Mentale Stärke trainieren: Was wir von Profis lernen

 

Dr. Peter Schneider ist Psychologe und Coach sowie Gründer von Mental Performance and Regeneration. Er arbeitet mit Profis aus dem Leistungssport, darunter auch im Fußballbereich, und begleitet Elite-AthletInnen rund um mentale Performance und Regeneration.

Mehr zu Dr. Peter Schneider:https://www.peterschneider-mpr.com/

 

160 Mental Strength: What We Can All Learn From Elite Athletes. With Dr. Peter Schneider

 [Peter Schneider] (0:00 - 0:21)

Those words, if you hear, if you hear yeah but coming out of your mouth, you're in reactionary mode.  It's probably one of the best advice I also give to people.

 

I say, if you hear yeah but coming out of your mouth, that means you didn't listen to what the person just said, you just need to match something that they just said. So you did, you got a point, so I need to get a point.

 

[Nils Behrens] (0:22 - 1:20)

Welcome to HEALTHWISE, the health and longevity podcast brought to you by Sunday Natural. I'm Nils Behrens and in this podcast we explore what it truly means to be healthy. Together we will dive into topics such as medicine, exercise, nutrition and emotional well-being.

 

Always with a wise perspective on what generally benefits us. We live in a world where everyone talks about mental strength but few really know what it feels like when life's pushed you to the wall. True mental performance isn't about pushing harder but about staying connected to yourself when the pressure rises.

 

Dr. Peter Schneider is psychologist, coach and founder of Mental Performance and Regeneration. He has worked with some of Europe's most elite football players but his work reached far beyond this pitch. His research focused on helping people access clarity, emotional balance and sustainable high performance in everyday life and so I say welcome to the show Dr. Peter Schneider.

 

[Peter Schneider] (1:20 - 1:23)

Thank you very much Nils. I'm looking forward to the conversation.

 

[Nils Behrens] (1:24 - 1:30)

Dr. Schneider reminds me a little bit on this New Year's Eve thing dinner for one.

 

[Peter Schneider] (1:31 - 1:31)

Yes.

 

[Nils Behrens] (1:31 - 1:32)

You know it?

 

[Peter Schneider] (1:33 - 1:52)

After living 20 years in Germany I've been forced to watch this a few times. I've had a few nicknames of the days. Admiral von Schneider is one I've gotten as well.

 

Once I became a doctor it became very very easy with this but yeah dinner for one is you can't live in Germany without seeing this.

 

[Nils Behrens] (1:52 - 1:53)

Is it such a German thing?

 

[Peter Schneider] (1:54 - 2:02)

Yes. Yes. So I grew up in the States and that's definitely something I had never heard of.

 

I guess it's British actually.

 

[Nils Behrens] (2:03 - 2:03)

Yeah maybe.

 

[Peter Schneider] (2:03 - 2:11)

I think it's actually a British show.

 

I recall. But yeah it's a classic. All my German friends are big fans.

 

[Nils Behrens] (2:12 - 2:17)

So anyhow Peter how important are Sundays for your own mental health reset?

 

[Peter Schneider] (2:18 - 2:57)

They're really important. They're really cool. Sundays you know were always family days back home.

 

My mother was always someone that said you know get up go to church come back have the family pot roast that kind of thing. So Sundays are kind of about a spiritual religious kind of yeah we can say regeneration but just a reset. We have the whole day and then this is the day that we kind of we rest and for us family was a big thing.

 

It's something that I with my daughter for example and my wife we usually have pancakes or waffles we have that part as well that we sit together on Sunday and really try to to yeah have a little bit of a ritual.

 

[Nils Behrens] (2:58 - 3:03)

That's what I would like to ask. So you have a ritual or routine which is more or less the same?

 

[Peter Schneider] (3:04 - 3:25)

Yeah so when I worked in football it was very difficult. Sundays were often for player regeneration meaning that I would be working. However when I would get back with the first things we do we say okay as soon as I'm back you know Dad comes home we make pancakes waffles we do something together and then basically it's it's family time.

 

It's very very important.

 

[Nils Behrens] (3:25 - 3:44)

So nice nice. So you mentioned already you work with athletes who face extreme pressure. So especially I would say soccer football has even a higher let's say status in comparison to the to the States.

 

I would say maybe then in States more American football or basketball or baseball things like that but in Germany soccer is a big thing.

 

[Peter Schneider] (3:44 - 3:44)

Correct.

 

[Nils Behrens] (3:45 - 3:53)

So and what can someone I would say juggling job family and everyday demands learn from the way pros handle stress?

 

[Peter Schneider] (3:54 - 4:57)

You know the thing that pros do the best ones is really define time after really hard work to then recover and and regenerate and and allow their bodies to gain enough energy so for the next day they can give a hundred percent again. This is this is the thing we talk about guys who who last until they're 25 or the guys that last until they're 35 right and it is the mix of both physical and mental both stress and then recovery and what we're finding more and more and we've talked about European football level Champions League and things like this then you have Euro Cups and World Cups these guys they don't really have these long long breaks so they kind of have to force these breaks in between and this is probably something we always have to kind of be careful right so that the average man the average Joe is we always kind of say in the States you know he's working his nine-to-five Monday to Friday he looks at a football player an athlete and he thinks to himself that guy trains two hours and then he's got the rest of the day off.

 

 

 

[Nils Behrens] (4:58 - 5:01)

Goes into his Bugatti and drives into the sunset.

 

[Peter Schneider] (5:01 - 6:55)

So right yeah and he's not wrong in that sense whereas the you know the bus driver or the plumber or the teacher or you know whatever job we wanted to take or even the accountant yeah they're not wrong in that sense however that football player knows that they're there they are gonna have to perform in front of 60,000 people on the weekend plus TV audience plus whoever and so this kind of really hard stress where you say okay I'm really working hard for two three hours a day I'm really focused but then I'm also taking two three hours to really recover my body my mind and get really mentally ready for the next day and the next day because it just keeps going keeps going. With exact as I said with this knowledge that I'm probably going to be judged on 90 minutes of my life for the next week by every single person I come in contact with for the next for the next six seven days that's something that a football has to deal with right. As a as an average person what I find I try to tell them is learn that you really also need to find a way to recover for yourself and that doesn't mean go on autopilot that doesn't mean just come home and turn on Netflix that really means actively find ways to recover and you know I've also had this conversation with with an average person where they say well with two kids or three kids driving them through their own practices and this and that when am I supposed to do that it's a very fair question and there's not a you know there's not a single one fits all answer for that but there is an answer for it and it really just then becomes for that person okay where how what exactly can allow me to recover so if you're going to take something from professional athletes really nowadays take take this one piece of information that they really find ways to recover because if they don't they will they won't be able to perform consistently.

