See discussions, stats, and author profiles for this publication at: https://www.researchgate.

net/publication/240239729

The Role of Resonance in Performance Excellence and Life Engagement

Article  in  Journal of Applied Sport Psychology · March 2002

DOI: 10.1080/10413200290103545

CITATIONS READS

46 920

4 authors, including:

Jay Kimiecik Natalie Durand-Bush

Miami University University of Ottawa
29 PUBLICATIONS   1,125 CITATIONS    78 PUBLICATIONS   1,342 CITATIONS   

SEE PROFILE SEE PROFILE

Some of the authors of this publication are also working on these related projects:

University Student-Athlete Mental Health View project

Team Functioning View project

All content following this page was uploaded by Jay Kimiecik on 27 October 2016.

The user has requested enhancement of the downloaded file.

JOURNAL OF APPLIED SPORT PSYCHOLOGY, 14: 249–267,RESONANCE 2002 249
Copyright © 2002 by the Association for Advancement of Applied Sport Psychology
1041-3200/02 $12.00 + .00
DOI:10.1080/10413200290103545

The Role of Resonance in Performance Excellence

and Life Engagement

DOUG NEWBURG

University of Virginia

JAY KIMIECIK

Miami University

NATALIE DURAND-BUSH AND KELLY DOELL

University of Ottawa

This article presents a concept underlying excellence called resonance, which was developed
based on research interviews and consulting practice with high-level performers from all walks
of life. Findings suggest that many high-caliber performers follow a typical process as they
become experts in their chosen field. They have a dream, which represents how they want to
feel in their daily pursuits. They also engage in extensive preparation, which includes activities
that enable them to live their dream. All of the participants faced obstacles, but they developed
strategies to revisit their dream before they actually engaged in more preparation. This cyclical
process that guided their performance and life has been termed resonance, which occurs when
there is a seamless fit between their internal self and their external environment. It is captured
in the resonance performance model (RPM), a heuristic model devised to guide the practice of
consultants. The article also includes a discussion of the RPM in relation to other performance-
related concepts such as flow, presents some recent and future research with resonance, and
considers practical application for consultants who may be interested in using the RPM.

Received 5 September 2001; accepted 30 May 2002.

Portions of this article are based on the intervention keynote presentation by Doug Newburg, Jim
Clawson, Curt Tribble, and Jeff Rouse at the 2000 Association for the Advancement of Applied Sport
Psychology Conference, Nashville, TN, and on a continuing education workshop conducted by the au-
thors at the 2001 AAASP Conference in Orlando, FL.
We would like to express our heartfelt thanks to Kris Krueger, Curt Tribble, Jeff Rouse, Jim Clawson,
Stacy Wegley, Elizabeth Hedgpeth, Martha Freitag, Tom Mann, John Molo, Robin Vealey, Audrius
Barzdukas, Lorie Pulliam, Jay Roberts, and Cal Botterill. Their efforts, both personally and profession-
ally, have brought resonance to life for many people including the authors. As the authors, however, we
accept full blame for any inaccuracies reported here.
Address correspondence to Jay Kimiecik, Department of Physical Education, Health and Sport Stud-
ies, Miami University, Phillips Hall, Oxford, OH 45056. E-mail: kimiecjc@muohio.edu

249
250 D. NEWBURG ET AL.

The best performances are always when a performer can free himself from the impossible
conception of providing a perfect performance and instead unabashedly knocks down these
walls and fearlessly expresses himself. (Jason P. Bonham, 1999, p. 14A, writing in reference to
Luciano Pavarotti)

What does it mean to perform? Is there a process of engagement that underlies outstanding
performance, whether it be working, strength training, shooting a basketball, or performing
emergency triple bypass surgery? How do people become excellent performers? If people’s
performances are engaging, will they perform better? What role does personal meaning play
in the process of engagement?
These are the questions in which we are interested and we believe to be relevant to a special
issue on performance excellence. We will explore some possible answers in this article by
presenting a concept called resonance. First, we will explain resonance, its origins, and its
relation to engagement and performance excellence. Second, we will discuss possible links
between resonance and other performance-relevant concepts, such as emotions, flow, and in-
trinsic motivation. Third, we will present recent research on resonance as well as possibilities
for future studies. Finally, we will discuss how resonance has been and can be used to help
individuals from a variety of life contexts engage in high-quality performance and live a mean-
ingful life in the process.

