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jasondorland5441

Dad to a butterfly child & 2 rescues. Husband to an inspiration. Author. Olympian. High performance coach. Keynote presenter. Workshop facilitator.

Mejitation—yup, I used to call it that. It was

Mejitation—yup, I used to call it that.

It was my lameass way of easing myself into a meditation practice without admiting I was engaging in self-help! Don't ask....

Believe me, I’m snickering, embarrassingly so, as I begin writing this piece. At the same time, I harken back to a younger man who, for pathetic macho reasons, was adamant that meditation was not something he needed nor ever would! Whoa, if I’m honest, he was a piece of work. He believed that meditation was some woo-woo bullshit that only West-Coast-flakey-earth-muffins did because they had nothing better to do with their time than sit around on purple pillows with pungent incense and claim they were getting in touch with their inner selves—whatever the f*ck that meant!

Oh my, now I’m laughing out loud as I recall that opinionated ass hat! I mean, there’s a reason I’m telling you about him in the third person. It’s embarrassing as hell to admit that at one point in my life, I agreed with the above description of what meditation was and who partook.

Then, I met the Lazarre sisters, two new roommates in Vancouver. They were actually fascinating young women who had travelled the world and had some really interesting experiences. One of the places they had been to was India. While there, they learned how to cook and, perhaps no surprise, how to meditate. The result was a house that smelled like an Indian restaurant most nights. The dishes they would cook up were out of this world!

Contintued in my SubStack. Link in bio... enjoy!

Trust = Safety. Safety = Trust. It's a two-way st

Trust = Safety. Safety = Trust.

It's a two-way street, but I'm not always certain which one comes first...

One of my readers, Mike Porteous, is many things to many people, but in this instance, we’re going to focus on his coaching and, more specifically, his recently finished book called Beyond Belief. The art of confidence-centred coaching. It comes out on March 4th on Amazon.

Mike invited me first to consider one of the chapters which focuses on the being versus doing of coaching, called Confidence in the coach. Given that so much of what Robyn and I bring to the coaching dialogue is reflected in the writing, I can appreciate his direction.

“People will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.”—Maya Angelou

This celebrated quote is what opens the chapter. It acts as the lens through which we’re reminded time and again that this premise is the underlying truth of coaching—and, quite frankly, the point of it! Coaching is about relationships, and the more we understand and focus on those relationships, the better able we are to create a safe environment for our athletes, thereby developing trusting relationships that result in, well, better athletes—who knew?

But it’s not just on the playing field—it’s everywhere: classrooms, workplaces, homes. Anywhere you have people interacting, you have the need for trust. I’m reminded of educational psychologist and child development expert Gordon Neufeld, who tells us that children perform better when they like their teacher AND when they think their teacher likes them. It always begins with the teacher, or the leader, or the parent and, in Mike’s book, the coach.

Continued in my SubStack—link in bio. Enjoy!

How to make SMART goals smarter. The second of a

How to make SMART goals smarter.

The second of a two-part series on effective goal setting.

If you recall, the first part of this SubStack’s deep dive into goal setting invited you to consider and reconsider again and again your reason for wanting to accomplish your goal or, more specifically, a New Year resolution. The plan was to uncover the fuel that you would be utilizing to see your goal through.

Some of you let me know the “Ya, but why” question was difficult. Spoiler—it’s supposed to be. True enough, staying in the realm of our surface reasons is “easier”—safe was the word one of you used. But staying safe limits the fuel source available to us. Surface or egoic fuel, although easier to identify, is less sustainable because it often represents an extrinsic goal.

With the “Ya, but why” question, you’re forced to shine a light on the darker parts of our psyche that we often find uncomfortable to explore. All the more reason to search for deeper and more authentic reasons, prickly or not, when wanting to achieve an important and meaningful outcome. Landing on the reason that evokes emotion is the sign that you’re delving into a fuel source that will prove more powerful and sustainable because it’s an intrinsic response.

Continued in my SubStack. Link in bio. Enjoy!