 

[Nils Behrens] (6:56 - 7:46)

Yeah it's really interesting what you're saying because especially you're saying is this 90 minutes and and you say 60,000 people and and I had a really interesting experience where while Covid and I won a ticket from the lottery to go into the stadium doing a match and I think we were in total 5,000 people something like that so in Hamburg with normally 57,000 people so and what was quite interesting then because when then some of the fans were complaining and saying hey you're such an idiot or something like that the player could hear it right so because normally when you're in a stadium with 57,000 people the noise overall is so.

 

[Peter Schneider] (7:46 - 7:48)

Massive yeah mass noise but not like this

 

[Nils Behrens] (7:49 - 9:07)

Not this particular voice but you really see that someone was really shouting against one of the player and then the player really reacted and and this was quite interesting to see so at the end is for the players maybe better that they are 60,000 people instead of just 5,000 because you can't let's say they won't hear what the people are exactly addressing to them but I had an interview with Arne Friedrich he was one of the national football players from years ago and and he also mentioned about the opening match of the World Championship 2006 it was Germany against Costa Rica and so at the end we win the game but he made a mistake and I didn't remember it but he said he was really it was such a big question mark on his person on his performance on everything just because of this one mistake he made doing this match which let's see is it more or less a whole football interested world we're looking at and have you made experience like this in your work with the athletes that they are really let's say had a situation like this where they had such a pressure such a let's say also question mark on the things they are doing

 

[Peter Schneider] (9:07 - 11:25)

absolutely great question there's best example would be things like when we've been to the German Cup final twice the DFB Pokal final twice with with RB the furthest I went in the European scene was the Europa Pokal in the UEFA it's not the Champions League but the one below the Euroleague semi-final where I've seen pressure really really on a player's face where I've really seen them noticing it and and and feeling it and it's it's it's hard to describe that even though there are 60,000 people screaming around you maybe you think they're giving you pressure or trying to support you one of the most astounding things so as working with Leipzig of course not everyone's favorite club in Germany we were against Freiburg in the first final that we that I was a part of we ended up winning and the Freiburg fans were just rabid they were just loud and it was just about how they're gonna just eat us alive and yet one of the experiences that some of the players talked to me about is it's not the 30 40,000 Freiburg fans that make you nervous it's your own voice in your head so there's 40,000 voices telling you you're the worst you're terrible there's not there's maybe 20,000 saying go you're the best and yet it's the one in your own head that really is causing the greatest amount of pressure the greatest amount of question marks the only one that really matters in that sense you know there's a couple other voices the coaches or maybe a teammate I mean your mother's voice in your head your father's voice in your head they stick there but at the end of the day it's it's really just your recreation of their voice in in your own head right and so this is one of those fascinating things is if you're able to can't control the voice in your head I never believed that that's not possible it's not how it works however if you can try to train your voice to be as positive as possible as supportive as possible and even if it is negative except that that's a very human normal thing in that moment and those finals and those big big games you'll be able to perform

 

[Nils Behrens] (11:25 - 11:47)

yeah but nevertheless I think it's pretty, hard and I would say this and this in Tibetanian word it's called Shiva and it's made in self-compassion yeah and and is it something which is relevant in your work to train your clients or your people on a way of self-compassion so that means that you are treating yourself like a best friend instead of I don't know your worst enemy.

 

[Peter Schneider] (11:47 - 12:48)

great way to put it right so the balance then becomes 100% true we have this negativity bias anyways right so perfect example the you know Anne Friedrich you're talking about he's talking about a situation in a game it was the first game of the World Cup we're talking the World Cup right so biggest games home World Cup by the way was in Germany you know and so he's thinking every single person in Germany clearly remembers the mistake from Anne Friedrich and I'm sure there are quite a few fans that's oh yes I definitely remember this I don't either for example I remember 4-2 I remember a massive goal from 40 yards out I think from from Torsten Frings I think at that time I'm getting that memory right but like these things everybody those emotions I remember as a fan watching this as a fan there's a fan not as a psychologist but of course that player he's gonna take probably one of the most negative events with him he's gonna carry it with him then the next match even for the rest of his life yeah yeah right so it's now it

 

[Nils Behrens] (12:48 - 12:52)

is more 19 years ago years ago and he's still talking about it exactly it's

 

[Peter Schneider] (12:52 - 13:30)

absolutely anchored in there right and so this is this is exactly what you're talking about self-compassion understanding that hey Anne Friedrich do you want how many players have made mistakes at this level at higher levels at lower levels all these types of things right and understanding that even Anne Friedrich is human yeah right or even you know some people think Manuel Neuer maybe is not he but he's also human absolutely they're all human all these top top athletes they're still human at the end of the day right and so it becomes this balance of self-compassion of forgiving yourself being kind yourself being your own best friend without inflating your ego no

 

[Nils Behrens] (13:30 - 13:45)

no definitely not but I think this is what you are when you're doing a mistake and you have a really true best friend yeah he wouldn't say no you did it great

 

[Peter Schneider] (13:45 - 14:09)

that's a wonderful point and this is where because what happens then if you're if your ego takes over it's a form of self-protection you did it great you're fine you're wonderful right instead of saying as you're really putting it really well best friend says hey man you're you did this mistake and you're still a great person yeah it's it's both are true right so that's a really good point I like that yeah so to

 

[Nils Behrens] (14:09 - 15:29)

To all our female listeners because 70% of our listeners are normally females so maybe if they are not so football interested I'm now I can can promise you we are leaving the football area more or less in a minute I just have one more question in terms of pressure because I really found it so yeah unbelievable I must really say because also this is something I didn't have in my mind when you see the documentary about David Beckham and when you see then in the World Championship and he made this one thing which give him a penalty red card and then he had to leave the the match and then yeah England has lost the match and went out of the championship and and so the whole nation hates him yeah even the manager wasn't on his side and made some negative comments on television in a situation like this he was maybe I think 24 25 beginning of the 20s so now from your point of view as a psychologist so is this something you would say can really break a person completely because I'm really astonished that he's not completely broken after that

 

[Peter Schneider] (15:29 - 17:18)

the short answer is yes absolutely it can. it's again there's a book recently released by Mel Robbins called "let them" which is quite popular right now I know it and I think that's I think that's kind of was his David Beckham's kind of defense on these things it's kind of let let them talk let them say what they want about me let the coach say what they want about me I need to be I need to be me I need to focus on me I need it I know what I can do I know I made a mistake I know I can be better the short answer is absolutely yes I don't know how how he chose to deal with it the way in which I when I remember this event as well and then following the rest of his career it he just seemed like someone who kind of was used to just ignoring these types of not negative criticisms but what he found to be unjust criticisms he himself now that's his own moral compass everyone has their own own way of putting this we know whatever the coach said or what fans said you know that's for other people to judge I think again I think that's it's it's a very pivotal point I think that that's a great point though that everyone can learn from is is you can just take that little bit whether you like David Beckham or England or even football you can really take that one little bit from him and say okay with all these people that I kind of fought for and played for and gave everything for and was passionate for and all of a sudden yeah I made a massive mistake and they just seemed to turn on me a lot of people just turned on him and he just said okay I'll accept that they're human too that they're gonna have their voices they're gonna have their criticism and I'm gonna continue with my career I don't think it was easy for him I wasn't there I wasn't next to him

