an addictive habit

• 01:22:47The definition of emotional intelligence

• It’s ‘your ability to understand and manage your emotions and the emotions of others’

• In practice, it means you don’t get hijacked by your emotions