Top Mental Game (2025)

16/06/2025

What a 🥍 season it was for TMG alums!

I’ll do a final season wrap-up that includes post-season 🥍 awards later, but how about these stories!

🔥 Perhaps my favorite was the storybook ending to the season for which won the first NJ Group II state championship in school history.

Kelly worked with me a few years ago after he had broken his arm and was looking to work on his mental game and his resilience before the next season.

After suffering what at one point was a season-ending injury at the start of his senior lax campaign, he stayed the course.

As fate would have it, Kelly would get cleared to play in the Group II final vs. Hopewell Valley, where he scored his first and only goal this season in a 13-5 win. Storybook ending!

🔥Another leader on that team was TMG alum and fellow senior , who had the best season of his career with 40 goals and 18 assists to go over the 100 points mark.

When Matt came to work with me two years ago, he was coming off a rough fall and summer, and in his words “needed a way to get back to the game I know I can play.”

He called his TMG experience “one of the greatest decisions” he had ever made. Matt will be playing for next season.

🔥Kendell Carcaterra, another senior from and a 1st team All-Shore at attack, also went over the 100-point career total this year and won the NJ Group I state championship in double-OT.

will be playing for next season.

🔥Joining her on the state’s 16th ranked team was , a sophomore on defense, who was 2nd Team All-Shore.

🔥Finally, , a junior middie on - the #1 team in the state - won the Non-Public State Title over . Coop will be playing for after his senior campaign is over next year.

What do all of these 🥍 state championship players have in common?

They ALL went through my Ultimate Mindset Program.

I’m starting my next program on July 7th and I still have slots available.

Hit me up to give your athlete the gift of confidence!

.shore.savages

12/06/2025

What a wonderful experience working with Eden Housing, Inc. at their annual EdenCon event in sunny Santa Clara, CA.

Hardship duty it was not!

Not only did I get to talk about one of my favorite topics - leadership mindset (which was customized for two different levels of non-profit leadership at Eden) - but I got to hang out with one of my favorite peeps - Michele Stowe, PCC from SkyRocket Coaching!

Blown away by the selflessness, passion, and determination to provide safe and affordable housing in California which they’ve done faithfully for over five decades.

I got to listen to Linda Mandolini, Eden’s President and CEO with 25 years in the org, who is as authentic as leaders get, share her insight on Eden’s important role in the affordable housing crisis that exists today.

Thank you to Michele Stowe, PCC for your partnership, professionalism, and friendship, and to MC extraordinaire Michael Dismuke, CPTD for your energy and collaboration in planning this great event.

And thanks to all the fantastic leaders I met at Eden who were passionate, gracious, and couldn’t be more welcoming - Shola Olatoye, Darnell Williams, Lorenzo Jones, and Aruna Doddapeneni.

04/06/2025

One of the best parts of working with athletes is seeing them grow … and excel at the next level.

Here’s a portion of the schools that TMG alums are attending.

Are YOU looking to play at the next level?

Looking to level up your mental game so that it worsk FOR you, and not AGAINST you.

Sign up for my upcoming Ultimate Mindset Program and receive the same tools all these TMG alums are using to perform at their best when it matters the most.

Build your confidence.

Increase your resilience.

Bounce back after mistakes.

Perform under pressure.

Hit me up!

29/05/2025

It was a privilege to give the kickoff keynote at the NJ General Equity & Civil Divisions Education Conference for 250 judges from around the state.

The pre-meeting K9 sweep of the ballroom we were in at the beautiful added to the gravity of the event and reminded me of the sacrifice and stress these leaders have to face in America today.

I was asked to speak about how leaders can improve their communication effectiveness, both in and outside their teams, as well as across generations.

All of the judges in that room are the cream of the crop when it comes to their understanding of justice and the law.

In other words, they are a 10 out of 10 when it comes to competence at their job.

If, however, they are poor at communicating with their staff, colleagues, and external stakeholders – say a 3 out of 10 – they will ultimately be perceived as being a 3 out of 10 overall.

