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Saturday, December 17, 2011
Top 10 Things Coach Lior Doron Does
Friday, December 2, 2011
Top Five Reasons Your Business Should Use Social Media
1. It can increase customer conversion. Around 35% of consumers want to look at businesses facebook, twitter and LinkedIn profiles before buying any product or service. Of those, a massive 70% said they wouldn’t deal with a new company if they didn’t have a social media presence. 
2. It helps customer retention. It is well know that very few customers buy the first time they see and getting customers to sign up to a newsletter on a first visit is extremely difficult. However, directing customers to your facebook and twitter pages provide an easy option for them to follow your business and you can update a greater audience with your special offers and new products.
3. Fantastic for customer service. People spend so much time on social media sites that it is often a preferred method of communication for engaging with businesses. Getting a customer talking can be key to making a sale and the more open you are to engagement the higher your sales conversion rates can be.
4. It’s great for your SEO. The more pages and links you have into your business website the higher it will rank on Google and other search engines. Having pages on facebook, twitter and LinkedIn are a great way for you to control routes to your service.
5. It’s too big to ignore. That’s right, everyone else is on it so you need to protect your brand. Many businesses will at some point have dealt with corporate espionage. Plan ahead and plant your flag. Online social space is valuable territory.
Saturday, November 26, 2011
Mike Deboever believes he wouldn’t perform as well if he didn’t complete his pregame ritual 15 minutes before swimming competitively
“I would be sitting down in the showers. Showers off. Lights off. With my left hand I would be playing with my goggles, flipping them like coins, and I would visualize the race,” said Deboever, owner and personal trainer at the Reebok Crossfit YUL gym in Dollard-des-Ormeaux. “And I would listen to music—always the same [song].”
Deboever would even load different race-starting beeps to his mp3 player just so he could react to the start in his mind.
“They do this with horses at horse races. They ring the bell, so the horse just reacts to that one sound. I worked like that too.
“I needed time to visualize. I needed to see how fast I would do the turns, I needed to know what athlete was in the race with me, and I needed to beat that person in my head first.”
Superstitions like these are now all too common for amateur and professional athletes, and some sports psychologists are even saying mental toughness is more important than being physically prepared.
Pittsburgh Penguins forward Sidney Crosby likes to wear the same hat and pads throughout the season. Phoenix Suns point-guard Steve Nash takes a two-hour nap, and Rafael Nadal takes freezing cold showers prior to a game.
Eric Saulnier, a trainer at Saint-Laurent gym, says the most unusual ritual he’s heard of involves a football player flicking a rubber band to get himself psyched.
“[This gym member] used to listen to a certain song that would get him pumped up for the game. He would ask his psychologist, ‘How could I make that happen on the field?’”
The psychologist suggested a scenario right out of the playbook of famed behaviourist B.F. Skinner. Whenever he started a heavy set at the gym, the football player would snap the rubber band on his wrist, start the song, and begin the set with all his might.
“On the field you can’t play that music, but you can still have that elastic band,” said Saulnier. “So [he would] snap it at important plays, when he knew he really had to perform.”
Rituals like this have become more detailed and meticulous, according to sports psychologist Lior Doron. He says they make athletes mentally tough by reliving good feelings they previously had when performing well, which are brought back up when the ritual is reenacted.
Doron’s worked with the Concordia Stingers soccer and football teams before, and said being mentally prepared through pregame rituals and superstitions allows athletes to feel comfortable.
“Routines guide athletes to success. It soothes them and gives them more confidence,” said Doron. “Overall, it is good to have routines; it’s part of the success formula.”
That being said, it’s important not to let the routine become too important.
“You have to respect the guidelines [when it comes to] a routine. Have it in your control, make sure you’re not dependent on it, and have the mental toughness to be able to rebound back once your routine is set off.”
This mental toughness comes through work done away from the field of play. Doron teaches athletes in a classroom environment to build confidence, so when bad events happen on the field, they have resilience to get up, restart, and compete without getting mired in their thoughts.
“It’s like lifting weights,” said Doron of his mind exercises. “You start off small and then lift more and more.”
In his class there’s a lot of reading, writing and discussions on how an athlete prepares and competes. He gives hints on how to perform in key scenarios, like making basic plays. Where one player might make a perfect pass in practice, in a more pressurized situation, another might drop the ball.
