The Mindset Athlete Podcast

James Roberts
  • 5.0 (34)
  • Self-Improvement
  • Updated Bimonthly

The Mindset Athlete explores what really shapes performance, and what gets missed when complex experiences are reduced to mindset, motivation or polished success stories. Hosted by James Owen Roberts, two-time Paralympian (Beijing 2008 and London 2012), TEDx speaker and performance mentor, the show features open conversations with athletes, coaches, founders and specialists from different fields. James draws on perspectives formed through elite sport, disability, mixed-race identity, academic study, coaching, business, grassroots sport and media. Together with each guest, he examines the claims people make, the experiences behind them and what the available evidence actually supports. What happened? How does the guest explain it? What might be assumed? What genuinely applies to somebody listening? The Mindset Athlete is not about forcing every story into a motivational lesson or pretending that one person's route will work for everyone. Each episode is an invitation to look beyond the first explanation, stay curious and identify what could genuinely help someone make progress.

  1. Aug 26

    The Pursuit of Excellence: What It Really Takes to Reach Your Potential with Mike Frogley

    What does it really take to reach your potential—and what separates the pursuit of excellence from simply being "good enough"? In this episode, I'm joined by Mike "Frog" Frogley, one of the most highly regarded minds in wheelchair basketball, for a conversation about high performance, leadership, culture, curiosity, failure and what it really means to pursue your best. Mike represented Canada at the 1992 Paralympic Games before moving into coaching, where he would help guide Canada to back-to-back Paralympic gold medals in 2000 and 2004. Across 21 years coaching in the US collegiate system, his teams also won a combined 12 national championships. But this conversation isn't simply about medals or basketball. It's about the process behind excellence. In this episode, you'll discover: 🏀 Why Mike still reflects on the decisions surrounding Canada's 2008 Paralympic final. 🏀 How shared values and behaviours create high-performing cultures. 🏀 Why discipline means doing the difficult things—not simply the easy ones. 🏀 The difference between having minimum standards and pursuing your very best. 🏀 Why Mike believes curiosity is fundamental to innovation and improvement. 🏀 How failure can become a source of learning rather than something to avoid. 🏀 Why great coaches need more than one tool in their toolbox. 🏀 The challenges social media and AI create for people pursuing excellence. 🏀 Why there are no shortcuts to reaching your potential. 🏀 What "the bus is always late" can teach us about performing when conditions aren't perfect. What this conversation really made me question... A few weeks before speaking with Mike, I had a conversation with Dre Baldwin about the idea of raising the floor. We often focus on our ceiling—how good we can become at our absolute best. But what if we also raised the standard of our worst? Interestingly, while speaking with Mike, I found myself describing discipline and values as our "minimum standards"—the minimum we expect of ourselves and each other. Mike challenged the terminology. His philosophy isn't to ask an athlete for their minimum. He wants their very best in that moment. That distinction stayed with me. Because perhaps having standards beneath which we're unwilling to operate isn't the same as settling for the minimum. One protects the floor. The other keeps pushing the ceiling. Maybe the pursuit of excellence requires both. Mike's wider philosophy reinforces that idea: understand your values, define the behaviours that demonstrate them, remain curious, learn from failure and continually ask what else might be possible. About Mike "Frog" Frogley Mike Frogley is regarded as one of the leading minds in wheelchair basketball. After representing Canada at the 1992 Paralympic Games in Barcelona, Mike moved into coaching and served as head coach of Canada's Men's National Team from 1996–2004, guiding the programme to its first Paralympic gold medal in Sydney 2000 and another gold in Athens 2004. Mike also spent 21 years coaching wheelchair basketball in the US collegiate system at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater and University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, where his teams won a combined 12 national championships. He later served as Wheelchair Basketball Canada's National Academy Director and worked with Own the Podium as a Summer Paralympic Performance Advisor. Today, Mike mentors coaches, consults with sports and shares his knowledge through CoachFrogley.com. Connect with Mike: 🌐 CoachFrogley.com 📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/coachfrogley/ 🎵 TikTok: @coachfrogley 📘 Facebook: Michael Frogley Continue the conversation If this conversation has made you question your own performance, leadership or what's preventing you from progressing, complete my free Performance Clarity Assessment. Rather than generic advice, you'll receive personalised feedback designed to help uncover the principles, constraints and opportunities that may be shaping your progress. Complete the assessment: Performance Clarity Assessment I'd also love to know: Do you think high performance is about raising the minimum standard—or continually pursuing your absolute best?

