Deconstructing Gendered Messages

These days, it is less likely for a teacher to tell their students overtly that boys are better at math than girls or for a tee ball coach to tell a little girl overtly that the boys are stronger than she is. However, gendered messages certainly have not disappeared...

Find Your Passion or Grow It?

We tend to see a lot of messages that push the idea that our passion resides somewhere deep inside of us, and our task is to discover it. We must find our passion—like saving lives as a doctor or teaching the next generation as an educator. It’s like the passion...

Comparisons as a Source of Connection

We often think of comparison as competition, but it’s possible to think of comparison as connection. We are wired to compare ourselves to others and to different versions of ourselves. The social comparison theory explains our tendency to compare ourselves to...

Identity Development & Youth Sports

There are countless wonderful things about youth sports, but it’s also true that there are high expectations placed on young athletes. Recently, there’s been a trend towards sports specialization at an early age. This is motivated by trying to help...

Olympic Mindset

I love watching the Olympics. Every single performance is filled with excitement. They are all incredible. While I love watching the athletes compete, the thing that I find most interesting is learning about the athletes themselves and how they think. The Olympic...

Winter Olympians & Mothers

This week, the 2022 Winter Olympics kicked off in Beijing! And at the same time, my home state of Vermont received a lovely 15 inches of snow, so I’m really feeling the winter spirit! I’ve spent time with friends and family snowshoeing and hiking this week. I started...