Jim Taylor, Ph.D. Psychology, is an internationally recognized authority on the psychology of performance, sport, and parenting. His professional expertise encompasses performance and sport psychology, child development and parenting, and personal growth. Dr. Taylor has worked with professional, Olympic, collegiate, and junior-elite athletes in skiing, cycling, triathlon, tennis, track and field, squash, fencing, swimming, football, golf, baseball, and many other sports. He has also worked extensively outside of sport including in business, education, medicine, technology, and the performing arts. Dr. Taylor is the author of 18 books (that have been translated into ten languages) and is a highly sought after speaker around the world. He has hosted three podcasts: Train Your Mind for Athletic Success, Raising Young Athletes, and Crisis to Opportunity. His blog posts have been read by more than 10 million people. A former world-ranked alpine ski racer, Dr. Taylor is also a 2nd degree black belt in karate, a sub-3-hour marathon runner, and Ironman, 2x national champion, and 3x world-championship medal-winning age-group triathlete.
My entire career has been devoted to identifying the mental factors that most impact performance of every kind, whether athletic, academic, performing arts, or career, and helping high achievers to optimize every area that influences their performances. As I have evolved as a professional, I have come to recognize that performance is a highly complex phenomenon that requires an equally encompassing approach to helping high achievers perform at their highest level consistently when it matters most.
These explorations have led to the development of my Prime Performance System which provides a deep and broad understanding of the mental areas necessary to perform your best and achieve your goals. My Prime Performance System is comprised of five mental and performance areas that represent what I believe are the essential contributors to success in every field of achievement. My Prime Performance System acts as the framework for my work with performers to maximize their strengths that will propel them toward their goals and alleviate obstacles that hold them back.
Blog
Ditch the Expectations—and Race Your Best
With USAT Multisport Nationals happening this week in Omaha (I’ll be racing three events myself!), I wanted to share something that could make or break your performance on race day: expectations. At first glance, expectations […]
Triathlon Imagery: The Mental Tool You Should Be Using
Triathlon is a brutal sport! It’s not just one sport—it’s three. And that means your body and brain are constantly being pushed to the edge. You’re not just fighting physical fatigue—you’re battling heat, hills, pain, […]
Three Race-day Goals for Triathlon Success
Defining success in triathlon is a difficult task. When I ask most athletes and coaches how they define success, it is usually in terms of results, whether wins, rankings, or times. For others, though, success […]
Meet my 2025 Partners: Argon 18 (also My Title Partner)
Meet My Partners for 2024: Argon 18 Bikes-My Title Partner I am thrilled to announce Argon 18 bicycles will continue as my bike partner for 2025 and my “title partner” that will receive top billing in supporting […]
The Psychology of Extreme Heat for Triathletes: Don’t Sweat it
The 2025 triathlon is officially underway! One challenge that most of us can expect is extreme heat in some of our races. I’m heading Omaha in June for USAT Multisport Nationals and to Milwaukee in […]
Positive Self-talk for Triathlon Training and Racing
Perhaps the most powerful mental tool to build your confidence is positive self-talk. What you say to yourself away from triathlon, when you’re training, and during races impacts what you think, how you feel, and […]
Online Courses
Pirme Ski Racing Online Courses
This 6-class, self-paced course is devoted to helping alpine ski racers to become mentally prepared to ski their fastest when it matters most.
Prime Sport Online Courses
This 6-class, self-paced course, can help athletes in any sport to be mentally prepared to perform their best consistently.
Sport Parenting Online Course
This 4-class course offers parents the insights, information, and tools they need to support their young athletes in the most positive way possible.
Books
In Change Your Life’s Direction, Dr. Jim Taylor explores the four forces (values, self-esteem, ownership, and emotions) that propel your life’s trajectory. Importantly, he shows you how to override your past inertia and chart a new course toward the person you want to be and the life you want to have.
In How to Survive and Thrive When Bad Things Happen, Dr. Jim Taylor explores the impact of crises in our lives. Responding positively to a crisis is an immense challenge, yet with powerful lessons provided in these pages, anyone can turn crises into opportunities for reflection, positive action, and growth.
In Raising Young Athletes: Parenting Your Children to Victory in Sports and Life, Dr. Jim Taylor—an internationally-recognized authority on sport psychology, child development, and parenting—offers a guiding hand to help parents ensure that their children’s sports participation encourages positive attitudes and promotes healthy developments as they move toward adulthood.
In Train Your Mind for Athletic Success, Dr. Jim Taylor uses his own elite athletic experience and decades of working with some of the world’s best athletes to provide competitors in every sport and at every ability level with insights, practical exercises, and tools they can use to be mentally prepared to perform their best when it matters most.
In Positive Pushing, Dr. Jim Taylor describes how the challenge of balancing childhood achievement and happiness often puts parents in a position of uncertainty; how and how hard to push. This book shows parents how to push and when to back off, the result of which is both a successful and happy child.
In Raising Generation Tech, Dr. Jim Taylor offers a practical guide for helping your children navigate the influential and omnipresent world of technology. Dr. Taylor explores how popular culture and technology shape children’s lives and shows parents how they can help their children develop healthy relationships with their technology
Partners