Own your mornings… Here are five simple things

Own your mornings...

Here are five simple things you can do to start your day off on the right foot!

The most overlooked and underutilized factor in human performance is self-awareness: Who am I being? What am I thinking? What is my emotional state? What is my intention? What results am I striving for, and why do they matter to me?

Together, these elements create a powerful force that either hinders or enhances our ability to show up as our best selves.

When we invest time in clarifying these elements, we support not only our own selves but also those around us.

And that is the focus of these performance-minded SubStacks—that’s what I will dig into.
This first week, we’ll look at how we can begin our day with habits and strategies that support our well-being and our ability to show up as our best selves.

Continued in my SubStack... link in bio. Enjoy!

Your Mindset Matters: One of the reasons our goals

Your Mindset Matters: One of the reasons our goals run out of steam is that we often set ones we think we should and not necessarily ones that we want to. Here's how to check if you're setting genuine goals that really matter to you! Enjoy...

Why most New Year resolutions don't work, and how

Why most New Year resolutions don't work, and how to change that.

Part one of a two-part piece on what drives effective goal setting...

Happy New Year—hope 2025 proves an awesome year for all of us!

And in the spirit of awesomeness, many of us are beginning a new regimen that we’ve pledged ourselves to either privately, with a confidant or even perhaps quite publicly on social media. No matter which avenue you’ve chosen, you have, in good faith, begun a journey of new and likely positive behaviour in the hopes of instilling that behaviour as a permanent habit in your daily life. Good on you, and good luck—I hope it takes you where you want.

However, as you may be discovering, change is hard. Creating permanent new habits is even harder. That’s why so many of these well-intentioned commitments will lose steam at some point in the next few days, weeks, and months, resulting in disappointment and even emotional self-flagellation. And the craziest part of this yearly ritual? Mostly, the same willing participants keep showing up year after year, believing wholeheartedly that this time … this time, things will be different, only to realize shortly after they’re not. The exact same human-born mechanisms that disrupted the previous year's resolution kick into action to undo all the good that got it rolling.

Why does this happen? Why do we keep returning in January, doing the same thing every time while expecting a different outcome? Forget that Einstein refers to this behaviour as insanity; let’s first consider the number one contributing factor—research that points out most people choose resolutions they didn’t come up with on their own. Yup, most areas of focus are determined by the opinions of others—namely, our friends, family, or co-workers. Surveys tell us that we tend to choose goals that we think others will approve of, deeming them worthwhile—deeming us worthwhile!

Continued in my SubStack—link in bio. Enjoy!

"I've only got 30 more Christmases." Last week, d

"I've only got 30 more Christmases."

Last week, during a conversation with someone else who began their life’s ride in 1964, I heard this declaration regarding their projected forecast of time spent with Saint Nick.
For a moment, I disappeared—virtually, anyhow. I sat there pondering, Shit, what if that means that I’VE only got 30 left? Or less, perhaps?

At first, it wasn’t even about Christmas. It was about the fact that I had an exit date that was now closer than my birth date. Yes, I know; realizing you’re likely halfway through the race usually hits home long before turning 60. But, if I’m honest, I haven’t really had that epiphany yet. Denial? Probably. But no matter how much I refuse to embrace the truth, there are now more Christmasses in my rearview mirror than I have left to look forward to. Oooh, give me a moment while I get my head around that one.

Not sure why, but somehow, the future of my Christmas Day celebrations has made my mortality stats more real—I now have a tangible metric. Yikes, I had better get serious about this. I mean, 30 is not a lot in the grand scheme of, you know, life!

Continued in my SubStack—link in bio. Enjoy!

Your Mindset Matters: If pre-performance nerves ar

Your Mindset Matters: If pre-performance nerves are undermining your ability to show up as your best self, you don't have to simply grin and bear it. You can do something about it. Starting with understanding where the nerves come from and adopting a mindset that provides you with emotional safety and a better chance of having your best performance when it matters most! Enjoy... #coaching #highperformance #emotionalintelligence #safetytips #nerves

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