  2. Aug 26

    The Third Day: How to Keep Going When Motivation Disappears with Dre Baldwin

    What happens when the motivation that got you started is no longer there? Starting is often the easy part. The goal is new. The energy is high. You're motivated to take action. But what happens when the novelty wears off, progress feels slower than expected and you're left with the work? In this episode, I'm joined by former professional basketball player, author and Work On Your Game founder Dre Baldwin to explore what he calls "The Third Day" — the point where motivation disappears and consistency has to come from somewhere else. What begins as a conversation about discipline quickly develops into something much bigger: how structure shapes confidence, how our identity influences our behaviour, what failure can teach us, and why performing consistently may have less to do with raising your ceiling than raising your floor. In this episode, you'll discover: 🏀 Why motivation can get you started but can't be relied upon to keep you going. 🏀 How structure creates discipline — and why Dre sees confidence as something earned through consistently doing the work. 🏀 Why training and preparation need to reflect the demands you'll face when it actually matters. 🏀 How setbacks can become information, allowing you to adjust rather than simply question whether you're good enough. 🏀 Why changing direction can mean becoming a beginner again, even after you've achieved success somewhere else. 🏀 How lessons developed through sport can be deconstructed and turned into principles that are valuable far beyond the sporting arena. 🏀 Why elite performance isn't only about how high your ceiling can go — but the minimum standard you're prepared to accept from yourself. What this conversation really made me question... One of the reasons I wanted to explore The Third Day with Dre was because the idea of staying consistent when things get difficult resonated with me personally after taking a recent hiatus. It's relatively easy to commit to something when it's new. It's much harder when the initial excitement has disappeared, progress isn't happening as quickly as you'd like, or you simply don't feel like doing the work. Something Dre said during our conversation helped me look at that differently. We spend a lot of time focusing on our ceiling — the goal, the next achievement and how good we could potentially become. But Dre argues that consistent performance comes from raising the floor: the minimum standard you're prepared to accept from yourself. That distinction stayed with me. Because perhaps consistency isn't really about trying to feel motivated every day. It's about creating enough structure, discipline and evidence that you can continue to execute when those feelings aren't there. Dre also made an important point about progress: moving slowly in the right direction is still preferable to moving quickly in the wrong one. Sometimes we have to give the work, and even a new identity, enough time to compound. So perhaps the better question isn't: "How do I stay motivated?" It's: "What have I built that allows me to keep going when I'm not?" Free Execution Reliability Scorecard During our conversation, Dre talks about the gap between what we intend to do and what we consistently execute. He's created a free Execution Reliability Scorecard to help you identify that gap for yourself. It takes less than five minutes to complete and gives you a practical starting point for improving your consistency and execution. Get Dre's free Execution Reliability Scorecard Dre specifically offers the scorecard at the end of the episode, so this CTA is directly supported by the recording rather than being something added afterwards. About Dre Baldwin Dre Baldwin is a former professional basketball player, author, speaker and founder of Work On Your Game. Drawing on his experience in professional sport, Dre's work explores discipline, confidence, mental toughness, identity and consistent execution — and how principles developed through sport can be applied to business and everyday performance. One of Dre's strengths is taking what he has learned through experience, breaking it down and articulating it in a way that people outside sport can understand and use. Continue the conversation Every meaningful conversation should leave us with better questions than when we started. If this episode made you question your own consistency, performance or what might be getting in the way of your progress, you can complete my free Performance Clarity Assessment. Rather than generic advice, you'll receive personalised feedback designed to help uncover the principles, constraints and opportunities that may be shaping your progress. Complete the Performance Clarity Assessment: Take the free assessment I'd also love to hear what stood out for you from my conversation with Dre. What does your own "Third Day" look like — and what keeps you going when the motivation isn't there?

