For Those Who Are Ready to Go Deeper
The Mental Training Lab isn't about adding more tools to your toolkit. It's about understanding what's actually in the way of your best performance and your best life.
Every episode goes deeper than skills and strategies. We explore the patterns, beliefs, and ways of being that keep talented, capable people stuck inside their own potential, and what it actually takes to break free. We tether principles to practices so you leave each episode with something to think about and something to do.
If you've tried everything and something still isn't shifting, you're in the right place.
Start Here
New to the Lab? These Six Episodes Are A Great Place to Begin
Solo Sessions
Start With Your Own Mind
Ep. 45 - Find Your Laboratory
This episode reframes the pursuit of excellence as an experiment rather than a performance, and gives you permission to approach your own development with curiosity instead of pressure.
If fear, comparison, and never feeling like enough are fueling your performance, this is the most important conversation you'll have about why that approach has a ceiling. And what to do instead.
Ep. 60 - Not Good Enough, Need to Be better: A Broken Model of Motivation
Ep. 73 - The Illusion of Progress
You're putting in the work. You're doing everything right. And something still isn't shifting. This episode names exactly why. And it's not what you think.
Conversations Worth Having
Hear It From The People Doing The Work
Your body knows things your mind is still catching up to. Dr. Ashley Cranney breaks down the stress cycle and what it actually means to be biologically respectful, offering six concrete behaviors that will change how you relate to pressure.
Ep. 35 - Bodies Speak Body Language with Dr. Ashley Cranney
Dr. Ryan Hamilton, mental performance coach for the Tampa Bay Lightning and Hockey Canada, on why the most important thing a coach or leader can do is live the lessons they teach. This one will challenge you in the best possible way.
Ep. 63 - Practicing What We Preach with Dr. Ryan Hamilton
Ep. 69 - Turning the Mic Around
What happens when the interviewer becomes the interviewee? In this episode, Holly Rogers turns the mic on Pete, and the conversation goes places most episodes don't. If you want to understand who's behind the Lab and why this work matters, start here last.
The Podcast Is Where the Conversation Starts
If something you heard here landed in a way that nothing else has before, that's worth paying attention to.
The Lab is designed to go deeper than most mental performance content. But the deepest work doesn't happen through a speaker. It happens in a real conversation, with someone who can see your specific patterns clearly and help you do something about them.
If you're ready for that conversation, I'd like to hear from you.
All The Episodes. Go As Deep as You Want.
Ep. 77: Stop Hiding Behind the Process
Pete Kadushin challenges the idea of “focus only on the process,” explaining how avoiding outcomes can lead to hesitation and lack of commitment. This Mental Training Lab solocast explores performance anxiety, fear of failure, and why clearly defining your goals is essential for real progress.
Ep. 76: From Formula 1 to the Boardroom: Building Trust and High-Performance Teams with Peter Hodgkinson
Leadership and high performance insights with Peter Hodgkinson, exploring trust, psychological safety, burnout, and sustainable success in elite environments like Formula 1.
Ep. 75: Stop Fighting Nerves: The Real Way to Unlock Flow
Pete Kadushin explains why performance isn’t about eliminating nerves. Learn how to work with stress, access flow state, and perform at a higher level with practical mental tools.
Ep. 74: Beyond the Grind: Redefining Mental Toughness with Dr. Hillary Cauthen
Sport psychologist Dr. Hillary Cauthen challenges traditional “mental toughness” culture and explains why mental strength leads to better performance and well-being.
Ep. 73: The Illusion of Progress
Pete Kadushin examines why effort doesn’t always equal growth, revealing how underlying beliefs create the illusion of progress in sport and life.
Ep. 72: Hypnosis for High Performance: How Intentional Focus Can Transform Pain, Sleep, and Stress with Dr. David Spiegel
A practical breakdown with Dr. David Spiegel on clinical hypnosis, attention control, pain perception, and how to train the mind under pressure.
Ep. 70: Bad Advice: Discipline Over Motivation
Why discipline without motivation leads to burnout. A practical breakdown of motivation, discipline, and how elite performers build sustainable consistency.
Ep. 69: Turning the Mic Around: Pete Kadushin on Meaning, Mindfulness, and Mental Performance
Holly Rogers interviews Pete Kadushin. They explore mindfulness, presence, and how contemplative practice reshapes performance, coaching, and the work itself.
Ep. 68: “No Big Deal”
Explore how the mantra “no big deal” helps unhook from unproductive thinking, regulate the nervous system, and stay focused on what you can control.
Ep. 67: From Self-Criticism to Self-Compassion: How Mindfulness Changes Performance with Dr. Holly Rogers
Dr. Holly Rogers reveals that much of our suffering isn’t about the circumstances of our lives, but about the way we relate to those circumstances, the interpretations, beliefs, reactions, and habitual patterns that sit between us and what’s actually happening.
Ep. 66: From Fear to Freedom: Skiing and the Art of Acceptance
I share how learning to ski again revealed the power of acceptance, reduced fear, and boosted progression, plus simple practices to bring more ease and presence into your life.
Ep. 65: Safety, Stress, and Performance: Megan Bartlett on Rethinking How We Coach Under Pressure
Learn how nervous system science can reshape coaching, reduce self-blame, and build environments where athletes feel safe, perform better, and grow with resilience.
Ep. 64: What's the Worst that Could Happen?
Let’s explore the role that negative visualization can play in generating gratitude, wonder, and a connection to the present moment.
Ep. 63: Practicing What We Preach: Dr. Ryan Hamilton on High Performance, Self-Awareness, and Pushing Limits
Explore the power of walking the talk, embracing discomfort, and growing through experience with Dr. Ryan Hamilton.
Ep. 62: Don't Step Over "The Suck"
Explore the difference between positivity and optimism, and learn how the Stockdale Paradox can help you stay grounded while creating lasting change.
Ep. 61: The Hero’s Journey: Jilyne Jarvis on Transformation, Dancing with Fear, and Empowering the Next Generation
Discover how Jilyne Jarvis went from professional ski racer to co-founder of ZGiRLS, building confidence in middle school girls, and learn three actionable steps to overcome self-doubt and grow toward your own big goals.
Ep. 60: Not Good Enough, Need to Be Better: A Broken Model of Motivation
Discover how to break free from fear-based motivation and build a more sustainable path to mastery in this insightful episode.
Ep. 59: Resilience, Trust, and Growth: O2X Founder Adam LaReau on Creating High-Performing Teams
Former Navy SEAL Adam LaReau shares practical lessons on clarity, trust, and reflection to build resilient, high-performing organizations.
Ep. 58: It’s Only Right if it Grooves
We're talking about the wisdom of bass guitar legend Victor Wooten and what his approach to rhythm, groove, and performance can teach us about showing up at our best when it matters most.
Ep. 57: From the Octagon to the Playground: How Environment Shapes Elite Performance with William Massey, PhD
Ever wondered what elite MMA fighters, elementary school playground dynamics, and high-performing leaders have in common?
You've Found Your Way to the Bottom of the Lab.
That tells me something about you. You're thorough. You go deep. You don't skim the surface when something matters.
Those are exactly the qualities that make this work possible.
If you've been listening and something keeps pulling at you, a pattern you recognize, a question you can't shake, a sense that something deeper is available than what you've found so far, that pull is worth following.