JOY Mental Performance: Finding the Joy Within
What happens when fear of failure becomes the thing standing between a person and their best performance? Katie Large knows that answer firsthand. A mental performance coach and the first All-American in University of Chicago lacrosse history as a sophomore, Katie joins Barbara for this episode of the "health for a long life" mini-series to talk about overcoming fear, self-doubt, and anxiety in high-pressure roles from sports to medicine to financial advising.
What’s in This Episode:
- Katie's early athletic life as a shy, fearful competitor, and how anxiety prevented her from performing at the level she trained for
- How undiagnosed celiac disease, a hyper-competitive youth sports environment, and tough coaches shaped her self-doubt
- Being recruited to the University of Chicago's brand-new lacrosse program, and her determination to prove herself
- How COVID cut short her freshman season, and how the pressure of returning brought her anxiety to a breaking point
- The introduction to mental performance coach Chris Thomas and how his guidance changed everything for Katie
- Becoming the first All-American in program history at just her sophomore year after rediscovering the joy of playing
- The important distinction between happiness (external) and joy (internal), and how that difference became the backbone of her practice
- Her 90-day coaching program: taking high performers from overwhelming anxiety to feeling their best in high-pressure situations
- The Joy community subscription model, offering ongoing support, shared goals, and connection with others on the same journey
- Why seeking mental performance help is a sign of bravery, and how this care applies far beyond sports to doctors, executives, first responders, and more