RESONANCE OVERVIEW
Rationale for Resonance
This section will focus on a few of our assumptions about performance and why resonance
is relevant to performance in any life arena. We consider resonance to be a work in progress,
as it developed out of consulting practice and research interviews conducted by the lead au-
thor. That work indicated that resonance is a process that can help people perform better and
live more fulfilling lives (Newburg, 2002; Newburg & Clawson, 1997). Helping people find
meaning and engagement in whatever they do is one key to helping them perform well and
achieve their potential. These assumptions about people, resonance, and performance are con-
sistent with findings in the emerging field of positive psychology (Seligman & Csikzentmihalyi,
2000). As Seligman and Csikszentmihalyi pointed out, “Psychology has, since World War II,
become a science largely about healing. It concentrates on repairing damage within a disease
model of human functioning” (p. 5). It is no surprise, then, that 46,000 papers have been
published on depression, whereas only 400 have appeared on joy (Monmaney, 2000).
Sport psychology certainly has been influenced by its parent discipline, thus several inter-
ventions in the past have focused on “treatment” in the attempt to help clients cope with anxi-
ety or other mental and emotional inadequacies. Although these treatment-based interventions
have their place in performance enhancement, they are grounded in pathology or use more of
a “repair” approach that lacks many of the positive features of being human. Furthermore, the
fields of medicine and health promotion, as well as the media, often overemphasize repairing
what is wrong. For instance, a feature story in Time (Gorman, 2001) titled, “Repairing Dam-
age,” outlined how people could reverse a lifetime of bad habits if they would only eat right,
quit smoking, get fit, watch their weight, drink less, and take it easy. Is it purely a coincidence
that so few people live healthy lives when they are constantly told or reminded to fix so much
of what is wrong with them, instead of finding and building on what is right? Since its incep-
tion, the field of sport and exercise psychology has made a significant contribution to the
performance, well-being, and achievement of excellence of sport and physical activity partici-
pants. Although there have been continuous positive developments, our field definitely could
 RESONANCE 251

make an added contribution by widening its focus on areas relating to the positive subjective
experience of living and determining how that connects to meaningful performance and, ulti-
mately, performance excellence.
The lead author’s research interviews and consulting experiences with performers in a myriad
of fields, as well as the work of well-known authors such as Csikzentmihalyi (1990), have
shown that (a) engagement in an activity leads to enhanced performance, (b) engagement can
be designed into people’s performances and lives, (c) engagement occurs when people ex-
press themselves authentically through their chosen activity, and (d) engagement leads to the
creation of sustainable energy in the pursuit of goals. According to those who participated in
Newburg’s interviews, performance excellence was the byproduct of living their life in such a
way that they fully engaged in what they did to experience resonance. The concept of reso-
nance is further described next.

The Origins of Resonance

The focus of Newburg’s work has been to understand why people perform and why some
of them are able and willing to create and express their own ideas in the face of many life
obstacles. He was interested in exploring how people find meaning in their performances and
their lives and why they choose to take risks to perform at a high level. Using the approach of
storytelling (see Denison, 1996; and Smith, 2001, for further explanation about storytelling as
a research method in the sport and exercise sciences), hundreds of interviews were conducted
with outstanding performers from all walks of life, including sport, business, music, and medi-
cine. Newburg selected the performers based on not only their remarkable achievements and
careers but also their satisfaction with life. Word of mouth was the primary method used to get
in contact with the interviewees. The interviews were conducted at the time and place of the
performers’ choice. They began with one question: “Tell me how you arrived to this point in
your life.” The interviews varied in length, depending on the participants; however, most lasted
several hours, and some performers even participated in multiple interviews. The lead author
often immersed himself in the context of these performers and thus had repeated interactions
with them. Trustworthiness was created in part through triangulation, which included inter-
views with family members, teammates, employees, or whomever was appropriate to the
person’s context. Triangulation also was done when possible by using articles, speeches, and
even performances to look for consistency between the data from the interviews and observa-
tions by the interviewer. Member checking was performed in many cases whereby the
interviewees verified their interview transcripts.
During the interviews, the participants told their stories. As the information emerged, it was
remarkable how they emphasized that they molded their lives and careers based on how they
felt in the moment of action. This is the main reason why feelings are at the core of resonance.
Their stories revealed that most of them followed a typical process as they became experts in
their chosen field. They had a dream, which represented how they wanted to feel in their daily
pursuits. They also engaged in extensive preparation, which included activities that enabled
them to live their dream. To overcome obstacles, they developed strategies to revisit their
dream before they actually engaged in more preparation. This cyclical process that guided
their performance and life was termed resonance.
Resonance became a model based on a grounded-theory approach in the sense that it evolved
inductively from the lead author’s interviews and work with performers such as surgeons,
musicians, athletes, and fighter pilots (see Rennie, Phillips, & Quartaro, 1988, for more on
grounded theory). The grounded-theory process began with Newburg’s (1993) doctoral dis-
sertation, in which he interviewed a Grammy Award-winning musician and an Olympic gold-
medallist swimmer. He then expanded this approach by interviewing other performers in sport,
252 D. NEWBURG ET AL.

