Jim Taylor

San Francisco

Ph.D., Psychology; internationally recognized authority on the psychology of sports, performance, parenting, and personal growth.

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Articles

Ditch the Expectations-and Race Your Best

5 days ago | drjimtaylor.com | Jim Taylor

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 seem positive. The dictionary defines them as “a strong belief that something will happen in the future” or “a belief that someone will or should achieve something.” Sounds confident, right?
Triathlon Imagery: The Mental Tool You Should Be Using

1 week ago | drjimtaylor.com | Jim Taylor

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, nerves, and unpredictability. So, here’s the big question:What if there was a mental tool that could help you train smarter and show up fully prepared on race day? Good news—there is. It’s called mental imagery (yep, also known as visualization).
Three Race-day Goals for Triathlon Success

3 weeks ago | drjimtaylor.com | Jim Taylor

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 is being healthy and fit, enjoying their races, and just finishing.
Meet my 2025 Partners: Argon 18 (also My Title Partner)

4 weeks ago | drjimtaylor.com | Jim Taylor

Meet My Partners for 2024: Argon 18 Bikes-My Title PartnerI 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 their brand. If you’re not familiar with Argon 18, they are a Canadian-based bicycle manufacturer that has been building exceptional bikes since 1989.
The Psychology of Extreme Heat for Triathletes: Don’t Sweat it

1 month ago | drjimtaylor.com | Jim Taylor

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 August for USAT Triathlon Nationals, both of which we can expect hot and humid race conditions. Thankfully, it won’t be as hot as it was in Abu Dhabi at the 2022 World Standard-distance and Super-sprint World Championships. And, yes, it was beyond hot, it was suffocating.
Positive Self-talk for Triathlon Training and Racing

1 month ago | drjimtaylor.com | Jim Taylor

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 how you perform in training and on race day. Whatever you think more of—whether positive or negative—will determine the road you go down.
Make Every Day a Good Day of Triathlon Training

1 month ago | drjimtaylor.com | Jim Taylor

One of the most frequent comments I hear from the triathletes I work and friends I train with is: “I had a lousy day of training.” This statement was almost always accompanied by a variety of emotions that are neither pleasant nor helpful including frustration, anger, worry, doubt, and disappointment, and, occasionally, despair. Moreover, I saw that this assertion hurt triathletes’ motivation, confidence, and focus, and, as a result, their subsequent training efforts often suffered.
RaceTrac and Jamba Team Up for Limited-Time

2 months ago | globenewswire.com | Jim Taylor

Atlanta, March 31, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- RaceTrac and Jamba® have teamed up to deliver fans an exciting new collaboration: the Jamba-inspired Strawberry Wave Swirl World flavor is a refreshing sweet treat that blends the vibrant tastes of strawberry and pink lemonade. This limited-time flavor will be available for purchase at participating RaceTrac locations starting on April 2.
Red Devils ease past Green Dragons

2 months ago | midfloridanewspapers.com | Jim Taylor

A nine run fifth inning by the Avon Park Red Devils blew open a one run game and subsequently ended it as Avon Park improved to 13-5 on the season with a 13-3 win over the Lake Placid Green Dragons (5-11), who are now on a four game slide.
Transitions in Triathlon Matter, Here’s Now to Nail Them

2 months ago | drjimtaylor.com | Jim Taylor

I think it’s unfair to call triathlons triathlons. By its very name, triathlon suggests that there are three events in the sport. However, as we all know, there are two other events that can have a big impact on where you end up in the results at the end of the day. Of course, I’m referring to transitions—T1 and T2, in triathlon parlance—which, most everyone would agree, can play a huge role in the kind of race you have.