#Verified: Best of Editions 1-10

Our #Verified series is not only the first of its kind; it's also one of our favourite elements of the Dojo's work.

Until actor peak performance and holistic well-being become a given on the actor's path, we'd be bananas not to absorb at least some of the evidence-based wisdom from the leaders in sport and peak performance psychology.

So, in celebration of recently hitting ten editions, we've hand-picked a mic-drop quote from each of the ten interviews and woven them together here for you. It may seem a somewhat eclectic mix, but consider it a spread of incisive intellectual tapas. We hope you find each nugget as tasty as we did.

On identity

• "Understand that no one thing should or does define us. Look to act in a way that's congruent with our values and who we want to be, as a person first, then as an actor or sportsperson second." ~ Dr Michael Lloyd
• "What we do is important, but none of it matters ... It's really important to keep centred and say, 'Look, it's great that [my work] is going well, but if these other aspects of my life have fallen, then none of that matters at all'." ~ Dr Tim Gabbett

On doing the work

• "One of my favourite questions I ask people is: if you were arrested on charges of trying to be successful, would there be enough evidence to convict you?" ~ Dr Phil Jauncey
• "It's not about positive thinking. It's about taking positive action no matter what you're thinking or feeling." ~ Dr Jonah Oliver

On performing

• "If you don't want to feel the nerves before performing, quit what you're doing. Otherwise, accept what it does to you. The physiological response of stress will actually heighten your performance. What won't heighten your performance is questioning and worry." ~ Georgia Ridler
• "In terms of sustainability of performance, mental health is extremely important. But it's hard because history is littered with examples of people who had poor mental health and were exceptional performers. But that also begs the question: imagine if they were mentally healthy." ~ Rachel Jones

On actor empowerment

• "I honestly think the best advice for anyone in a short-term career is financial literacy. Have enough money to survive for six months — and not just survive, but to live." ~ Tama Barry
• "You're not just a victim of your environment. You're participating in the environment, and therefore — you probably don't have 100% control — but you do have some power over how the environment is." ~ Dr Véronique Richard

On supporting the arts with science

• "The sceptics would say, 'Dance is going to become too safe, too diluted. If we add too much science, we're going to lose the spark and creativity'. And I would say, 'Look at Formula One. They're going faster than ever, they're not going slower. They're still breaking records, and they're still really exciting ... The difference is that they're not crashing and dying anymore. It's safe, but it's also fast'." ~ Dr Emma Redding
• "Leveraging nutrition can help make you a more consistent performer, improve your concentration and mental clarity, and therefore, you'll not only act better, you actually be able to do it for longer. We never think of acting as a high-performance activity, but in actual fact, it is." ~ Aleksa Gagic

Big love to all our guests for their time. If you'd like to learn more about an individual's work or say hello, simply click on their name to be taken to the full interview. If you do reach out, let them know you're a Dojo friend 👊🏼

Thoughts / feedback / challenges? We'd genuinely love to hear.

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