The Most Accomplished People in the World Have Coaches for This…
Noah Lyles is the fastest person in the world right now.
He’s got the world champion title in both the 100 and 200 meter sprints last year and he’s chasing the World Record in those events, held by Jamaica’s Usain Bolt. Noah is one to watch in the upcoming 2024 Olympic Track & Field events.
In the docuseries on Peacock called “Untitled: the Noah Lyles Project,” they highlight the details of his life and training in preparation for running some of the fastest sprinting races in history. I love this because I was a sprinter in high school and college, but seeing how the professionals train is fascinating!
Noah Lyles on Youtube: “My KEY to Winning, How I VISUALIZE Before My Races... Sprint Talk with Diana McNab”
In “Untitled”, the first person they introduce is Diana McNab, Noah Lyle’s mental sport performance coach, who he calls his “sports therapist” (this made me smile because I have some clients call me their “career therapist”). He’s worked with her for over a decade, since he was a sophomore in high school.
Noah Lyles speaks about having ADHD. Diana adjusted her coaching to teach Noah things while he was moving …because he was always moving, dancing, fidgeting. As an ADHDer, I so appreciate this!
Even now, before every track meet, he has a virtual session with Diana to work on his mental preparation before and during races. Not only do they create a race plan together, they do visualization exercises so he can internally “see” himself feeling good, being ready, and doing what he needs to stay calm, cool, and collected in these highly stressful situations. Visualizations are a proven method to enhance athletes’ performances. Michael Phelps, the most-decorated Olympian of all time, with 28 medals, 23 of which are gold, is famous for this.
Noah Lyles is one example of the many, many accomplished people in the world - in sports, business, entertainment, world leaders - who have coaches to help them with the mental and emotional side of doing big things. Because doing big things, including making major life and career changes, often means big emotions and stress. That’s normal. A coach can help you figure out what you need to self-regulate your stress and stay focused so you can do the big thing you set out to do.
This week, one of my new clients, who plans to leave her toxic job and make a new career move, told me that the visualization exercises we did in her previous session really stuck with her. She admits she has a history of shying away from talking about herself and claiming her accomplishments. After only one coaching session together, in the times she needed to stand up for herself, talk about her skills and talents, and not worry about others’ judgment, she remembered the new tools in her toolkit from our session.
Coaching is magic. It’s not only helping you create a plan of action to accomplish your goals, it’s also making sure that you have the self-assurance, self-compassion, and self-advocacy tools to feel good navigating any challenge in life, beyond your career.
If you are looking to do big things and need a coach to help you stay cool, calm, and self-assured along the way, set up an exploratory session with me to learn more about coaching together.
Racing in the state high school championships. Our relay team went on to earn multiple state records and champion titles. Photo by Christopher Kalafarski.
Racing track in college, contributing to team records and championships that year. Photo by Brian McCormick.
