Persistence Performance Group

Kinda chic to keep choosing the dream. ✨
The years of training. The long days. The moments of doubt. The persistence to keep showing up anyway.
Because helping performers achieve their goals and live by their values? That’s a dream worth pursuing. 🤍

Persistence at PAMA! 🎶🎤🎭🩰✨

Day 2 at PAMA recap!

Arianna kept the momentum of our exciting lineup at the conference with her poster presentation on day 2!

She shared her work on integrating mental skills training and connected into pre-professional dance educational environments and shared valuable insights about the role of mental performance within dance training.

In between sessions Lauren and Arianna made the most of their time in the city including walks in Central Park, delicious meals, and working towards the exciting projects persistence has in store for all of you!

Persistence at PAMA! 🎶🎤🎭🩰✨

Day 1 at PAMA recap!

Lauren kicked off our exciting lineup at the conference with her poster presentation alongside co-author Tess Vosper. She shared their work on advancing collegiate dancer support through mental skills training and connected with attendees about the role of mental performance within dancer support.

The day also included a wonderful dance-focused plenary and concluded with the opening reception, bringing together professionals from across disciplines in performing arts medicine.

A full first day of presenting, learning, and interdisciplinary collaboration!

News Alert! ‼️🚨🔔🧡💙

As of May 29, Persistence Psych is officially **Persistence Performance Group LLC**!

Our new name reflects the continued growth of our organization and the expansion of our work in mental performance consulting.

We’re also excited to announce that **Lauren Ostrander McArdle has joined Arianna Ceccarelli Shimits as co-owner of Persistence Performance Group.**

While our name is changing, our mission remains the same: to provide thoughtful, individualized, and evidence-based mental performance support for performers, athletes, and high-achieving individuals.

We are incredibly grateful for your continued support and excited to share more about what we’re building in this next chapter.

Same mission. Growing team. New chapter. 🧡

Sleep is the most overlooked mental performance intervention in sport.

We teach self-talk.
We train visualization.
We work on confidence and resilience.

But without sleep, the brain cannot consolidate learning, regulate emotion, or perform executive functions at a high level.

Mental toughness does not mean functioning in a fatigued nervous system.

If you want sustainable excellence — sleep is non-negotiable.

Before asking:
“How can I perform better?”

Ask:
“How am I sleeping?”

We often treat motivation like a feeling we’re supposed to wait for.
But in performance environments, waiting usually costs momentum.

Motivation is not the prerequisite.
Action is.

When you take even one intentional step, your nervous system receives new information:
I’m capable of moving forward.
That information is what confidence builds on.

This is why high performers don’t wait to feel ready, inspired, or certain.
They move first — then let belief organize itself around action.

If today feels heavy, flat, or unfocused, don’t try to fix the feeling.
Choose one controllable action and begin.

Momentum is created through movement.
Motivation follows behavior.

Start small. Start imperfect.
Just start.

We celebrate podiums.
We rarely prepare athletes for what comes after.

The Olympic Blues is a documented emotional experience where athletes feel a post-competition drop following a major event.

Why?

Because the brain has been living in anticipation mode for years.
When the target disappears, the system recalibrates.

This doesn’t only apply to Olympians.

It applies to:
• Athletes finishing a championship season
• Students graduating
• Professionals completing a massive project
• Anyone who has finally reached a long-pursued goal

Achievement changes structure.
It doesn’t automatically sustain meaning.

Mental performance isn’t just about performing under pressure.

It’s about navigating transitions with regulation and perspective.

The competition ends.

You remain.

At the Olympic level, mistakes are public.

When Ilia Malinin fell, the world reacted instantly. Commentary expands quickly. Narratives form even faster.

But elite sport demands psychological separation between event and identity.

One performance can trigger shame, doubt, and narrative spirals — especially under global scrutiny. Without regulation, athletes can internalize a single outcome as a defining statement about who they are.

The most resilient competitors protect their identity from one moment.

Performance is episodic.
Identity is continuous.

Recovery speed — emotionally and cognitively — is one of the most underrated competitive advantages in sport.

Your last result is information.
It is not definition.

We celebrate medals.
We rarely talk about what comes after them.

After Olympic gold, Chloe Kim stepped away. Not because she could not compete — but because sustaining that level of output requires psychological regulation.

Burnout is not a weakness. It is prolonged nervous system activation without adequate recovery. When identity fuses with performance, rest can feel threatening. But high performers who ignore depletion eventually compete from a place of survival rather than clarity.

Longevity in sport is not built on constant intensity. It is built on oscillation — push and recover, engage and recalibrate.

The strongest competitors understand that stepping back can protect forward momentum.

Rest is not the opposite of high performance.
It is part of it.