Fighting Fear with Dr. Alison Arnold

Samantha Peszek is on a mission to connect athletes, coaches, and parents with the best resources the gymnastics world has to offer. Utilizing Samantha’s gymnastics network, (she really does have cool friends) guests will be experts in their field and shed a light on hot topics, tips for improvement, and inspiration. Listeners will have the opportunity to learn from some of the sport’s greats, participate in giveaways, and apply relevant tips to everyday life, in and out of the gym.

Alison Arnold, also known as “Doc Ali” in the gymnastics world, has a more than interesting resume. She has a PhD in Psychology, is a former gymnast, and has been on trips to a monastery in Nepal, Peru, and Thailand, as well as in the jungle of the Amazon with a shaman. She has also been a mental toughness coach for USA Gymnastics since 1997. Doc Ali has worked with Olympic medalists, NCAA champions, and thousands of athletes to help achieve their dreams for the past 25 years. Using all she has learned from her life experiences, she works to help people toughen their minds and fight their fears to achieve ultimate success.

In this episode, we discuss how all gymnasts, even the elites, have fears and how you can train yourself to overcome your own personal fears. Doc Ali states some people are “fire” gymnasts and some people are “water” gymnasts — some people like pressure, some people like performing, or some people like competing; no one is exactly the same. We establish that there is no one specific way to do things; you need to figure out whatever works best for you and use it as a tool to help get better. However, having gratitude for fears and struggles makes you a stronger gymnast, once you appreciate what you have and what you’ve been through. In addition, Doc Ali speaks of her experience sitting in silence for two weeks in a monastery in Thailand.

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Key Takeaways

·Alison has always been a deep-thinker

·Sam’s first memory of Alison

·Alison’s first memory of Sam

·Using distraction to help fight fear

·All people have their “stuff”

·Has Alison ever met a gymnast who is “incurable”

·Everyone has fears or issues, even the elites

·The more you use your brain, the more pathways you will form

·Disciplining the mind, progressing, and flipping negative thoughts fast

·It’s irrational to not be afraid of things, no matter how good you are

·Working with kids who are perfect in training but nervous in competition

·Everyone competes free in a different place

·You’re either a fire or water gymnast

·Do people change depending on age

·Coaches need to know how to talk to their athletes and what tools to use

·When coaches have a system or plan, both the coach and athlete will feel better

·Using tools learned in gymnastics training in real life

·How it felt for Alison to spend two weeks in silence in a monastery

·You can’t complain for something you asked for

·Having gratitude for everything including fears and struggles to make you better

·What’s one way listeners can get one percent better

Tweetable Quotes

I’m just traveling all over the world to Thailand in a monastery, to Nepal in a monastery, and Peru — to try and figure out what makes our minds work the way they do.

Sometimes people just have to distract their minds by thinking of the weirdest things.

It’s only weird if it doesn’t work.

If you have the will and the tools, you can get through anything.

Sometimes the “cure” is doing something different.

The one surefire cure for fear is desire.

We live in a very high pressure world right now, and it’s getting more and more competitive.

I think the coach-athlete relationship is so important that each athlete might need something a little different if we’re talking about a competition.

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