It was a true pleasure to discover the work and passion of Sonya Looney, a professional athlete, mountain bike champion, podcast host, health and mental performance coach. Her enthusiasm, laughter, and insights are contagious!

There are many golden nuggets in this conversation: how to skillfully manage comparison thoughts, rumination, self-doubt, shame, values-based strategies, and much more.

Key Takeaways

• The mindset of an athlete
• The upsides and downsides of over-preparing and over-working
• How to skillfully manage unpredictability
• Acceptance of emotions
• How to deal with a strong attachment to goals or winning
• Defusion: thought – labeling
• Goodhart’s law
• How to manage physical fatigue using acceptance & defusion skills
• How to go back to your values when your mind gets noisy
• How to manage comparison thoughts
• ABC of resilience

About Sonya Looney

Sonya Looney is a professional athlete, podcast host, health and mental performance coach. As a professional mountain biker, she’s raced in over 25 countries, been World Champion, 4x USA National Champion, and amassed 20+ career wins in endurance mountain biking.

Her work encompasses the intersection of performance, health, and well-being. Her dynamic experience racing around the world, paired with a graduate education in Electrical/Biomedical Engineering, her Health Coaching Certification, and extended personal studies in Neuroscience, Positive Psychology, and Plant-Based Nutrition, have been a powerful way to connect and understand herself and others.

Sonya is passionate about the integration of high performance and well-being through psychology, contemplative practices, and sport.

In her work, she explores topics like grit, mindset, self-worth, purpose, success, happiness, and healthy striving.