“These players know how to do it; they’ve done it thousands of times,” said Doron. “They’re working on their mental toughness. You can’t just read a book and become mentally tough.”
Doron says mental imagery is key—when an athlete encompasses all senses of game play in their mind, playing 30-second mental clips, rehearsing successful plays, mundane plays, and even failures, like Deboever would do before swimming.
He says being mentally prepared is 95 per cent of the game, and money is being wasted building better facilities for athletes, where they could improve more in a classroom setting.
“What’s undervalued in 2011, and in Canada, is the sports psychology component to playing,” said Doron. “It’s all mental. All athletes are very agile, quick, fast, and strong, but psychologically, the toughest mentally is usually better.”
For a free sports psychology e-learning course, visit flowinsports.com . Fill out the free initial request form by December 1, 2011 and mention “The Link.”
Deboever would even load different race-starting beeps to his mp3 player just so he could react to the start in his mind.
“They do this with horses at horse races. They ring the bell, so the horse just reacts to that one sound. I worked like that too.
“I needed time to visualize. I needed to see how fast I would do the turns, I needed to know what athlete was in the race with me, and I needed to beat that person in my head first.”
Superstitions like these are now all too common for amateur and professional athletes, and some sports psychologists are even saying mental toughness is more important than being physically prepared.
Pittsburgh Penguins forward Sidney Crosby likes to wear the same hat and pads throughout the season. Phoenix Suns point-guard Steve Nash takes a two-hour nap, and Rafael Nadal takes freezing cold showers prior to a game.
Eric Saulnier, a trainer at Saint-Laurent gym, says the most unusual ritual he’s heard of involves a football player flicking a rubber band to get himself psyched.
“[This gym member] used to listen to a certain song that would get him pumped up for the game. He would ask his psychologist, ‘How could I make that happen on the field?’”
The psychologist suggested a scenario right out of the playbook of famed behaviourist B.F. Skinner. Whenever he started a heavy set at the gym, the football player would snap the rubber band on his wrist, start the song, and begin the set with all his might.
“On the field you can’t play that music, but you can still have that elastic band,” said Saulnier. “So [he would] snap it at important plays, when he knew he really had to perform.”
Rituals like this have become more detailed and meticulous, according to sports psychologist Lior Doron. He says they make athletes mentally tough by reliving good feelings they previously had when performing well, which are brought back up when the ritual is reenacted.
Doron’s worked with the Concordia Stingers soccer and football teams before, and said being mentally prepared through pregame rituals and superstitions allows athletes to feel comfortable.
“Routines guide athletes to success. It soothes them and gives them more confidence,” said Doron. “Overall, it is good to have routines; it’s part of the success formula.”
That being said, it’s important not to let the routine become too important.
“You have to respect the guidelines [when it comes to] a routine. Have it in your control, make sure you’re not dependent on it, and have the mental toughness to be able to rebound back once your routine is set off.”
This mental toughness comes through work done away from the field of play. Doron teaches athletes in a classroom environment to build confidence, so when bad events happen on the field, they have resilience to get up, restart, and compete without getting mired in their thoughts.
“It’s like lifting weights,” said Doron of his mind exercises. “You start off small and then lift more and more.”
In his class there’s a lot of reading, writing and discussions on how an athlete prepares and competes. He gives hints on how to perform in key scenarios, like making basic plays. Where one player might make a perfect pass in practice, in a more pressurized situation, another might drop the ball.
“These players know how to do it; they’ve done it thousands of times,” said Doron. “They’re working on their mental toughness. You can’t just read a book and become mentally tough.”
Doron says mental imagery is key—when an athlete encompasses all senses of game play in their mind, playing 30-second mental clips, rehearsing successful plays, mundane plays, and even failures, like Deboever would do before swimming.
He says being mentally prepared is 95 per cent of the game, and money is being wasted building better facilities for athletes, where they could improve more in a classroom setting.
“What’s undervalued in 2011, and in Canada, is the sports psychology component to playing,” said Doron. “It’s all mental. All athletes are very agile, quick, fast, and strong, but psychologically, the toughest mentally is usually better.”
For a free sports psychology e-learning course, visit flowinsports.com . Fill out the free initial request form by December 1, 2011 and mention “The Link.”