 

[Nils Behrens] (17:18 - 17:45)

I would say it was also at a time where let's say have some psychological support on your side wasn't so common this is it's now 25 years ago or something like that and then I would say also to get help especially as a man also in such a masculine world like football asking for psychological help I would say it wasn't common at all

 

[Peter Schneider] (17:45 - 18:54)

correct correct that's very true yeah it's come a long way it's changed we focus a lot of things of course of course focusing on what we like to say is that mental performance granted a healthy mind is essential for a great and consistent performance again it doesn't have to always seem you know we talk of course you know very well about prevention and and a lot of times for example for me I talk a lot about mental flexibility rather than mental strength in the sense that I'd like to make you so mentally flexible that when these hits come when the downsides come when the the negative experiences come you're able to absorb that and continue then to grow from it and rise above it and so this is something as well that I think I think back then some guys probably had it in there you know in their back pocket and weren't talking about it as much and now it's kind of progressed to people say okay how can we build this into our systems and training again not just young footballers but young athletes to to be well-rounded mentally flexible and and and and good people at the end of the day

 

[Nils Behrens] (18:54 - 19:15)

so this really leads me just perfectly to my next question so now I'm going and going back to my my female listeners so many women live and I would say they're living with an invisible mental note so responsibility perfectionism emotional caretaking how can they protect their energy without feeling like they are letting someone down

 

[Peter Schneider] (19:15 - 19:28)

so how can they protect their their own energy without without so they keep their energy

 

[Nils Behrens] (19:28 - 20:37)

the thing is when and let's say when they doing something for themselves yeah very often it's the last person they are thinking okay I get you so because they have to the children have to be ready or the children have to be happy maybe it's a husband sometimes sometimes you want to make a career you want to be good-looking you want to be in shape you want to I don't know being some of them also want to be as a perfect tradwife I don't know but but for me I would say in the in the past in the very past let's say in the classical classical way women just have to look pretty and take care of the children and then there's a household and things like that nowadays they still have to look pretty they still have to take care of their children but in addition they also have to be let's say making a good career they also have to be so I would say the overall mental load is much higher nowadays for all of us but I would say especially for women because they still have this traditional role plus the additional modern role

 

[Peter Schneider] (20:37 - 24:52)

right so yeah Wow great question not an easy answer I think most of your questions won't have easy answers today but that's the point you know I think speaking again as a from a performance psychologist point of view someone who focuses literally on how do I perform mentally how do I regenerate well enough so that I can can be consistent every single day I think women today they really to find that local support I'm gonna be I'm gonna I'm gonna take a take a big stand on this I think it's very important and what they mean is not find your village it's kind of this like this concept not not just finding your support online finding the things you like the things you can connect to we can find our interests online very quickly we can find things that of course we want to maybe compare ourselves to and it's the very very common bias to compare yourself always to the one step just a little bit better right would they just have that one extra bedroom or they have they seem to have a dryer not just a washer that washer and dryer whatever the tiny thing is right or they have the next step in the career they're up one step up the ladder already and they're two years younger whatever it is but we look at that one thing better than us we don't look at that thing very often that's maybe one less than us it doesn't really give us such a satisfaction to be like well I have one little thing better or I'm one step higher than oh I look the other way I want to progress I want to do things so I think one of the biggest ways to save energy is to get offline really as much as possible you get on there to to get some great ideas to connect to certain to certain things that interest you without a doubt do your best to really invest your energy in your local village and what that mean is even in the city so I live in a city I've lived in a city my whole life I've recently moved into a small you know block if you will it's like a small courtyard area and there's there's two buildings that look right across from each other and there's about I have a daughter's four years old and there's four five six seven other families who have kids between three and sixteen seventeen eighteen and before we just moved in here a couple years ago and before life just seemed very very difficult for my wife a lot of times and things like just basic ideas of like who am I gonna if I need some help I need to call somebody to do need to get some more done but I want to work on my career I want to do these things and what we found now is with this local community she feels so much more empowered you know to share that little story I think that really helps her a lot and it helps me a lot as a family helps our daughter a lot and I I think it's scary though to really knock on doors next to you and kind of find that little local community but what I've noticed is these little quick dinners with each other's kids or or even our neighbor walks our dog though the 14 year old girl she really likes a dog she takes a dog for that saves you 20 minutes save you 25 minutes and and she's happy the dog's happy you know and then she started talking to our daughter she starts babysitting for our daughter now as well we start going on dates which we've had one difficulty going on just because we have a kid and this is like this this tiny little piece of advice I would really give a lot of women and and because I don't have all the answers but I think this is one that's I've found to be a really great recipe for success is if you have people close by that you can count on that you can rely on it not just doesn't just save you energy it really gives you energy it's very rewarding it's a very difficult it's not an easy step I don't think it's an easy step but I guess as someone who's moved to a foreign country doesn't have their parents around them anymore all these types of things it's it's really about finding this kind of local local community

 

[Nils Behrens] (24:52 - 25:15)

yeah yeah I would agree just one question concerning gender in general you said difference in mental strengths a gender difference or would you say they're just let's say cultural stories that we are repeating

 

[Peter Schneider] (25:18 - 25:54)

oh yeah they're absolutely differences in terms of all the people that I've worked I've worked with women's teams I've worked with men's teams in my in my career they have different needs in general we're talking in general again one I'll give you an example something I think you read like I was recently talking to a former to a fellow psychologist about analyzing men's and women's professional football team and he said that in his in his review of the of the players gestures that the men were staggeringly more emotional than the women.

 

[Nils Behrens] (25:54 - 26:02)

oh really, that's interesting

 

[Peter Schneider] (26:02 - 27:42)

so in terms of missing a shot or a bad pass or a bad time or something happening or something great happened the men showed much greater amounts of emotion on average than the women during a 90-minute game the women communicated unbelievably amounts to each other with gestures with with obviously with words but they were found to be overly communicative with one another about where to be where to stand do this do that and and help each other assist each other I think this is a lot when we look at then of course how women feel and men feel maybe about what support they need whether they're willing to admit it or not is that men have this need for their emotional release and this emotional support let's say probably don't always admit as much as they would like I don't experience I can talk about with women and I think we may be pushed towards the emotional support and think oh that's traditionally a woman needs more emotions sometimes it seems well it seems at least by what what this last thing had study that said is actually they just want good clear communication they want clear communication clear defined roles they want to know who needs to be where what needs to do they have this need to really communicate with one another so I think that's one of the more scientific cool answers to that question is about what differences really play out between men and women at least in a sport setting it but I wouldn't be so surprised to see them playing out in professional settings and family settings as well

 

[Nils Behrens] (27:42 - 27:52)

yeah very interesting so now if he takes a gender differences by side if you have to define mental strengths and just a single sentence yeah what would it be

 

[Peter Schneider] (27:52 - 28:11)

ooh mental strength as I said I use the word it's it's mental flexibility it's the it's the it's the ability to have an extremely positive or negative experience and still remain constant that's really the most important thing

 

[Nils Behrens] (28:11 - 28:24)

okay cool you often also talk about emotional clarity what does that mean?

