Hello and welcome to The Performatist—let's get started. I'm Larry Maguire, writer, researcher and performance coach. I created this site to share science-backed information that can help you improve your performance and achieve success in work, business, sport and indeed, life.
Whether you're just starting out on your career journey, or you a seasoned veteran, my hope is that the content here on the site helps you develop and refine the skills you need to succeed. My aim with everything I write, is to help you improve your mental game, to develop your psychological skill set and become The Performatist–the conscious agent in your own life.
These vital skills include resilience, creativity, lateral thinking, deliberate practice, positive imagery, self-talk, self-awareness and many other components involved in high-level performance. When you take the necessary time to learn and apply them, your results will change for the better.
I'd like to break down how that looks, but first, who am I?
A Bit of Background
I'm almost 46 at the time of writing, an honours psychology graduate, running a small business since I was 25. I live in a three bed semi-d in Dublin, Ireland with my wife Joanne and our three kids, Ruairi (14), Cian (13), and Cara (7). I coach my son's Gaelic football team, I love to cook, run, lift heavy stuff, study, research and write. This year I continue my studies in an MSc in Work & Organisational Psychology at Dublin City University and I am a member of the Psychological Society of Ireland.
My passion and curiosity are held by the question; how can we do work we love, daily work that engages us and provides fulfilment, without sacrificing our happiness? This question applies to the world of art, sport, career, business and where ever human beings perform. The science of psychology has become the means by which I explore this question and the entire purpose of this site is to attempt to deliver answers.
Becoming The Performatist
The Performatist is the one who makes a dent in the world, a person that becomes an active agent in their own life experience. The term comes from Performatism, the idea proposed by philosopher John L. Austin in his book titled “How To Do Things With Words”. Austin said that there was a difference between language that describes the world (constative language), and language that does something in the world (performative language). Teaching, for example, is a performative act.
Therefore, the thrust of the content here on The Performatist, is to promote a state of being whereby each of us becomes The Performatist. Rather than being pushed around and dictated to by the dominant social narrative, we instead, apply the principles of the psychology of human performance to act or perform to our own personally written script.
My Best Content
When you become a regular subscriber and reader, you can look forward to in-depth science-backed content detailing the operative components involved in human behaviour and high performance. I'll dig into contemporary theories and research on performance, behaviour science, creativity, and work psychology. We'll explore proven practice for delivering best results and offer you real-world solutions to your everyday challenges. Here are the primary content topics we'll cover.
The Mental Game Podcast
The Mental Game is a podcast on the psychology of human performance. It's hosted on Anchor and distributed to Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts and everywhere good podcasts are played. I'll be discussing the components of human performance and introduce you to research experts on a regular basis. Listen on your favourite player below to get each new episode.
Subscribe to the weekly podcast on your favourite player.
Join The Community
I publish the Sunday Letters newsletter every week and a new article on human performance every couple of weeks (they're long and take lots of effort to create). There are also perks to being a member, including access to reserved content, discounts on coaching and free material. Enter your email below to join.
Subscribe
Every week I publish a new article on the art and science of human performance. Topics include creativity, behaviour, performance, daily work, and the self. Enter your details to get it to your inbox.
What Next?
- Read articles on the psychology of human performance and apply what you learn.
- Listen to the podcast to reinforce your learning.
- Consume lots of books on behaviour & performance.
- Subscribe to The Performatist newsletter and enrol in the Free Course.
- Book a One-to-One Consultation or find out more about coaching.
My Promise
Finally, something important… I cast-iron guarantee you will never get hyped-up content designed to secure a sale. Never will I attempt to manipulate by selling to your emotions and I will never promote or sell your information to third parties. I will recommend to you, books and other content that supports the content here, and I will occasionally offer you my own books and other products. However, you will never get the hard sell from me. The so-called personal development industry is full of these tactics, I can't stand it and will never subject you to it. So in sum, my efforts are foremost to write on topics that have captured my interest. And second, to give you information that can possibly help you. If you choose to take the next step and engage me further, I'd be delighted with the opportunity to work with you.
Regards for now
Larry