Michelle O'Connor - Coach

Michelle O'Connor - Coach Performance Psychology | Consultant | Coach | Therapeutic Specialist | Guest Lecturer | Mindset 🧠

-WHAT IF YOUR BIGGEST STRENGTH IS ALSO YOUR BIGGEST PRESSURE? 🧠High standards. Relentless drive. Always wanting more.The...
09/09/2026

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WHAT IF YOUR BIGGEST STRENGTH IS ALSO YOUR BIGGEST PRESSURE? 🧠

High standards. Relentless drive. Always wanting more.

They can build exceptional performers - but when performance becomes proof of worth, success starts to carry a psychological cost.

The goal isn’t to care less or lower the standard.

It’s learning to chase excellence without putting your self-worth on trial every time you perform.

Your performance is something you do.
It is not who you are.

-We can’t always control what happens around us… the pressure, the mistake, the comment, the decision, the unexpected.Bu...
05/09/2026

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We can’t always control what happens around us… the pressure, the mistake, the comment, the decision, the unexpected.

But we can train what happens next 🧠

The ability to pause, regulate and choose your response is a psychological skill.

And like any skill, it gets stronger with practice 💥⏸️⏯️

-A calm mind sees everything 👀🧠🥊In high pressure moments, athletes often think they need to do more.Think faster. Try ha...
04/09/2026

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A calm mind sees everything 👀🧠🥊

In high pressure moments, athletes often think they need to do more.

Think faster. Try harder. Force the performance.

But when arousal becomes too high, attention can narrow.
Decision-making can become rushed.
We stop reading the performance and start simply reacting to it.

The goal isn’t to remove pressure.

It’s to become mentally quiet enough to perform within it.

Here’s 3 ways to train that, just like the very best do:

1. Lengthen the exhale 🌬️

When you feel yourself becoming over-aroused, deliberately slow the breath and make your exhale slightly longer than your inhale. Use the body to help bring the mind back under control.

2. Shrink your attention 🎯

Don’t solve the entire game, race, fight or performance at once. Ask:
“What matters right now?”

One cue. One action. One moment.

3. Create a reset word 🧠

Choose something simple - “calm”, “next”, “composed”, “execute”, “here”…

Train yourself to associate that word with releasing the previous moment and returning attention to the present one.

Because composure doesn’t mean you don’t feel pressure.
It means pressure doesn’t get to decide where your attention goes.

Calm the noise. See the information. Execute the moment.

01/09/2026

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WHO’S IN YOUR 25 FEET? 🧠

This is one study I always reference within team environments, in Sport, Education or Business ⬆️

Research referenced by Vanessa Van Edwards, examining 58,000 working hours across 11 companies, found something fascinating:

Stand within 25 feet of a high performer → performance increased by 15% ⬆️

Stand within 25 feet of a low performer → performance decreased by 30% ⬇️

Why does this matter?

Because we don’t perform in isolation.

We constantly pick up cues from the people around us - their energy, behaviours, body language, standards, confidence and responses when things get difficult.

Think about your dressing room. Boardroom. Training group. Bench. Management team. Support network.

Who raises your standard?
Who settles you under pressure?
Who brings solutions instead of problems?
But there’s another question we sometimes forget…

What are other people picking up from YOU? 🔥

High-performance environments are contagious 🔑

Choose your 25 feet carefully — and be someone worth standing beside 🧠⚡️

Research figures referenced via

-📓 One of the most underrated performance tools? A Notebook or Journal 📔 Journalling isn’t just about documenting your d...
31/08/2026

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📓 One of the most underrated performance tools? A Notebook or Journal 📔

Journalling isn’t just about documenting your day. Used intentionally, it can help an athlete build self-awareness, recognise patterns, regulate emotions, reinforce confidence and prepare more deliberately for pressure.

And sometimes, the best evidence is seeing the world’s best actually use it.