  3. Jul 15

    Don't Believe the Label: What Water Teaches Us About Better Decisions with Doran Binder

    What assumptions shape the decisions you make every day without you even realising it? We drink water every day. Yet most of us have never stopped to question it. In this episode, I'm joined by Doran Binder, founder of Crag Spring Water and certified Water Sommelier, for a conversation that begins with water but quickly becomes something much bigger. Together, we explore how assumptions influence the decisions we make, often without us even recognising they're there. In this episode, you'll discover: 💧 Why two bottles carrying the same brand name can contain completely different water. 💧 What the Romans understood about water thousands of years ago—and why it still matters today. 💧 The debate surrounding Scottish tap water and why perception often outweighs evidence. 💧 Why every company claims to have "the best" product—and why Doran chose education instead. 💧 What hydration in elite sport, including the FIFA World Cup, can teach us about questioning accepted beliefs. What this conversation really made me question... If we rarely stop to question something as fundamental as the water we drink every day, where else might we be accepting assumptions without ever testing them? What stayed with me wasn't the science. It was Doran's philosophy. Before entering the industry, he noticed that every company claimed to sell the "best" water. Rather than adding another voice to the noise, he chose to educate people instead, helping people understand the differences so they could make informed decisions for themselves. For me, that's the real lesson. This conversation isn't really about water. It's about curiosity. It's about slowing down long enough to question what we've always accepted as true. Because whether we're talking about water, health, business, leadership or performance, the quality of our decisions is often determined by the quality of the questions we're willing to ask. About Doran Binder Doran Binder is the founder of Crag Spring Water, a certified Water Sommelier and creator of The Bearded Water Sommelier. Through education, speaking and his work with Crag Spring Water, Doran helps people better understand hydration, bottled water and the assumptions that influence everyday choices. Learn more: 🌐 www.beardedwatersommelier.co.uk 🌐 www.cragspringwater.co.uk Connect with Doran on: Facebook, Linkedin, Youtube, TikTok and Instagram   Continue the conversation Every meaningful conversation should leave us with better questions than when we started. If this episode challenged one of your own assumptions and you'd like greater clarity around your performance, leadership or business thinking, you can complete my free Performance Clarity Assessment. Rather than generic advice, you'll receive personalised feedback designed to help uncover the principles, constraints and opportunities that may be shaping your progress. Complete the assessment: https://forms.gle/dGG2PsPq7PoSxq5q6 I'd also love to hear what stood out for you from this conversation. Connect with James Owen Roberts on Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube, TikTok and Instagram, and let me know: What assumption did this conversation make you question?

  4. Jul 13

    Why I Stopped

    Why I'm Back | The Next Chapter of The Mindset Athlete After more than three years away from the microphone, I'm back. Not because I have everything figured out. But because I've come to believe that every meaningful conversation should leave us with better questions than when we started. Over the past few years, my own thinking has evolved. What began as a podcast exploring mindset in sport has grown into something much broader: a search for the principles that shape performance in business, leadership and everyday life. This episode marks the beginning of that next chapter. In this episode, I share: Why I stepped away from podcasting. What those years away taught me. Why I decided the time was right to return. How my understanding of performance has changed. What you can expect from future conversations on The Mindset Athlete. What this conversation really made me question... Why are we so quick to search for better answers, yet so reluctant to question the assumptions behind the questions we're asking? Looking back, stepping away from the podcast wasn't time lost. It gave me the space to think more deeply about what I wanted these conversations to become. I've realised that meaningful growth rarely begins with another tactic, another framework or another piece of advice. It begins with a better question. That's what I hope this podcast becomes. Not a place that tells people what to think. But a place that helps them think more clearly for themselves. Continue the conversation Every meaningful conversation should leave us with better questions than when we started. If this episode resonated with you and you'd like greater clarity around your own performance, leadership or business thinking, you can complete my free Performance Clarity Assessment. Rather than generic advice, you'll receive personalised feedback designed to help uncover the principles, constraints and opportunities that may be shaping your progress. Complete the assessment: https://forms.gle/xkWMsPFniKWFHU9R9 I'd also love to hear your reflections. What question has stayed with you after listening? Connect with James Owen Roberts on Facebook, Linkedin, Youtube, TikTok and Instagram

