Coaching, mentoring, training, developing the mind in Finland

At the beginning, I want to mention that the following views expressed are my own personal take of the topic.

The social media marketing is booming, blogging is booming, and the world wide web is a rather free playing field. What I mean to say is that it is perfectly acceptable (and bothering easy) to market and publish all kinds of stuff in today’s web-society. I'm keen follower of some social media channels and Internet portals related to my field – grossly or specifically.

I can happily state that the businesses for improving health and fitness are developing well and good. Many people want their share of it. However, this trend obviously has its pitfalls – in my honest at least. People today are not only looking for improved physique, but also the psychological side is receiving more and more interest. Hand in hand with this growth, I've seen more and more mental coaching services appearing with the most varying names and concepts.

Personally, I see this growth in interest as great thing. But then, the growing market of various fairly commercial 'mind coaching solutions' is certainly confusing. Having browsed some of the market offerings in Finland, I'm in many places still to understand the fundamental approaches and roots. In other words, what does the customer actually get? Is it just inventive slogans and mental cookbook recipes without any, or very weak, base in research and science? Another thing is the various certifications and accreditations on offer. So what, if you buy a few course days and an impressive diploma – is the certification a proof of some sort of expertise? Is the underlying competence really sufficient to work with real people? Are the end customers in good hands?

The field of coaching somebody’s mind is very sensitive. I did my MSc in Performance Psychology, and I've had the honour to study and work under the supervision of some of the leading professionals in the field. If I learnt something it was the ethics of dealing with minds of other people. Now I feel there are too many half-hearted operators trying to address the psychological sides of life endeavours – work, exercise, fitness, health behaviour, etc. I fear that people in good faith will ultimately suffer for their honest efforts to improve.

A major change.

This blog has been silent for a reason, I believe. For how long the reason has actually existed, I refuse to answer. I've come to a conclusion during this period. Yet I am not able shed light all across the whole conclusion, but partially I can elaborate on what is driving the change. The original purpose was to talk about my journey solely from athletic perspective, and the new purpose is to talk about my journey from a wider professional perspective.

What's more is that I can now safely skip the rest of my race of the late season and following medical saga (which is long and ongoing even without the slightest exaggeration). All I'll say is that the latter part of the season was actually pretty good, considering what was actually going on. It is all good know though – I am fit and healthy. Well, the fitness is a bit of question mark after such a long break from training.

Ok, back to the point then. What point? The point of perspective – the new journey. The new journey brings new challenges, the new challenges bring excitement. It keeps me going. Ok, I lost the point again.

The main content will be from my views on my profession in the field of performance psychology. Performance psychology is my passion and profession. It is a study of performance from psychological point of view. What are the components of performance? How can one be the best he or she can? The questions are endless and answers are complex, which makes it even more intriguing field of study.

In essence, I'll make efforts to write about stuff that is going on in the field and of course, my own views and opinions of certain matters I feel strongly about. And yes, please toss me ideas and ask questions – I'd honored and glad to write about them.

There is a certain driving force for this change and I am know waiting for an email to officially confirm it. The other reason is that it is actually quite dull to try and make time trialling sound like an eventful and dearly entertaining encounter. At its best it is freakishly controlled steady effort over a predescribed distance. At worst, you are sluggish or out of control or there maybe a blow of wind making things extreme. That was bit of an exaggeration, but see the point – I kind of ran out of adjectives.

In short, I'm on the verge of something exciting – a whole new journey and goals.