How To Unlock the Potential of Our Kids | Dr. Sheila Ohlsson Walker

Sheila Ohlsson Walker (0:00)

I would say Mastery is intrinsically motivated brilliance, and something that is channeled through us, that comes or arises from the deepest part of ourselves, but it is channeled through us, that helps us be spectacular in a manner that is aligned with our purpose.

Michael Gervais (0:28)

Okay, welcome back or welcome to the Finding Mastery Podcast. I'm your host, Dr. Michael Gervais. By trade in training a high-performance psychologist. And today, I am really excited to sit down with Dr. Sheila Ohlsson Walker. Sheila is a senior scientist at the Institute for Applied Research in Youth Development at Tufts University, and a visiting assistant professor at the Johns Hopkins University School of Education.

Now, her work and research interests lie at the unique intersection of neuroscience, genetics, psychology, and social science, with a focus on how we can create context in sports, school, and nature settings that unlock the potential of our youth. A former professional tennis player, Sheila translates cutting edge science to equip coaches, teachers, and parents with knowledge, skills, and mindsets that promote flourishing in young people across life.

Sheila, I'm really excited to sit down with you today. First and foremost, how are you?

Sheila Ohlsson Walker (1:35)

Thank you. So it's such an honor to be here. I listened to your podcast and I have for years, and I'm just deeply honored to be here speaking with you today. I'm very excited for our conversation. I am good.

I'm a combination of excited and nervous.

Fritz Perl said, fear is excitement without the breath, so I'm trying to breathe. But I'm thrilled to be here today to talk about the things that we both care about related to youth sports and human development.

Michael Gervais (2:09)

That matters. That means a lot. And the reason that means so much is one, I really appreciate the honesty in that, that you're feeling nervous and excitement. And it's fun to hear that because I know your work and it's like, there's a very tall tent pole that you work through. Like you've done some significant work here. And so to hear that you're nervous makes me go, oh, okay, good. It's okay for me to be nervous too. So I appreciate that. So how about this? So right off the bat, I have a deep appreciation for the clarity of the mission and your purpose in your work. And that does not come easily.

So, you know, just to be uber clear to educate adults on how to create environments that can unlock the potential of our children. That is so clear and it is a mission that matters to you.

And you have this unique ability of being able to go really deep and at the same time, horizontally broad with your experiences and your science. So what I wanted to do is maybe before we drill down into the weeds, I want to zoom out, way out.

And if we could just think about a few of the big rocks or the key takeaways that you hope parents or teachers or coaches will leave this conversation with, what are those?

Sheila Ohlsson Walker (3:30)

The key is such a wonderful question. The key issues, the key things that I want parents, all adults who touch the lives of children to take away is what an incredibly important time childhood and adolescence is. In neuroscience is called a sensitive period. In brain development, it is the most malleable time that we go through throughout the course of human development where new behaviors and mindsets and habits are much more deeply and kind of sturdily laid down that last for life. So it's this really rich, fertile time for development and laying down the behaviors and mindsets we know are going to serve our young people over time. This includes sports and health and self-care and wellness, which we'll talk about.

But I think the other really important piece is that we have the ability to live our way into the human brain is and the mind, body system is malleable across life, but particularly in these early years. And in terms of meaning making in the stories, we tell ourselves about what's possible. This is an iterative process. And so as adults in the lives of young people are talking with them and communicating on a daily basis, it's important to know that we're not just talking to them. These belief systems that we're laying down, our outer voice as adults, becomes the inner voice of children as they grow older. We write about this in our book, Wise Decisions.

So how we frame things up, how we help young people make meaning, and how we help them tell stories about themselves, about things they may have never thought possible were it not for us, it's just vital to know how much influence we have. And sometimes it's hard to tell. We have three teenage boys, 16, 17, and 19 It's hard to tell when we're having influence sometimes because it takes a little blocking and tackling at times.