 

[Peter Schneider] (28:24 - 29:51)

so this is where probably one of the biggest practices come in place for me and that's meditation and emotional clarity is really understanding the emotions that are going on throughout the day okay so it's not about not being emotional not being blank not being bland nothing like that as anyone who knows me that would be the complete opposite and quite emotional person it's really about understanding what emotion is happening what what is affecting me right now and if I have the time to reflect and say okay what is causing this emotional response so again I mentioned this meditation at the beginning because for me it's it's kind of a start in the morning of all right what am I maybe carrying with me through the night or from the previous day what what am I thinking about my expectations for this day and then towards the end of the day you know a cool down meditation or so it's kind of a you know what did I learn today what was good today what really got me going today it's something I actually do with my four-year-old daughter when I put her to bed is you know she doesn't know she's doing meditation that doesn't matter but it's about being a mindful moment of what was really good today what was one thing that really made you happy today was something that made you really sad today just these two kinds of highs and lows to try to teach her what I would consider is emotional clarity just understanding I have emotions what they are where they come from

 

[Nils Behrens] (29:51 - 29:57)

okay would this also be your advice how we can develop it in the middle of a chaotic week

 

[Peter Schneider] (29:57 - 30:08)

oh if we have the time absolutely absolutely again I wouldn't be one of those persons who says you always have the five minutes whether or not the five minutes is enough or not is of course a whole different story.

 

[Nils Behrens] (30:08 - 30:16)

When you look how many minutes that people are spending on Netflix or Instagram or tik-tok or you name it I would say five minutes are easy to find.

 

[Peter Schneider] (30:16 - 31:36)

It's easy to find it's the same thing with working out in general you can find you know the time to work out you can time to invest it is that you also need this vegetation time as I would call it you need this Netflix time it exists it has its own purpose I don't think it's a negative thing in general but yeah that's the five minutes in a chaotic week or ten minutes on a day in a chaotic week are gold and they won't necessarily feel like that at the beginning it might seem like a big waste of time at the beginning because you're sitting there and your thoughts are while you're thinking I need to stop my thoughts or I need to calm you know I can't be thinking no really what that's doing is it's just allowing you to recognize that your brain is completely I would say scrambled eggs as a good metaphor and maybe you do need to not just take the ten minutes maybe you need 15 20 minutes it again as you said everyone can maybe find that time if they really want right but then it's it's really about taking that time 15 minutes and and really just listening to what kind of thoughts are going in if you listen long enough it will become clear

 

[Nils Behrens] (31:36 - 32:14)

yeah no I and I just recently wrote a book and and I also have a little chapter about meditation I said one of the biggest misunderstanding from my point of view is really that the people are expecting that meditation means thinking nothing because for me I'd also describe it more a little bit like clouds you see the clouds are coming but you also have to let them go yeah and I think this is the most important part of it but if you really I would say even the most experienced people on meditation are not that they are all still have thoughts

 

[Peter Schneider] (32:14 - 32:54)

yeah I'm pretty sure yeah I would think that I hope they have thoughts yeah. I'm like it's a great thing so for you as well though you you've met if you if you meet these people I know you've got to meet a lot of a lot of clear-minded people strong-willed people it doesn't seem that they they have a thought or thought process where they don't have negative thoughts you you see it doesn't seem like every single thing that comes out of their out of their mouth is just perfectly articulate right so they themselves are also working through you and you yourself and you must that we're always working through how how do I want to formulate this how is my brain working through this emotion to this yeah

 

[Nils Behrens] (32:54 - 33:35)

rightly I just was as a guest in a podcast yesterday where there are two let's say founders in Germany extremely successful so and and even they have still an imposter syndrome yeah and and I was really astonished to hear that but nevertheless you see you can't get rid of it completely so there are always moments where you think you are an imposter so yeah I'm pretty sure so but but when you we we talk about let's say how do you teach people I would say self-leadership when the outside world is completely out of their control.

 

[Peter Schneider] (33:35 - 37:37)

oh yeah you know this is this is this kind of boils down to the the one you know I say the one voice you can control is the one inside your head and as I said at the beginning I don't think you can I don't think you can control the voice I think you can train the voice to try to be again more say positive or more more supportive I think you can do that you're talking about self-leadership and chaotic world is a great way to put it it's it's really about what are the things that I can control in a day and there are quite a few what are the things I can control and how do I how do I perceive them how do I want to to to let's say how do I want to carry them out so the things that I can do I'm gonna do them as well as I possibly can right because I get to control that whether or not that person likes that another person likes that another person criticizes it that's again that that goes out of my control really quickly we realize very quickly what how little we control right that's sometimes a it's a terrifying thought in some ways right how little we control in the universe but it's also very freeing in the sense of okay I have this tiny little things that I can really influence and I'd like to do that and I'd like to do that in a way that's important to me and so when I talk about self-leadership I work a lot with the ACT model acceptance and commitment therapy and one of the biggest things that there is really just staying in the present moment but acting in a way that's in accordance to our to our values so if I stay in the moment that's the first important thing because if I'm here now that means I can I have control over the here and now I don't have control over the past or the future it doesn't happen right all we have is now right and the next thing of course is I have to act in a way that that I believe in that that fits in a way that that's important to me I can give you a personal personal experience I was given very bad news about recently and about a professional topic and it's just a very disappointing no let's say that from a client where I was really expecting it was going to go in a positive direction and kind of came the opposite way and I was you know I'm human at the same day I had a few hours I just really struggled with this and and I thought about how can I turn this around how can I change this and the reality is that this person had said no they had made their decision and I was thinking in every single way possible how to change their decision and and the reality is it was it was over it was in the past and it took me time to really sit with my thoughts and I sat and said I'm going to sit for 10 minutes by myself I'm going to listen to music is just my my absolute muse in the sense of inspiration put on the music that I really love to listen to and and found myself then saying okay that door is it is closed look at it it is a closed door it is locked it does not exist anymore but you are so much focusing on that door and not the thousands of doors that are in every other single direction this happens to every single one of us all the time right and so self-leadership to come back to the very essence of this question is finding those moments and finding great growth opportunities in those moments of that door is closed and yet I have a thousand to go through maybe I don't maybe I really want that door because it's closed the closer I get to acceptance and and really seeing how exciting some of those other opportunities are it becomes it becomes very exciting very quickly to to take a step in the other direction

 

[Nils Behrens] (37:37 - 38:36)

yeah I think this is a good example for many many people many occasions also I would say also especially in relationships so especially when the people are heartbroken I had an interview with

 

