Training the Mind | The Psychology Behind Success at the Highest Level ft. Dr. Brook Choulet
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Choulet Performance Psychiatry
Do you consider yourself to be a high-performing woman? If you’re an entrepreneur, the answer is likely yes. With entrepreneurship comes challenges such as burnout, analysis paralysis, and the pressure of success. Dr. Brook Choulet is a board-certified concierge, psychiatrist, and nationally recognized expert in sports and performance psychiatry. She’s the founder of Choulet Performance Psychiatry, a boutique private practice helping athletes and executives strengthen their mental resilience and improve their personal and professional well-being.
In this episode, Victoria and Dr. Brook discuss the parallels between entrepreneurs and athletes and the importance of mental conditioning for high-achieving women. They also cover thought patterns to avoid as a founder and advice for supporting your nervous system.
If you’ve ever experienced burnout as an entrepreneur or struggled with negative thinking patterns that don’t support your growth, this conversation with Dr. Brook will inspire you to adopt new ways of thinking and practical tips for building mental resilience. Whether you’re enjoying a walk in the sunshine or waiting in the school pick-up line, this episode will leave you feeling seen, heard, and empowered to grow your business without wanting to burn it all to the ground.
Introduction to Dr. Brook Choulet and Choulet Performance Psychiatry
Dr. Brook Choulet is a board-certified concierge, psychiatrist, and nationally recognized expert in sports and performance psychiatry. She’s known as the Performance Psychiatrist and is the president of the American Board of Sports Performance, as well as the founder of Choulet Performance Psychiatry—a boutique private practice helping high performers build their mental resilience and optimize their well-being personally and professionally.
If you consider yourself to be a high-performing woman, you understand the pressures and stress that come when you operate at your highest level. Dr. Brook’s insights will help you strengthen your mental resilience and create effective thought patterns that will guide you as you lead your business.
Getting Started Working with High Performers and Athletes
Dr. Brook created a niche for herself in the high-performance industry, primarily working with professional athletes. While she was in her psychiatry residency, she began building her practice and hiring psychiatrists to support it. They launched as a concierge psychiatry practice, which was rare at the time.
That positioning became their initial differentiator and led to getting calls from athletes and executives. She pivoted toward sports and performance psychiatry once she realized there was a true need for it.
The Biggest Misconception about High Performers
Especially due to social media, the public mainly sees the shiny wins and big successes. The biggest misconception is that people assume that high performers don’t face any problems. Athletes’ salaries are public, and many people don’t understand how they could face challenges if they have the financial security.
Parallels Between Entrepreneurs and Athletes
While you may not be a professional athlete, there are actually some parallels between entrepreneurs and athletes as they pertain to the challenges they face.
Increasing Stakes
The more successful an athlete is, the more eyeballs they have watching them, and the more money on the line with their contracts and sponsorships. Similarly, as your business grows, your visibility increases. With that comes more pressure to do and say the right things and higher stakes you have with your clients.
The Pressure of Success and Need to Win
Athletes face a fear of getting cut or traded, and that’s a lot of pressure. Entrepreneurs face that same pressure, especially when they have revenue targets to hit or team members to support.
Turning Talent and Skills into a Career
Both athletes and entrepreneurs turned talent and skills into a career. Being able to find new ways to enjoy what they do and maintain and improve their skillset over the years is an added challenge.
The Importance of Mental Conditioning for High-Performing Women
Talent is, of course, a key component to success for high-performing women, but mental conditioning is also crucial for long-term sustainability and growth.
Emotional Intelligence
Founders must have a high emotional intelligence and strong communication skills. This helps them through difficult situations with team members, clients, or even internally with themselves.
Structure and Performance Metrics
Athletes have coaches who provide them with structure and performance metrics, and you don’t always have that handed to you as a founder (unless you work with a business coach). Dr. Brook recommends having a quarterly meeting with yourself to check in on where you’re at and map out the goals you’re striving for.
Burnout for Athletes vs. Founders
Dr. Brook says when it comes to burnout, she sees it more with those in the workforce over professional athletes. She says that athletes got into their sport because they loved the game, so if they’re approaching burnout, she works to get them back to why they loved it in the first place.That’s not so simple with founders. Business owners often overpromise or overextend themselves and sacrifice their personal needs, which can lead to burnout much faster than it may for athletes. Dr. Brook encourages founders to consistently evaluate what they do and don’t enjoy, outsource the latter, and prioritize what they love to do.
Mental Game at Each Level of Success for Entrepreneurs
Every level of entrepreneurship comes with its own challenges for founders to face. That’s why having strong mental resilience is so important, in order to stay in entrepreneurship for the long haul.
When you hit your first six figures, you’re likely still the bottleneck for everything. You may be the one taking all the sales calls, updating your website, posting on social media, and wearing all the hats. Acknowledging that you’re the bottleneck and letting go of control is one of the most difficult things at this level.
You have to learn how to let go of certain areas of your business and outsource, in order to own and fully step into your role as a CEO. That’s what will get your business to the million-dollar mark.
Thought Patterns to Avoid as a Founder
There are some common thought patterns Dr. Brook hears that founders should recognize and work to change in order to reach their next level.
Negative Thinking
Having a negative outlook can be very damaging as a founder. It prevents you from showing gratitude and being happy in your own business. Dr. Brook says to try to reframe things in a positive way and work to adopt “delusional” confidence.
Analysis Paralysis
Founders have to make many decisions throughout their day. Experiencing an inability to act or motivate yourself due to the fear of failure will prevent you from continuing to grow.
Self Regulating and Performing Well Under Pressure
Picture a bell curve with peak performance at the top and stress being the x-axis at the bottom. The more stressed you are to a certain point, your peak performance is enhanced, but too much stress dips into panic and anxiety.
The more you can self regulate and tap into the adrenaline and excitement that results from a healthy amount of stress, the better you can perform.
The Role Identity Plays in Performance
It’s natural for your work to become your identity. Dr. Brook discusses an exercise she does with all her founder and athlete clients, where they picture a pie with 8 slices. She asks how many slices are their work identity vs. the other parts of their identity. More often than not, most clients view their entire identity through the lens of their work.
The problem is, when your work changes, your identity falls apart. In order to be a fulfilled and happy person, you must have multiple parts of your identity beyond what you do for work.
Advice for Supporting Your Nervous System as a Female Founder
As a female founder, you may feel that your nervous system is exhausted. Dr. Brook recommends going back to the basics. Ask yourself:
What am I doing this for?
Why am I working so hard?
Why am I exhausted?
Those answers will remind you why you started your business in the first place. Work towards having a healthy combination of passion for what you’re doing and perseverance, and that will help you keep going.
To learn more about Dr. Brook and her work, visit her website here.
Key Quotes
““[As a high performing athlete or founder], your whole identity will feel destabilized unless you’ve built in the other parts that then keep you stabilized. You have to have multiple parts of your identity in order to be fulfilled and happy.””
Dr. Brook Choulet
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