2026 Roland-Garros champion Mirra Andreeva brings her notebook onto court… using it to prepare, reflect, reset and remind herself of what she needs when competition gets difficult 🎾🧠

The principle is simple:

Clarity before performance.
Reflection after performance.

Learning carried into the next one.

You don’t need to write pages.

A few intentional sentences before and after competition can turn experience into learning, and learning into better performance 💫

Don’t just experience your performances.
Study them 💥📓🧠

-A little from the week at MO’C HQ…(By HQ, I literally mean anywhere 😅) 🧠One reminder from this week: you don’t have to ...
30/08/2026

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A little from the week at MO’C HQ…
(By HQ, I literally mean anywhere 😅) 🧠

One reminder from this week:
you don’t have to feel ready to BEHAVE ready.

We often wait for confidence, motivation or certainty before taking action… when very often, those feelings are built through action.

You can feel nervous and still be brave.

Doubt yourself and still commit.

Feel uncomfortable and still perform.

Your thoughts and emotions can have a voice - they just don’t always need the deciding vote 🧠👈

Another busy one in the books 🤍 with some key moments with family, friends, Freddie & Bailey 🐕

28/08/2026

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Your brain needs a target 🎯 not a warning ⚠️

And here’s why ⬆️🧠

-Your nervous system is always listening 🧠We often think regulation has to mean meditation, therapy, or finding 30 quiet...
28/08/2026

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Your nervous system is always listening 🧠

We often think regulation has to mean meditation, therapy, or finding 30 quiet minutes in an already busy day.

It doesn’t.

Sometimes regulation looks like walking. Laughing. Singing in the car. Being outside. Spending time with someone who feels safe. Moving your body. Taking a slow breath.

These seemingly small behaviours can influence our physiological and emotional state, helping us shift attention, reduce arousal and create a greater sense of safety and control.

And this matters in sport, work and everyday life 🔑

Because you cannot always control the pressure around you… but you can build a toolkit that helps your mind and body respond to it differently.

The key isn’t to use all of these.

It’s knowing which ones work for YOU - and practising them before you desperately need them.

Regulation isn’t about never becoming dysregulated.
It’s about knowing how to find your way back 🧠🤍

My new favourites are singing out loud (Shania has the best support act if she ever needs it 😂), dancing in my kitchen as I make breakfast or dinner, & practising daily gratitude… because we have a lot to be very grateful for 🥰

What ones can you try out this weekend?

25/08/2026

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YOUR BRAIN IS ALWAYS PRACTISING SOMETHING 🧠

And that’s why what you repeatedly tell yourself matters.
Not because every thought magically becomes reality.

But because repeated thoughts can influence your:

→ Attention
→ Emotional response
→ Confidence
→ Decision-making
→ Behaviour under pressure

Tell yourself “Don’t mess this up” repeatedly, and your attention can become increasingly drawn towards the threat of making a mistake.

Practise “Next ball. Trust myself. Commit.” and you’re giving your brain a clearer performance cue to return to.

This is why self-talk isn’t just positive thinking.

It’s training.

The goal isn’t to eliminate negative thoughts.
It’s to become better at recognising them, choosing which ones deserve your attention, and repeatedly returning to thoughts that help you execute.

THINK → REPEAT → PRACTISE → PERFORM 🧠⚡️

What are you training your mind to return to?

Video credit 👏

-A little glimpse of last week… 🌍🧠From boardrooms and offices to clinics, pitches, airports and conversations with athle...
24/08/2026

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A little glimpse of last week… 🌍🧠

From boardrooms and offices to clinics, pitches, airports and conversations with athletes, coaches and performers across Ireland, England and Australia.

Different sports. Different environments. Different pressures.

Yet wherever the work takes me, one thing remains remarkably consistent:

Performance is human before it is physical.

Behind the confidence, pressure, expectations, mistakes, results and medals is a person trying to think clearly, regulate emotion, trust themselves and perform when it matters.

Grateful for the people who continue to trust me to be part of that process.

And apparently… very grateful for coffee too 😂☕️

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