Dr. Zach Bush and it was quite interesting what he said he said that it's all about expectation and when he felt heartbroken then he just seen that maybe his expectation we're wrong and the expectation we're disappointed and and I would say very often you just have to think about it how realistic your expectation may be also where and some people are all in your head and which also leads me to to my next question because I think that under stress many people fall into let's say a predictable thinking traps and what would you think from your point of view as the most common ones so maybe when you know them and then you maybe feel a little bit more or you identify them a little bit earlier that you are in this trap

 

[Peter Schneider] (38:36 - 41:31)

yeah this is great yeah so this become we become reactionary that's the basic basic basic issue is we've become imprisoned by our emotions and our thoughts in a way and we would become as I say reactionary we don't act anymore on what's important to us we react in a way to maybe someone hurts me I want to hurt them so one of the biggest traps of course is you did you said no to me in this one question and one example or a relationship you saying no to me okay well I'm gonna go say the most terrible things about you to every single person I know which if you think about yourself and your own values and and you you probably wouldn't want to hang out with that person who says all these negative things about another person even if they did hurt you it's one of those things where again this this you hurt me I hurt you is one of the biggest traps and and one of the biggest pitfalls I think in all human experience and it's extremely let's put it this way understandable yeah right but it's not without it's not without reason that even in you know one of the biggest books of all time the Bible you know turn the other cheek is in there with Jesus being slapped and I would say no turn the other cheek and I might have misquoted a little bit there but the general idea of this you get hit and then you just want to hit back and that getting out of that cycle because if that person wants to hurt you there's probably something on on their end and not always you know generalize everything but there's probably something going on on that and really really great piece of advice I once got about this and this fits in with this perfectly and i think it was Simon Sinek it was an interview with him and I thought was brilliant and I really use it a lot when when when in general working with people in their emotions and getting into these traps he said if someone is going off about you leaving their cup on the table yeah and the emotion is an eight or nine out of ten yeah and is the highest yeah it's clearly not about the cup on the table it's not about the cup right so what happens often is in a relationship in relationship there's a cup on the table you didn't do the dishes or you left the blanket you did you forgot the laundry it's still soaking wet whatever and the others you know this the partner comes home and and they just scream about the laundry or the cup on the table or whatever it is and your instant reaction is how unfair am I being treated right now for leaving a cup on the table you know and then you're gonna just get up to that energy because you need to match it you need to defend your ego and yourself and and and what you know your own values and well you can't tell me that about the cup on the table you left

 

[Nils Behrens] (41:31 - 41:50)

you say something which is absolutely appropriate yes and saying yeah but yeah I don't know you never brush your teeth carefully well I don't know something really doesn't have any anything to do with the other thing

 

[Peter Schneider] (41:50 - 43:13)

it has no value to the conversation and most importantly this yeah but those words if you hear if you hear yeah but coming out of your mouth you're in reactionary mode yeah it's probably one of the best pieces of advice I also give the people I say if you hear yeah but coming out your mouth that means you didn't listen to what the person just said you just need to match something that they just said so you did you got a point so I need to get a point and this is this is probably again we talked about these these thinking traps or these these these reactions now let's be honest sometimes these things happen so I'm gonna say a lot of yeah buts the rest of my life it's still gonna happen it's again noticing that trap of getting into that argument catching yourself into an argument and stopping pausing and maybe as silly as it sounds apologizing for leaving a cup on the table even though you've actually cleaned up the cup a hundred times before yeah and just disarming that person right now to see what's actually going on so the trap again is very much wanting to simply match someone's energy negative or positive and often in a negative way if someone hurts us in some way we wanted to hurt them back emotionally unfortunately also physical

 

[Nils Behrens] (43:13 - 44:49)

I have it I've made the experience very often so I'm in Berlin I do more or less everything by bicycle and sometimes I would say I'm driving in an efficient way and sometimes people are yeah don't like make a reaction sometimes and from my point of view to aggressive reaction and I would say maybe in the past I I don't know shouted something back to them I don't know fuck you asshole or whatever so and and I see that from this aggression he made and with my reaction I'm not feeling well afterwards so and then I have this interview this year about kindness radically kindness and we talked about it and how good it is for yourself to be kind to other people and I realize that now when I have an situation like this I'm not reacting aggressively again I saying so thank you have a nice day yeah so which maybe makes the other person be more upset but nevertheless I feel still good afterwards yeah I'm not going on this level he had yeah and I really see that this is a reaction I'm fine yeah he didn't like it maybe a reaction but nevertheless I see if you don't match this situation it's much better for you.

 

[Peter Schneider] (44:49 - 46:35)

I have one small anecdote I'd love to share about this I when I was a young child my my best friend's mother I was at her house and I was being a little brat happens when you're seven eight years old and I said something smart to her what just a smart alec was not a not nice statement sir she was basically a second mother to me she raised me as well when my mother wasn't there we're very very very close and I said something just just mean spirited what shouldn't have said it you know look back I don't know and she looked at me says no sorry I don't accept that in the nicest calmest kindest way and I was just as confused little kid what do you mean you know I said you're stupid or whatever and you know dumb thing she's like no I don't accept that that's your statement you are upset you are angry but I'm not angry I'm not that's yours and she just left and I stood there feeling like such an idiot just empty and it was it was the most powerful way of dealing with a young little brat that I really took that with you this will talk about it now I'm talking four years old that's you know 30 years ago and I still take that with me I just thought it was such a beautiful way and you talking as I said giving someone kindness who who clearly gives you aggression it causes great confusion totally usually for the for the aggressor right they just don't kind of understand what's going on right and it's a wonderful diffusion method that you know we have to we probably should be using more often than we we are aware of

 

[Nils Behrens] (46:35 - 46:47)

definitely what role do mindfulness and body awareness play in your work with your high performance

 

[Peter Schneider] (46:47 - 48:36)

mindfulness is a mindfulness is really just a daily kind of routine is that it's you know it's people like to of course I say confuse it with meditation I think it's a little bit you know it's a different area mindfulness in terms of if we're talking about the elite footballers I worked with it's just about being in the moment right it's about being in that moment that present moment of speaking about act before right and so it's not about about being calm or collected necessarily about being a cop on a table yeah and the emotion is an eight or nine out of ten yeah and is the highest yeah you know an athletic aggression towards you know you know a football something like this that is a keystone part of just understanding what is required at that moment what do I need to bring to this moment what kind of energy do I need to bring to this moment as I was saying with a partner maybe it's diffusing maybe it's giving kindness but maybe for performing yeah it's sticking my chest out yeah it's being a little bit bigger yeah it's being leaning in a little bit more it's not about intimidating the other in that sense of trying to be a negative person but any business sense it's absolutely okay acceptable and I'm talking about my elite performers to show your best side and the the pride in your abilities in your in your in your personality who you are as a person that's true self-confidence that's true self confidence not inflated or you know what ego or something like that so mindfulness in that sense is really just understanding what is required at this moment and what skill set what abilities of my own do I need to bring

 

[Nils Behrens] (48:36 - 48:47)

would you say there's one mental exercise from your professional sports that would recommend to absolutely everyone

 

[Peter Schneider] (48:47 - 50:52)

