About this episode
Nikola Milinkovic has extensive work experience in sport and performance psychology and leadership coaching across a variety of high-performing environments. Nikola works with team and individual athletes, currently focusing on elite junior, ATP and WTA tennis players. Nikola spent over a decade directing sport psychology programs in high performance tennis settings in the US and the Netherlands. He played college tennis, is a Certified Mental Performance Consultant (CMPC) through the Association for Applied Sport Psychology (AASP), and a certified professional level coach through the US Professional Tennis Registry (USPTR). In addition to having worked in sport, Nikola transferred his expertise into sport organizations in Serbia, the United Nations (UN) and the Performing Arts industry. He served as a visiting performance and leadership consultant at Belgrade Sports Coaching Academy, UNICEF and as a Learning & Development and Performance Management coordinator for the UN agencies in the Netherlands. Nikola appeared on national television and is an international published author and presenter. He earned his BA degree in Psychology, and Theater Arts, from Clark University, and his EdM degree in Counseling, with focus on Sport Psychology, from Boston University. Interview highlights: 2:56 - Nikola describes his introduction to the sport of tennis and overcoming performance anxiety 7:51 - Nikola's journey to returning to tennis years after quitting the sport 11:39 - How anxiety manifests itself in tennis, and how anxiety can be broken down into three pieces (emotional, mental and behavioral) 25:49 - Focusing on WIN (what's important now) and the improvement process rather than just focusing on the outcome of winning matches 33:52 - Staying "present" during competition 40:01 - Integrating mental skills into practice and practice matches 50:28 - How working in a variety of settings (theatre, the UN, etc.) has impacted Nikola's perspective as a sport and performance psychology professional 58:00 - Having a "strengths based approach" and seeing people through a positive psychology perspective 1:03:16 - Common obstacles that hold back elite junior and professional tennis players