business, and medicine. The concept of resonance emerged naturally from their life stories.
Although the participants’ stories were all different, a similar process of performance that
reflected engagement and fulfillment emerged. Despite their varied backgrounds, these stellar
performers from all walks of life faced similar issues. Their performance was based on the
creation and expression of an idea. The performers revealed that they had at least one idea that
captured them so intensely that they committed to make the expression of this idea their life’s
work. This idea thus became a dream. Excellent performance and meaningful living occurred
when they committed to living their dream for much of their waking hours. To them, perfor-
mance excellence was a byproduct of engaging themselves on a regular basis. The cyclical
process that guided their performance allowed them to experience resonance. This universal
theme that emerged from the interviews can be summarized in a quote by Joseph Campbell
(19) in Bill Moyer’s interview:

I think what we’re seeking is an experience of being alive so that our life experiences on the
purely physical plane will have resonance with our own innermost being and reality so that we
actually feel the rapture of being alive.

Newburg explored this idea of resonance as it kept emerging in various ways, shapes, and
forms in his work. Ultimately, he concluded that expert performers seek resonance—that is, a
seamless fit between how they want to feel (internal) each day and the environment (external)
in which they live. This allows them to connect or fully engage in what they do so that there is
a reciprocal positive influence between themselves and what surrounds them in their environ-
ment (i.e., people and objects). Resonance is a word that is used in the fields of music, physics,
and electricity and, in all cases, part of its meaning refers to increased, reinforced, and pro-
longed energy. Resonance is about moving toward a harmonious experience between one’s
inner world—that is, the feelings an individual wants to have—and his or her surroundings. It
is enjoying the process of expanding one’s self out into the world in an authentic way. To
represent and explain how numerous performers became excellent in their field and strove to
resonate throughout the process, the resonance performance model (RPM) was created. The
RPM is a heuristic model that evolved from the lead author’s research and consulting experi-
ences and can be used to guide the practice of consultants.

The Resonance Performance Model

The RPM depicts high-level performance as a circular, dynamic, and ongoing process (see
Figure 1). The RPM has four main components: dream, preparation, obstacles, and revisit the
dream. For ease of presentation, each component is discussed separately and in a linear fash-
ion; however, in reality resonance is a dynamic and circular process with much overlap and
interplay among the RPM components.
The dream. One of the unique features of the RPM is the dream component. The dream
represents the feelings that individuals seek when they engage in a particular activity. It is not
an outcome goal or a dream goal as defined by several authors, such as Orlick (1990), but an
internal feeling that motivates people to continue playing or performing certain activities.
Newburg postulated that the dream is a central reason why people continually engage in their
chosen activity, because it gives them the feelings they have identified as expressions of who
they are and what they want. For example, a rock climber described his dream as feeling
vulnerable with power, spiritual, free, and connected. A paddler described her dream chal-
lenged with risk. The Olympic gold-medallist interviewed by Newburg described his dream as
“easy speed,” a feeling in which he was swimming fast with about 80% effort. Each person’s
dream is unique and specific to his or her performing context.
 RESONANCE 253

DREAM

Revisit RESONANCE Preparation

the Dream

Setbacks
Obstacles
Success

Figure 1. The resonance performance model (Newburg, 2002)

The dream cannot exist without both freedom and responsibility. The exercise of freedom
and acceptance of responsibility drive the entire process of resonance. Performers who were
interviewed were able to free themselves from pressure, fears, and distractions and to exercise
their freedom to learn, make their own decisions, do the necessary work to develop excep-
tional skills, and enjoy themselves in this process. They balanced their freedom with the many
responsibilities they had in order to be able to live their dream on a daily basis.
Newburg found that a lot of doubt and anxiety exist because people do not engage in activi-
ties that necessarily make them feel the way they would like to feel. In these cases, individuals
restrict themselves and how they truly would like to live their lives. They do not set goals that
are in line with their dreams. People often confuse goals with dreams (i.e., as they are defined
in the RPM). The term goal has been used to describe so many things that it has nearly lost its
value as a descriptor. Based on the literature (Locke & Latham, 1985), a goal is specific,
quantitative, and external to the person; it is an aim or aspiration; it is usually in the future; it is
often one of a progressive series of steps, a way station, or a measure of progress. The virtue of
goals is that they give individuals targets and benchmarks to measure the improvement of their
performances. The actions that lead to the achievement of goals may contribute to feelings of
resonance, but the actual attainment is sometimes an anticlimax.
In the RPM, the dream drives the goals. Goals are important, but dreams that are lived and
experienced each day are the keys to performance excellence and meaningful living. They are
more enjoyable and fruitful than goals. A personal dream is a way of life. It leads to the
experience of resonance over and over again. For many athletes, the dream is not merely
winning the championship; it is the process in which they engage to get there. In one of the
interviews, a professional basketball player and gold-medallist with the U.S. Women’s Olym-
pic basketball team, said

Winning the gold medal is my goal, not my dream. My dream is about playing to win as often
as possible with and against the best women basketball players in the world. Winning the gold
medal as a goal gives me some direction, but my dream is something I need to live everyday.
And I’m doing that each time I play to win. When I’m playing to win, that’s when I feel
resonance. If I win, that’s great. I want to win, and having the gold medal as my goal forces me
to play to win. But what I love to do, what my dream is, is to play to win.