  5. 07/07/2023

    #291 Breaking the Cycle: Brad Mewhort's Mission to End Male-on-Male Violence

    Welcome to a groundbreaking episode of our highly successful podcast, where we delve into the powerful work of Brad Mewhort, a visionary on a mission to prevent male-on-male violence and eradicate physical bullying. Brad's deep understanding of the personal effects and historic patterns of this issue has led him to author the compelling book, "The Peaceful Man: Heal Within Yourself the Personal Effects and Historic Patterns of Male-on-Male Violence." In this captivating conversation, we explore Brad Mewhort's extensive training and certifications in developmental coaching, somatic practices, group facilitation, and transformative change. These qualifications serve as the foundation for his groundbreaking approach to promoting healing, compassion, and understanding among men. Drawing upon his vast expertise, Brad reveals the underlying causes of male-on-male violence and explores the transformative power of self-reflection and personal growth. Through his work, he challenges conventional notions of masculinity and offers a roadmap for men to navigate their emotions, communicate effectively, and develop healthy relationships. Join us as we uncover Brad Mewhort's unique strategies for preventing violence and ending physical bullying. Discover how he empowers men to embrace their vulnerability, cultivate emotional intelligence, and create lasting change in their own lives and communities. As marketers of this highly successful podcast, we are honored to host Brad Mewhort and share his groundbreaking insights with our listeners. His mission to redefine masculinity and promote peace resonates deeply in a world where toxic masculinity often goes unchallenged. Prepare to be captivated as Brad's wisdom shines through, igniting hope and inspiring action. Tune in to this transformative episode, "Breaking the Cycle: Brad Mewhort's Mission to End Male-on-Male Violence," and embark on a journey of self-discovery, healing, and the pursuit of a violence-free future. This is a conversation you won't want to miss, as we collectively strive for a world where compassion and respect define the essence of manhood. You can learn more about Brad via his website peacefulmanbook.com and connect with him on Facebook and Linkedin For more information about James Roberts (the host of the podcast), visit jamesowenroberts.com and connect with him on Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, Youtube, Tik Tok and Instagram

  6. 07/07/2023

    #290 Unbreakable Spirit: Inspiring Stories of Triumph from 4x Paralympian Chris Seilkop

    In this awe-inspiring episode, join us as we sit down with the remarkable Chris Seilkop, a true embodiment of determination and resilience. With four Paralympic Games under his belt, Chris has left an indelible mark on the world of both standing and sitting volleyball. From Atlanta 1996 to Rio 2016, Chris's journey is a testament to the power of the human spirit. Having competed in Athens 2004, Sydney 2000, and the most recent Rio 2016 Paralympics, Chris's stellar career is a true inspiration to athletes and non-athletes alike. In this deeply personal conversation, Chris shares his incredible stories of triumph, the challenges he faced, and the mindset that fueled his success. Discover how he overcame seemingly insurmountable obstacles, turned setbacks into opportunities, and found the strength to persevere on his path to becoming a champion. We have had the privilege of hosting a wide range of exceptional guests, but Chris's story stands out as one that transcends sport. His experiences offer invaluable lessons about resilience, adaptability, and the unwavering belief in oneself. Join us as we dive deep into the mindset of a true champion and learn how Chris Seilkop continues to inspire others with his extraordinary journey. Whether you're an athlete seeking motivation, an avid sports fan, or someone looking for an uplifting and empowering story, this episode is sure to leave an indelible mark on your heart and mind. You can connect with him on Facebook and Instagram For more information about James Roberts (the host of the podcast), visit jamesowenroberts.com and connect with him on Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, Youtube, Tik Tok and Instagram