I mean meditation is the easy answer easy as I mean in that sense yes I think meditation is it's just a really wonderful way to disconnect with the world connect to yourself one thing I find also I would I highly recommend is a type of I train if you've never had looked at yeah people have you know they go through maybe they go they wear glasses even but they could their eyes checked oh yeah it's healthy everything's good you know doing certain eye movements like watch it and if you look them up on YouTube it's very simple exercises for for training the eyes . if you look up I training for lazy I even something all right so very simple like this there's five minute exercises there's ten minute exercises I think you'll start to see the world a little bit differently you'll notice that your eyes are a little more keen I mean our eyes are really for those that are able to see are just such a gateway to the world granny know our noses and our hearing these tend to touch these these things give us a lot of more I want to say rudimentary like really deep feelings eyes a little bit less so so like we think of like your favorite song or you know when your favorite food as a kid you know that boom those emotions come I don't do that as much but I just if we train them a little bit more we notice that we start to perceive the world a little bit better little more clear something that I would really recommend to every single person because we are looking at screen so much whether it's a phone to computers and it's really five minutes a few times a week something like this 10 minutes can make a difference you'll notice that you just yeah you you tend to be able to focus on one thing better yeah as well as you pick up a little bit of things in the periphery a little bit better you don't need to move as much because your eyes can kind of move themselves a little bit easier it's a tiny little thing

 

[Nils Behrens] (50:52 - 52:15)

I do it quite regularly I'm normally taking a look on my thumb and I'm focusing on my thumb and then I also do it in front of a window yeah and then I look outside to one of the farthest points away and then I'm focusing on this point and then again on the some point so I I would say it do it less it takes me less than a minute but nevertheless I see how good it is for my eyes especially looking on a screen the whole day yeah and and even for me I get the more I'm enjoying to have a wide look yeah so because I have the feeling that it's quite important for me necessary so especially when I'm entering a room there's a which is on the on the top and where I have they have a have the possibility to look really wide I see how relaxing it is for me yeah it's quite interesting to see yeah it's a good good good answer  you work with people consistently on the spotlight how do you teach them to stay grounded when criticism or self-doubt hits so it's very close to the question we had already but it's a kind of exercise you're doing with them?

 

[Peter Schneider] (52:15 - 53:04)

I mean it's more about setting up an environment that's very conducive to that right so the people around you surrounding yourself with good people who tell you the truth you know don't inflate the ego but don't criticize unnecessarily yeah right so this is one of the biggest things that I tend to try to do with with these guys that are in the spotlight keep those good people around you make sure you have that small circle that you know you can trust extremely important if at all possible absolutely no social media just if you meet it for your career have someone do it for you that's just that's one of the things I would absolutely recommended

 

[Nils Behrens] (53:04 - 53:34)

I have to say I'm not consuming social media so much I'm just doing posting so I would say it's more time efficient in a way because because I see that that just I don't know posting a story it takes me a minute and then I'm normally put my my Instagram off again okay but there are many people which are consuming hours in social media so I'm not a consumer I'm more the the creator

 

[Peter Schneider] (53:34 - 54:59)

I don't think the thing is even consuming a social media isn't so bad as much as it's not great it's at least for these for these guys and girls at this at this level it's really you can only tune out so many voices right so okay as flexible as I'd like my players to be if you see you're in someone right you're just shite 500 times at one point you yeah what we say okay well now it comes down at the same time it doesn't feel good you know it's like it doesn't go so then they go both ways so it's a it's something where I just try to I try to again to make the environment as attacked in place isn't as intact and possible as possible around them so that they they get healthy healthy constructive feedback to help them progress like any other human being who doesn't normally have to deal with maybe the public let's say the public criticism other than that there's definitely things that we do again with terms of self affirmations where I would say you know these are the things I want you to repeat about yourself so that you kind of yeah give yourself that little bit of padding to deal with being in a spotlight

 

[Nils Behrens] (54:59 - 55:10)

I'm a big fan of affirmations could you make me for maybe for our listeners an example what could be an affirmation

 

[Peter Schneider] (55:10 - 55:18)

yeah absolutely one example is today I feel strong positive powerful and I'm excited for every challenge that will come my way today

 

[Nils Behrens] (55:18 - 55:23)

I think this is affirmation more literally everyone could use

 

[Peter Schneider] (55:23 - 56:15)

yes but the fact is you can identify it with yourself is I'd like to be positive I won't necessarily be it the other thing is I don't say to say like oh today's gonna be a great day I think it's a lie yeah you just don't know that no but you can say I I'm excited for the challenge of the day at least now I am maybe later I'll be less excited but but why go into the day as much as possible why go into the day with oh today I wouldn't know what's gonna happen today no I want to at least start in this in this way and then the day will bring what the day will bring and my flexibility will hold or won't hold I'm a human at the end of the day then I'll take I'll go ahead at the end of the day and take a review and see how it went

 

[Nils Behrens] (56:15 - 57:23)

definitely if you stop negative into the day or an event it will be negative on the other way around so I made the experience sometimes when I have to go and eat to an event where I really not keen to go so normally I'm always keen to go to an event but nevertheless sometimes there's a there's a occasion because I think most of the people are boring but you see at the end that even the most boring person in the world have an interesting story you just have to find it yeah and and and I think when you change your mindset and see if you just start digging for the most interesting stories this person has to share you just have to find what he is passionate about it and then when you see let them speak about the passion he has or she has and then you see that you can understand the passion in a way yeah and and that it became quite fascinating to understand why this person is so passionate about I don't know fishing or having his own incurring or whatever it is whatever it is it could be interesting if you really learn a little bit more about it yeah if you stay curious everything could be excited and this

 

[Peter Schneider] (57:23 - 58:14)

is this is but this is honest the basic for my basis for a foundation for my for my work is you know I can talk about every single it's a tool way to analyze a player way to improve their vision way to improve their regeneration if there's not a connection between me and the client that as you're saying is that I'm interested in their story and I want to be a part of their story and probably most important always to say is as a as a psychologist and I think this is something you can relate to as well as someone who interviews people is it's it's their story I want I want to hear their story I want to be part of their story it's not how am I inserting myself into this yeah but rather a genuine interest in them who they are how they want to develop and if you can focus on that it becomes very interesting very quickly

 

[Nils Behrens] (58:14 - 58:28)

definitely I couldn't agree more I would be really interesting if you can share a moment when mental training made a bigger difference and the physical preparation

 

