You cannot hand someone a map before they know where they are starting from. Technique without self-awareness works the same way. It looks useful. But without that foundation, it will not get them where they need to go.

What if your best performances have nothing to do with how hard you think? Mushin is an ancient Japanese concept meaning "no mind": a state of total absorption where action flows without interference. Modern sport psychology has a word for it too: flow. And the research is clear on one thing: you cannot force it, but you can create the conditions for it.

Sport psychology is one of those fields that people think they understand until they are asked to explain it. In this post, I break down what the work actually involves, from mental skills training to the importance of the helping relationship, and why performance and wellbeing are never really separate conversations.

There is a parable from Buddhism that I always come back to in my work. It involves two arrows; one you cannot avoid, and one you can. In sport and performance, the second arrow is where most of the damage is done.

I'm Dr Harvey Smith, a Chartered Psychologist based in Glasgow. Here's a bit about who I am, how I work, and who I work with.