That may not be fair. They may not like it. But it’s a reality.

Every judge walked away with an understanding of their preferred communication style, and I showed them how to identify and expertly adapt their style to fit others.

It was an awesome group who was fully engaged and eager to get even better.

I left with a renewed faith in our court system and even more proud to call NJ my home.

Special thanks to Christine Lewis Knightly and her team for the opportunity to speak at such a first-class event.

21/05/2025

Congrats to Team Oliphant - Mack and Holt.

These two are original TMG OG’s and so proud of what they’ve been able to accomplish thus far.

Mack had a standout year for and recently earned the Michael P. Quinn Memorial Award for the team’s best defensemen.

He was also named one of the team’s captains for next season.

Older brother Holt .oliphant finished up his junior campaign at and just found out he will be a pilot after graduation.

Leadership runs throughout this family - Holt was also one of the team’s captains.

Congrats to both and can’t wait to see what you do next year!

🔝🧠🏒

01/05/2025

When .richey sent me her testimonial pic, I was beaming.

I don’t know if I’ve ever seen a photo that screams “confidence” more than her pic.

And to know it was taken immediately after Erynn, a senior at Wall High School (NJ), buried a clutch PK in the state tournament for made it even cooler.

I’ve known Erynn’s family for my entire life, and it’s been nothing but sheer joy watching her grow up into the awesome young lady she is today.

She’s one heck of an athlete, and an even better person. It was a privilege to have her in my Ultimate Mindset Program earlier this year.

The 3️⃣-sport athlete is going the way of the dodo, but Erynn was a standout for Wall in ⚽️,🏀, and🥎.

Playing 3 sports is harder than ever, and it takes an impressive level of mental toughness to make it happen.

Here is Erynn’s tesimonial:

“Ths past summer, my parents saw a drop in my confidence levels, which resulted in a drop in my performance levels in all of my sports.

I decided to work with Bryan because I was really beaten down by the recruiting process, and I wanted to be the best version of myslef so I could play college soccer.

I can confidently say that after this program, there was a HUGE difference in myself that was not only seen by me, but also by those around me. Bryan is the type of person that I could talk to about anything.

I came out of every session, whether it was a group or one-on-one, feeling more and more confident. When I hit a bit of a rough patch during my H.S. soccer season, I texted Bryan and he knew the exact thing to say to put me back on track.

Because of this program, Bryan was able to limit my negative self-talk and I accomplished all I wanted and more this past high school soccer season.

I used the waves exercise to ease my mind before taking my penalty kick in the state sectional finals. It allowed me to slow my heart rate down so I was focused and able to perform at my best.

I can’t thank Bryan enough for his time and true desire to help me throughout this program but also beyond.

I recommend this program to anyone who’s looking to become a more confident and overall better version of themselves!”

Thank you & good luck, Erynn!

27/04/2025

A little vitamin 🌊 in St. John.

Ready to get back after it.

17/04/2025

Last week I got spend an entire morning with over 40 of Russo Development’s Managers and Directors.

The workshop theme was , , and .

These are important topics for any organization, but especially for an organization growing at a fast pace and committed to maintaining the highest standards of quality.

The only way you can do that is through empowering your leaders at all levels and creating a of ownership (vs. ).

And the only way you can do that is if leaders are able and willing to have tough conversations.

But how many organizations invest the time and resources to equip their leaders with the necessary skills to give and receive feedback?

Russo did.

In this morning workshop we covered:

💡Common psychological reasons why people avoid having tough conversations

💡Obstacles at Russo currently standing in the way of accountability

💡Difference between accountability and ownership

Here’s the coolest part – working with Rebecca Rabbat and her team, we created customized simulations unique to the Russo leaders in the room (e.g. common maintenance/facility and leasing/property management leadership challenges).

Leaders got the opportunity to practice their techniques (and they’re acting skills!) in giving and receiving feedback.

What is YOUR organization doing to empower its leaders and build a culture of ownership?

16/04/2025

I’m proud to be partnering with to sponsor the Shore Conference Boys AND Girls Players of the Week this season!