[Peter Schneider] (58:28 - 1:02:09)

okay I can say two things one one story I really enjoy sharing because I was very proud of I was very proud of this moment was in with Leipzig going into the final where we had just recently lost a semi-final and in the Euro in the Euro League which we were expected to win it was a big disappointment and the club at that point had never won a title and we had a couple games to go in the season to try to stay in a Champions League and then we had the German Cup final coming up and it was absolutely imperative of course to to make some adjustments after losing the semis and whatnot but one of the themes that went through the through the locker room that I was able to speak to with some of the players was we just don't win these big games the big big games we just can't can't seem to do it and that there's a big core that team that had been there for five six years for some time and I was kind of new kid on the block at that time and I went ahead and and I said you know I think there needs to be some way of of kind of showing them who they are in in the most positive and negative ways and we need to kind of allow these experiences to carry them in the final and if they if they carry it with them they will be mentally then ready to recover from this big loss and be ready to win maybe the first title I was I was convinced of that and we ended up having all these pictures on pretty big posters to the side and we put them from every single match of the whole season so the day before two days before the cup final what ended up happening was they walked into the locker room and all of a sudden there's these huge pictures going all the way down the whole aisle one picture from each match and there were wins and losses everything including the semi-final we lost and they just went through and they were you know like doesn't get it and then finally when we explained what it was you know that they understood but I explained for the cup finals that these are your experiences this is what makes you guys you and the fact is that you're always trying to be this positive strong you know we have to be the best we have to be attacking it no you just you have to use all these things that you already have here and you have here you have to take them with you into the final and if you do that if you really do that and recognize what makes you guys you then yeah you can win this first final you can do it and they ended up doing it in a very very dramatic way go back and look at it we'll go into detail I think this is an example a great example of yes you can make a couple adjustments to the tactical things or to the technical things and yet it's really more it's really more about just kind of revamping the way you look at what makes you you what experiences you have and I really think you can translate this to to life and a lot of different ways if you could have any big event coming up and you feel like I always seem to can't seem to get on a big stage you can't seem to do it you know it's like okay well what if every single experience you've had up until now was so that you can do it this one time and having that kind of flip in your head

 

[Nils Behrens] (1:02:09 - 1:02:38)

yeah love it love it getting goosebumps right not right away and then I have something similar because always when I'm have to make an important presentation I have to speak for a crowd of people and I'm when I feel that I'm getting nervous I had to do a moderation on a christening of a cruise ship I was I think 36 something like that and it was in front of two hundred thousand people and

 

[Peter Schneider] (1:02:38 - 1:02:46)

200,000 just for the record

 

[Nils Behrens] (1:02:46 - 1:03:23)

yeah 200,000 so and always when I'm now in the situation where I think okay there will be I don't know 500 or something like that and I'm getting a little bit let's say excited then I say ah you have had already a bigger audience anyway like yeah you know what I mean it's a little bit like that so that I really say hey you can handle things like that yes so and this gives me obviously confidence that I could . so yeah let's go a little bit more into the let's say recovery when someone noticed they are mentally mentally burned out let's say that what is the very first step back to strength

 

[Peter Schneider] (1:03:23 - 1:08:10)

great news you recognize that you're pretty tough that's true I know that sounds silly but that's Wow if if you're at that point we say well I'm burned out like I don't have the energy I can't do this I can't do that you it might seem like a really silly thing to say but you're in a great place in the sense that you have recognized it and now you can take as much control as you would like as you would like as you were able to okay now that means very different things for different people right so when you know if we're talking about people clinically depressed there are very different solutions and different ways to go as opposed to someone who is suffering from from burnout both very serious things but of course there are different ways to to both treat and to maybe go about taking the next step forward right so I always like to separate that I think that's very important if we're speaking about someone who feels burned out in a sense of family life work okay again silly sound but it's not a terrible thing to say to yourself great I know I'm burned out that means I need to find a way to get my energy back I need to find a way to get that flame lit again what's that gonna be okay my biggest thing of course is if there's any community if there's a trusted person if there's someone you care about you know cares about you it's seeking the connection to that person communicating it to that person if this person is this trusted confidant is this is this person that you care about they will help you take the first step it's a huge huge thing if you can communicate it someone the human the standard human reaction for someone we care about who says I need help is to lend your hand and say okay I'll do what I can right yeah right so this is maybe a simpler thing if we say we have that person if we don't have that person you have to find it you'd have to find it yeah suppose that you have to find it and that might be something professional it you know I think the one thing not to do of course and I usually try to look at what to do instead of what not to do but what not to do of course is to search for we were talking about the emotional trap the reactional the reactional trap of the maybe going online looking at things that give me then hours and hours you know we call doom scrolling is the those things that become extremely then addictive to your dopamine star frame right so you're gonna need a heck of a lot of self-care a heck of a lot of heck of a lot of what's the word self-kindness compassion self compassion for yourself that you're not going to immediately then okay you're gonna maybe still have another hour on your phone looking through Instagram yeah okay me too last Sunday so we're on the same page right and probably ten other people in your building or in your neighborhood who put we spent an hour two hours on the phone as well so these things it's about about giving yourself compassion that you're gonna really need to take tiny tiny steps of being active trying a meditation getting outside having a conversation with someone it might not be that you can have that conversation right away we're talking about different levels here you might not have that conversation right away that says hey I'm burnt out and you'd help but you might be a lot of conversation where you simply just engage with another human being as you were saying show interest in another human being as silly as that sounds you say I have no energy how am I gonna show interest in another human being often with burnout would be what I what I've experienced is people have burned out towards a specific thing in their life yeah so whether towards a relationship or towards their job or other things they tend of course that have a little bit of energy for so kind of find a little niche thing in between or say okay I just need energy but I need a positive energy find something on my radar as I said that door is closed right now for me just simply because it's just sucking my energy look around you look around you would see if you can find that one door that you say if I go through there I'm pretty sure I'll get something in return I'm gonna take that risk as tiny little energy that I have for the day when I go through that door because I'm it's it's a healthy it's I know it's a healthy habit like I'm talking tiny things I'm talking eating a healthy breakfast I'm gonna go to the bakery and get myself a nice nice loaf of bread today if that's what I want or I'm gonna I'm gonna go to the if I have a gym membership I'm gonna do that I'm just gonna go for a walk or I'm gonna knock on my neighbor's whatever it is I'm gonna call my mom

 

[Nils Behrens] (1:08:10 - 1:09:09)

I'm 100% agree so so for me personally when I'm I have to recover I just have to take them sometimes an hour sometimes even more sitting in a bathtub and and being surrounded by water and having the feelings and no one is disturbing me because there is no iPhone or something I'm not taking with me to the Bathtube and also I don't know I have a spa place in in Hamburg where I love to go which is on the on I think is on the eighth floor so you have a great view to the Alster and being in the saunas sitting on the on the bed afterwards in a bathrobe so these are moments for me to really recover and sometimes people asking me hey can I join you and I said no because it is my "me time"

 

[Peter Schneider] (1:09:09 - 1:09:41)

again I think this is a pretty big step I mean we're in Berlin so you're gonna gonna go to Hamburg you can't get on train or drive you're gonna have to go there but this is things for these are great things for just getting that nice little energy boost right after they feel really good after or you know laying in the tub that is something that someone who's at their own if they have a tub that's something that they probably can take that step towards and and really that their body gonna soak and and and absorb it's the heat of the water just to feel that warmth you know to give you the little burst

 