Sunday, October 2, 2011
Opportunities For Those With A Master Of Arts In Psychology
A college education was not always required for some careers. Advanced academic degrees were first given in European universities in the Middle Ages; however, these degrees were strictly Doctoral degrees. Master's degrees were not regarded as a grand achievement. They were simply seen as a stepping stone toward eventually receiving a more prized triumph - the PhD. It is a good thing that societal views have changed since then, because a Master of Arts degree offers many opportunities in all fields, but especially in the field of psychology.
A Master of Arts degree differs from a Master of Science degree in the field of psychology. A Master of Arts degree provides students the opportunity to work in the humanities discipline. Classes in the Master of Arts program offer students a more analytical or liberal arts point of view. A Master of Science degree in psychology deals with more empirical sciences and offers a more scientific and research-based program.
Universities and colleges offer various forms of the Master's degree. The Master of Arts degree can be specialized or generalized. For students who wish to enter the mental health field, a Master of Arts with a program specializing in Clinical or Counseling Psychology would be beneficial. A more generalized program benefits students who are unsure as to which field of psychology they want to work in.
Some universities provide a terminal degree. A terminal degree means that students end the program with a Master's degree. Other universities offer doctoral programs that offer Master's degrees on the way to getting the Doctoral degree. Individuals in these types of programs are not advised to stop at the Master's level, but to continue on with the Doctoral program.
A Master of Arts degree provides training for entry-level careers in psychology, as well as the possibility to get a license to practice in specific fields of applied psychology. A Master of Arts degree is ideal for students who have somewhat of an idea of the professional path they want to eventually take. A Master's degree in psychology does not qualify graduates to open their own independent practices nor provides them the title of "psychologist." Many programs in psychology, including specialized programs, offer students a variety of classes in order to help clarify career options.
Not all students coming out of college with a Bachelor's degree knows what they want to do with their lives. Master's programs are appropriate for individuals who want to branch out into a new field of study and need more schooling to decide if the industry is right for them.
Typical careers for an individual with a Master of Arts degree in psychology include entry-level jobs in mental health, industrial-organizational psychology, forensic psychology, education, private business, and the government. Although these jobs are entry-level positions, they offer knowledge and experience to those individuals who may not be sure if they want to continue education in the field of psychology after attaining a graduate degree.
A Master of Arts degree differs from a Master of Science degree in the field of psychology. A Master of Arts degree provides students the opportunity to work in the humanities discipline. Classes in the Master of Arts program offer students a more analytical or liberal arts point of view. A Master of Science degree in psychology deals with more empirical sciences and offers a more scientific and research-based program.
Universities and colleges offer various forms of the Master's degree. The Master of Arts degree can be specialized or generalized. For students who wish to enter the mental health field, a Master of Arts with a program specializing in Clinical or Counseling Psychology would be beneficial. A more generalized program benefits students who are unsure as to which field of psychology they want to work in.
Some universities provide a terminal degree. A terminal degree means that students end the program with a Master's degree. Other universities offer doctoral programs that offer Master's degrees on the way to getting the Doctoral degree. Individuals in these types of programs are not advised to stop at the Master's level, but to continue on with the Doctoral program.
A Master of Arts degree provides training for entry-level careers in psychology, as well as the possibility to get a license to practice in specific fields of applied psychology. A Master of Arts degree is ideal for students who have somewhat of an idea of the professional path they want to eventually take. A Master's degree in psychology does not qualify graduates to open their own independent practices nor provides them the title of "psychologist." Many programs in psychology, including specialized programs, offer students a variety of classes in order to help clarify career options.
Not all students coming out of college with a Bachelor's degree knows what they want to do with their lives. Master's programs are appropriate for individuals who want to branch out into a new field of study and need more schooling to decide if the industry is right for them.
Typical careers for an individual with a Master of Arts degree in psychology include entry-level jobs in mental health, industrial-organizational psychology, forensic psychology, education, private business, and the government. Although these jobs are entry-level positions, they offer knowledge and experience to those individuals who may not be sure if they want to continue education in the field of psychology after attaining a graduate degree.
A Master of Arts degree in psychology offers students the opportunity to clarify whether they want to continue to get a Doctoral degree, or simply stop at the Master's level. Whether the individual goes on to get a Doctoral degree or not, a Master of Arts degree will open many doors for growth and success in the field of psychology. Perhaps you can even earn an online Master's, as long as its an accredited degree.
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