Although we work with athletes from ALL sports at , we are especially proud of our track record in 🥍

We have worked with lax players at all levels (college, high school, and elementary school) and our alumni include a Power-4 team captain and multiple NJ All-State and All-Conference players.

You can find lax players from the TOP programs in NJ who already have Top Mental Game including:

and
boys.lacrosse

and lax players from the following lax clubs:

Your talent sets the floor, but your mindset sets the ceiling.

It’s time to take your game to the next level, and Top Mental Game will get you there.

04/04/2025

Shout out to these TMG athletes, past and present!

Clockwise from top left … first up is .moore.07, who is currently in my Ultimate Mindset Program.

A junior pentathlete from Manasquan (NJ) , Mia was recently named All-Monmouth County and 2nd-team All-Shore.

She owns the school long-jump record and competed at the indoor nationals a few weeks ago.

Can’t wait to see what she does this Spring! 🔝🧠🏃🏻‍♀️

Next is Michael Masini, a 🏀 player from Gig Harbor (WA) who had a monster junior campaign.

What has done since my Ultimate Mindset Program?

He broke 1️⃣2️⃣ school records at - including most points and rebounds in a season!

Definitely not the last time you hear this name! 🔝🧠🏀

Last but not least, , a sophomore🏌🏼‍♂️from Eisenhower H.S. (MI), set the tone for his Spring season by winning the 9th Annual Eisenhower Tourney.

Like Michael, Dylan is another graduate of my Ultimate Mindset Program, and was 3️⃣ strokes better than the rest of the field!

Good luck this season, Dylan! 🔝🧠⛳️

31/03/2025

Super pumped to sponsor .shore.savages and their coverage of Shore Conference (NJ) high school baseball this season.

As a proud alum and former All-Shore and All-State SS, along with another coach on my TMG team who was my D-I teammate with , sponsoring ⚾️ was an obvious choice.

We have players who went through Top Mental Game’s mindset program at the following programs in the Shore Conference:
🔥
🔥
🔥 .baseball
🔥
🔥 St. Rose baseball

And not to mention I was the mental performance coach for Seton Hall ⚾️ for Coach Rob Sheppard.

We work with athletes in all sports, but obviously have a deep love for baseball.

Interested in leveling up YOUR game?

Hit us up!

Best of luck to all the ball players in the best baseball conference in NJ!

25/03/2025

“There are no office hours for leaders.”

Especially in today’s digital age where cell phones and social media capture everything.

I thought of this quote after UCONN basketball coach Dan Hurley was caught saying stuff to Baylor’s team while walking to the locker room after their season ending loss to Florida.

He got caught in a moment of weakness (as happens to us all) and said some things I’m sure he regrets. It all got caught on camera and immediately went viral soon afterward.

UCONN’s Sports Information Director demanded that the reporter who posted the scene take it down, threatening to ruin the reporter’s “f&$%’n life” if he didn’t.

The whole incident was unfortunate, but it offers an important lesson. As leaders, we’re never “off the clock.”

When the students I teach or the athletes I work with ask whether they should have a separate social media account – one that is public and one that’s private, I ask why the need?

If what you say or how you say something in private as a leader is inappropriate for the public sphere, what does that illustrate about you as a leader?

If you feel you can behave one way behind closed doors, but then “turn it on” when you’re in front of the cameras, you’re not a leader. You’re an actor.

We should all aspire to have alignment between who we are as leaders in public and who we are as people in our private life.
Easier said than done, but that should be the aspirational goal.

The UCONN SID said “The lasting image of Coach Hurley leaving the court should have been his walking off the court arm-in-arm with his seniors, overwhelmed with emotion.”

I agree with him. It should have.

But don’t blame the reporter.

Blame the leader.

“Leaders don’t have office hours.”

Top Mental Game

16/06/2025

12/06/2025

04/06/2025

29/05/2025

21/05/2025

01/05/2025

27/04/2025

17/04/2025

16/04/2025

04/04/2025

31/03/2025

25/03/2025

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