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Gary Kupik, an international speaker and mental performance coach, reveals how we can unlock peak performance by strengthening our minds just as athletes train their bodies. He shares a powerful framework for building an ironclad mindset that creates consistent results regardless of motivation or circumstances.

• Mental performance suffers when we overthink – "thoughts are like calories; too many weigh you down."
• Self-trust develops through exposure therapy – putting yourself in challenging situations repeatedly
• Optimism differs from positivity by requiring evidence and reasons to believe in yourself
• The mindset equation: Experience → Thoughts/Feelings → Response → Belief → Mindset → Behaviors
• Creating winning daily rhythms puts you in position to succeed regardless of motivation
• Reframing nervousness as excitement changes your hormonal response from cortisol to adrenaline
• Winning the day early (by 8AM) through consistent mental performance rituals builds momentum
• Mental health often stops at crisis and coping but mental performance focuses on thriving

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Lauren Fay joins us to share her transformative journey to sobriety and how living alcohol-free has allowed her to create the life of her dreams. With 7.5 years of sobriety under her belt, Lauren discusses how removing alcohol from her life gave her the time, space, and energy to truly play and experience life authentically.

• When drinking, Lauren wasn't truly living - there was too much recovery time and mental obsession
• Society equates fun with alcohol, making it difficult to imagine socializing without drinking
• Alcohol silences our loud thoughts, but removing it requires learning how to manage those thoughts sober
• "Alcohol is the only drug you have to justify NOT taking" - the strange social pressure to drink
• External changes (new jobs, locations) don't solve alcohol issues because "wherever you go, there you are"
• The neutral zone: finding peace in everyday existence between high highs and low lows
• Choosing yourself isn't abandoning others - it's creating space for better things in your life
• True self-love means extending love to others instead of withholding it
• Being of service to others can help heal yourself during difficult times

Look for Lauren's upcoming memoir "Blurred Lines: My Reclamation of Power from Alcohol Addiction" coming in 2025. Connect with her at laurenfaycoaching.com to learn more about alcohol-free living.

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Catherine Giovanni shares her powerful forgiveness system that transforms mental health by releasing people from our thoughts and reclaiming our authentic power. She teaches the step-by-step process of forgiveness, explaining how to start with easy forgiveness targets before tackling the most challenging ones.

• Forgiveness defined as "wanting someone out of your head," not reconciliation or condoning behavior
• The link between forgiveness and business success—clearing personal resentments directly impacts professional opportunities
• How to rate forgiveness targets on a 1-10 scale and work systematically through them
• Forgiving the energy around people and situations, not just the people themselves
• Breaking down "unforgivable" memories into components you can forgive individually
• Why forgiveness doesn't mean forgetting or resuming relationships with harmful people
• The science of anger as "toxic" to physical health through the Japanese Water Study findings
• Limiting forgiveness work to 10 people per night to avoid "energy sickness"
• How forgiveness attracts better people while some relationships naturally fall away

You can find Catherine's book "The Ultimate Path to Forgiveness: Unlocking Your Power" on Amazon in ebook, paperback, and audiobook formats. Visit katherinegovani.com for private sessions and join her newsletter "The Thriving Times" to learn about her upcoming forgiveness books.

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Follow Playing Injured on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/playinginjured/