  7. 05/12/2023

    Shameguilt is not yours to own or to give with Lois Hollis

    Lois Hollis shifts our opinion on the taboo subject, shame and guilt. She is a shameguilt educator, counselor, filmmaker, author who coined the word shameguilt. Lois has always been a trailblazer as she helped develop one of the first Kidney Hemodialysis Units in the USA at Thomas Jefferson University in 1966.   Today she not only shows us why shameguilt has led us to believe we are victims incapable of stellar lives but also HOW to make friends with our inner critic and kick shameguilt out of our lives.   Lois was dying at 55 and today at 79, rollerblades with her grandson because she healed from the shameguilt of an abusive childhood. Lois was scarred with brain traumas, broken jaws, heart, liver, illnesses with 30 years of migraine headaches. Her impactful story shows us the immense power we reclaim when we release the shameguilt from our inner self.   She has lectured widely, including the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania, events, and podcast interviews in 15 countries. Her three books, spirit readings, and films that make shame guilt visible will teach us how and why we need to know the trickery of the shame guilt energy to accomplish our dreams.   You can learn more about Lois via her website loishollis.com and connect with her on Facebook, Twitter, Youtube and Instagram For more information about James Roberts (the host of the podcast), visit jamesowenroberts.com and connect with him on Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, Youtube, Tik Tok and Instagram

  8. 03/31/2023

    #288 Self Reflection with David Wetherill

    David is a former world class professional Paralympic table tennis player who reached number 2 in the world rankings. He is a three-time Paralympian, two-time European Champion and World Championship medallist and has represented Great Britain at more than 70 global international tournaments. David was born with a hole in his heart as well as a bone condition called Multiple Epiphyseal Dysplasia and has given a TED Talk on how having a disability can be a blessing. He has also exhibited, coached and lectured on table tennis and sport psychology extensively throughout the UK and in the corporate world, has established his own podcast, and has commentated on live television, including for BBC Sport and Sky Sports. Outside of work, David is patron for Disability Cornwall & Isles of Scilly and ambassador for the GLL Sport Foundation and helps promote inclusion, accessibility and disability awareness. He is passionate about the power of sport and exercise and particularly enjoys endurance activities which push the limits of his physical and mental capabilities. You can learn more about David by connecting with him on Instagram For more information about James Roberts (the host of the podcast), visit jamesowenroberts.com and connect with him on Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, Youtube, Tik Tok and Instagram

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5
out of 5
34 Ratings

About

The Mindset Athlete explores what really shapes performance, and what gets missed when complex experiences are reduced to mindset, motivation or polished success stories. Hosted by James Owen Roberts, two-time Paralympian (Beijing 2008 and London 2012), TEDx speaker and performance mentor, the show features open conversations with athletes, coaches, founders and specialists from different fields. James draws on perspectives formed through elite sport, disability, mixed-race identity, academic study, coaching, business, grassroots sport and media. Together with each guest, he examines the claims people make, the experiences behind them and what the available evidence actually supports. What happened? How does the guest explain it? What might be assumed? What genuinely applies to somebody listening? The Mindset Athlete is not about forcing every story into a motivational lesson or pretending that one person's route will work for everyone. Each episode is an invitation to look beyond the first explanation, stay curious and identify what could genuinely help someone make progress.

Information

  • Creator
    James Roberts
  • Years Active
    2017 - 2026
  • Episodes
    295
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © James Roberts
  • Show Website
    The Mindset Athlete Podcast

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