EXPERT IN MENTAL STRENGTHS
Renowned coach & researcher
On the one hand, it’s rare for someone to have a talent for scientific research to calculate reliable results from cold facts, whilst at the same time being a motivator and someone who can empathise with people with a sense for the fuzzier aspects of life: feelings, values and dreams.
Dr Michele Ufer is such a person.
The coach
Motivation expert and sports psychologist Dr Michele Ufer has been working as a coach in the following areas, among others, for 20 years:
- Peak performance under pressure and extreme conditions
- Motivation and resistance to stress
- Confident self-management and mental strength
- Professional and personal management
- Team and leadership development
His customers include not only ambitious amateur athletes, champion league participants and national teams. He also supports teams from business, executives and managers.
He benefits greatly from his experiences with people from different walks of life and performance regimes. “Thinking outside of the box helps to find new answers,” says Dr Michele Ufer. He has worked with the disabled and top athletes, with top managers and explorers.
On his adventure tours in Asia and South America, he quickly noticed what happens to people in extreme situations. In unusual situations and exciting group dynamics, he found solutions which today he incorporates carefully measured as constructive limit experiences in his psychological training sessions – even outside of adventure sports, for example during workshops for executives and team development in companies.
In addition to his PhD, the sports psychologist has completed a number of further training courses, some of which took several years, including:
The researcher
Researcher of limits Dr Michele Ufer even went to his own limits for his doctoral thesis. As its title implies: "Flow experience and performance during ultramarathon running under extreme conditions."
Dr Michele Ufer travelled to four continents to collect data for his research. He took part in eight extreme competitions and surveyed well over a hundred runners about their flow experience. His objective was to document the relationship between the flow experience of runners and their performance.
The result of his study
Flow experience promotes performance and/or satisfaction with one's performance.
Flow experience: performance-enhancing and exhilarating
The more intensive a runner’s flow state was, the more satisfied they were with their performance. Viewed objectively, it was clear the group of fast runners talked more about flow states than the group of slower runners. This is important not just for athletes.
Dr Michele Ufer:
“Flow is a state of concentrated but effortless success which can have the effect of increasing performance in all areas of life.”
The results of his study are incorporated in his Flow Hunter book. In his lively language he answers the question of how flow can be created, among others.
Today Dr Michele Ufer is researching how to handle limits responsibly. He calls that "limit skills". What this means is the ability not only to overcome limits, but also to respect them in certain situations. His book LIMIT SKILLS describes in further detail how limit skills develop.
Would you like to find out more or are you interested in a lecture, workshop or coaching session? Great. Dr Michele Ufer is looking forward to hearing from you.