[Nils Behrens] (1:09:41 - 1:09:58)

also it's a kind of grounding being in the water it's grounds you and this is what I really love about it so so what is your personal ritual to let's say stay emotional centered

 

[Peter Schneider] (1:09:58 - 1:11:01)

having a four-year-old daughter keeps you pretty grounded very pretty quickly I'll tell you that so she one is as sharp as mine for me in general the like it's a family a family of course is kind of just a cornerstone that I just I keep sacred that it's time with them whether it's Sunday morning breakfasts or things like that those are those are very important rituals the morning meditations the evening meditations that I've done you know and I don't get it done every day there's days I get missed I wish it was as consistent as brushing my teeth that's one thing I have thanks mom I've really gotten down every single day morning and night but meditations are definitely those things that really do help me stay grounded really helped me take five ten minutes of my day to kind of just take a just take a quick you may say like a reflection reflection that gives a good word yeah and one of the other things I like to do to really calm my brain is I play chess

 

[Nils Behrens] (1:11:01 - 1:11:07)

really? I would love to but but honestly I'm pretty bad

 

[Peter Schneider] (1:11:07 - 1:11:47)

I'm not great I'm not great I went to a Duolingo great great application in terms of so dopamine addiction to be fair they're really keeping you in the loop with language learning right yeah they have like these little you know you have certain amount of energy and you get little rewards and so you always want to come back and just about learning languages yeah but they also have chess and math not really yes yeah so they started chess and and I always understood chess but I was never good at it and a lot of the players I work with to get their mind off of football they often play chess we play backgammon backgammon is a little more simple yeah

 

[Nils Behrens] (1:11:47 - 1:12:45)

and it's not so strategic from my point of view that's just is so you you don't you can't you can have some moves in your mind but at the end it's always the same you want to build a bridge so it's not the other yeah backgammon is yeah it's the same straight wall is all the time and you just need the right dice it is not so strategic but I what I love about chess is the strategic thing yeah and what I hate about it is that when you have experienced chess players they just has memorized the the first eight moves from from so many strategies just recalling them and and so it is not really a strategic game it's just a memory game yeah and that's what I don't like so much about it so it's good to maybe maybe we are having a good chess match because we have not memorized it so I think you haven't memorized any any strategic moves and and so then we maybe can really have a good match

 

[Peter Schneider] (1:12:45 - 1:13:36)

yes I would say like yeah do it. Duolingo I just think it's a I think it was a great way to kind of learn exactly we're talking about these kind of oh what is this opening moves that everyone seems to know that I have no idea and so the thing is once you get like these four or five moves okay then it just turns into an actual what I consider an actual chess match yeah because I always felt after the first five moves I'm so far behind like I have no idea what I'm doing and now at least I have the feeling like I sit there and it is kind of it is relaxing I'm a very you know I'm someone who really likes the win I can't help I'm very competitive person in general by nature but chess is like because I'm not that good at it I take it a very different kind of stride yeah right and at least for me I can recommend it to people who are love it

 

[Nils Behrens] (1:13:36 - 1:13:59)

so I'm having a long train ride today you too so I'm definitely will play some chess so what do you hope listeners take away from our conversation so especially those struggling with mental overload

 

[Peter Schneider] (1:13:59 - 1:14:44)

the first thing is it's really tiny little steps in your day that's that start to add up to make the difference take that with you in that sense of really that building in a five minutes ten minutes a day or something like that or even five ten minutes three times a week something anything that you could you can manage to just really get your you know get a reflection of a status of your of your mental state and try a couple different things out so yeah there are meditation apps and there's nothing guided meditations as I would very much recommend at the beginning but try something like progressive muscle relaxation which is much more it's more for tactile you can feel the difference maybe a little bit right

 

[Nils Behrens] (1:14:44 - 1:14:49)

I would also say a good introduction to the world of meditation is just breathwork

 

[Peter Schneider] (1:14:49 - 1:17:38)

oh yeah yeah I think with breath this is how I get into a breath I like breathwork right I actually enjoy it I think for people who who are already have kind of that door open it's a good way to go for people who are skeptical in general about what this is gonna bring or what it can do for me I find the tactile things to be much better so whether it's the breath you feel yeah but if you in general are carrying a lot of stress in your shoulders neck and what not if you do a progressive muscle relaxation I feel those who have done that with at the beginning they just already feel this difference like a little bit less load and then like okay like I could think just a little more clearly or something you know you get to yoga and stuff yoga is something that is even more tactile but it's almost then too much investment you know some people then connect it with other other ideas and whatnot so it's finding kind of what that what is that what is that thing where I can take that first step towards treating myself better mentally whether it's just a meditation a guided meditation breathwork yoga or muscle relaxation and just the tools on YouTube are endless and whatnot if you are going to use your phone if you are going to go on a smart TV you can you can definitely find that and you can find something in pretty much every language so there's not an excuse in that sense if you really would like to do it so that would be one thing I said take that from today find that one little tool that really can maybe help you find a little more clarity know that I think this is also really important these big guys that I was talking about his big names that that are at least and you know how professional football they're using the same things right yeah it's what are the Germans let's say they also cook with water yeah that's my favorite term for this yeah they do they're gonna use this exact same thing and that's kind of cool to know that his brain or her brain at that elite level it works the same as you we all have you know one of great things is we all have these cave membranes they kind of talk about that they're just struggling a lot of times to deal with the modern world and so why does turning off your brain for 10 minutes or it was like closing eyes and just listening to your breath for 10 minutes feel so strange because what we used to do that because we had nothing close to do and we are not used to be bored anyway yeah exactly right so this this is something take that with you allow allow yourself these 10 minutes and understand that you're connecting you the elite athlete 90 year old the nine-year-old this connects literally every single one of you and it's kind of a cool that's kind of a cool thing to think about

 

[Nils Behrens] (1:17:38 - 1:17:55)

love it love it so Peter thank you very much for this conversation and so if someone want to learn a little more about you I think your website yes we will put in our show notes and I just have to say thank you that you come from Leipzig

 

[Peter Schneider] (1:17:55 - 1:17:57)

Thank you much it was great thank you

 

[Nils Behrens] (1:18:00 - 1:18:06)

do you have a favorite supplement?

 

[Peter Schneider] (1:18:06 - 1:18:16)

I do I take this all-in-one from Sunday natural actually my wife recommended it to me and that's just for me it was the simplest best way to get everything I need for a day one a day

 

[Nils Behrens] (1:18:16 - 1:18:21)

is it's a premium with four capsules or just one capsule?

 

[Peter Schneider] (1:18:21 - 1:18:26)

with one capsule

 

[Nils Behrens] (1:18:26 - 1:18:54)

one capsule okay I will give you the premium version maybe it was worse to come to if you enjoyed this episode I'd be thrilled if you could leave a rating on Apple podcast or Spotify to make sure you never miss out subscribe to our newsletter it's not just about this podcast we regularly introduce new products often with special introductory discounts you wouldn't want to miss out on that wouldn't you subscribe to our newsletter at www.sunday.de/newsletter