Insights
From keynote presentation to highlights of the latest research and top podcast episodes, this is your source for insights that will help you optimize reality with your team, organization and life!
Keynotes
Optimizing human performance
Are you, your team and your organization performing at optimal levels and achieving your desired results? Dr. Cooper brings the expertise, experience and practical application needed to enhance outcomes from the inside out. If you’re looking for a “one size fits ONE” approach to improving resilience, creativity, grit, teamwork and more, Dr. Cooper is your solution. From athletes and executives to team leaders, sales pros and front-line employees, Dr. Cooper is the catalyst for optimizing your reality through practical, evidence-based and engaging strategies.
Dr. Cooper's Research
- Mental Toughness Variability and Potential Optimizers Over 30 Days
- The Influence of Sleep on Mental Toughness
- A 3,000 Mile Tour of Mental Toughness (Autoethnography)
- The Variability and Optimization of Mental Toughness (PhD Thesis)
- Investigating self-talk, mental toughness and finish times in runners
Additional Insights
A New Approach to Goals
Goal setting is often seen as core to human performance optimization. However, new research indicates different types of goals (i.e., open, specific, and do-your-best) may each serve a different purpose and have a greater or lesser influence on flow and clutch states.
Self-Talk: Subtle Differences Drive Performance
The positive influence of self-talk is well established in the literature but we’re learning subtle changes can impact those outcomes. This study (with highly respected lead author James Hardy) examines the difference between first person (“I”) and second person (“You”) self-talk pronouns and finds there is a difference. In terms of cycling time-trial performance, second person self-talk resulted in faster times. The article also provides a valuable and updated review of self-talk.
Sleep and Emotional Regulation
Sleep has garnered a great deal of attention related to human performance over the past decade. This study looks at the protective role of sleep on emotional regulation and notes the influence of sleep on next-day (positive) reactivity. Such emotional regulation plays a key role across a broad range of settings, from athletics to leadership, parenting and education, further elevating the value of sleep.
Challenge vs. Threat States
The research literature examining challenge vs. threat states is a fascinating area of study. Heart rate, confidence levels and interpretations of circumstances appear to be influenced by this change in state. This study manipulated appraisal of a speech preparation task and found those in the threat state (compared with the challenge or neutral state) to view the task as more stressful and threatening while also demonstrating a significantly increased heart rate.
Spark of Hope
Dr. Cooper’s organizations launched a commitment to the Spark of Hope fund in 2007 to help provide a wide range of non-profit organizations with funding through which to meet their missions. A full 10% of profits are donated to help seed this fund and give a spark of hope to those in need.