The distinction between a dream and a goal was clear to this player. Her dream was the
experience or the feeling of playing to win. It was something she strove to live every day. On
the other hand, her goal was to win the gold medal, which is a specific outcome, but it provided
a direction to channel her energy to live her dream as often as possible.
In sum, the dream component of the RPM is extremely important as it is fundamental to the
entire resonance process. Knowing and understanding how people want to feel on a daily basis
254 D. NEWBURG ET AL.

as they perform various tasks is crucial and influences all of the other components of the
model.
Preparation. Preparation is the next component of the RPM. It involves all of the activi-
ties in which individuals engage to make the dream happen or to elicit the feelings they desire
on a consistent basis. Such activities may include physical, mental, or emotional components
and strategies. Resonating performers enjoy much of the preparation phase. This is because
they are clear on the feelings they want to experience, and preparation is just part of the pro-
cess.
In the interviews, many participants emphasized the quality of their preparation and the
number of hours they had to invest to become excellent in their field. They all had an amazing
capacity to do the work. Most of them discussed the preparation stage of resonance with joy
and pride. It was not drudgery, nor was it something they felt compelled to do. Rather, it was
something fulfilling that they wanted to do. Their capacity to put in the time and effort had real
meaning to them, and it was an important part of performing. Preparation was not merely a
means to an end. It was integral to their definition of performance. It was part of the creation
and expression of their dream. A Grammy Award-winning musician described the preparation
he did that allowed him to resonate:

People ask me, “How do you play so well?” I practiced intense shedding. If you’re willing to
put in the time, you can move to a certain level. Maybe someone has a special talent that is
intangible, but if you are willing to put in the time, you can really get it together.

According to this musician, “shedding” involved going out to a little shed behind his house
and practicing the piano for hours. He had dropped out of college after the first year because he
realized it was not what he wanted. Playing music was his dream, and he was determined to be
good at it. For many months, he spent roughly 10 hours per day, every day, in his shed practic-
ing the piano to get to the point at which he could be accepted at a first-rate music school.
Another performer recalled how he prepared for his first World Canoeing Championship:

We didn’t really train. We just called it paddling. We went out for fun two or three hours a day.
I did a thing called the J stroke, which was normal, but in the U.S. they would do a wide stroke.
I came up with this thing where I would do a small J every stroke and it meant turning the blade
in the opposite direction. It didn’t sound like a big deal, but some guy told us the summer
before that that was what the EGs [East Germans] did. So we found a way to do that over the
winter. We would go out and play around for hours, and we would think up this stuff.

The performers referred to in this paper all spent an incredible amount of time developing
their skills and preparing to live their dream on a daily basis, which parallels work conducted
by other researchers. For instance, Ericsson, Krampe, and Tesch-Römer (1993) found that top
performers typically engaged in 10,000 hours or 10 years of effortful and sometimes
nonenjoyable preparation to become experts in their domains. This sounds like a considerable
amount of time for people to be engaging in nongratifying preparation. However, Newburg
andClawson (1997) stated the following regarding preparation:

If the preparation is on target and in line with one’s life dream, time becomes irrelevant. In a
sense, the preparation becomes a part of the resonance one experiences when the dream for
brief moments at a time, becomes a reality. . . . Additional preparation then is required . . . to
increase the glimpses of resonance that come from momentary realizations of the dream. (p. 6)

Resonance-type performers are aware that their preparation must connect with their dream.
 RESONANCE 255

They do two things very well in the process of their preparation: They keep their dream in
sight and they set useful goals. Preparation is as much about developing the ability to live their
dream and keep sight of it, as it is putting in the hours of work to develop the skills required to
excel in their domain. Holding onto their dream or the feelings that inspire them to prepare is
critical. This enables them to maintain the desire and the energy to develop their talent. It is
noteworthy that they also set goals that connect to their dream. They do not wait until a goal is
reached to feel the way they want to feel. Striving for the achievement of a goal is as resonat-
ing as the goal achievement itself, if not more so.
In sum, the preparation aspect of resonance involves developing not only the required skills
to excel in a domain but also, and perhaps more importantly, perspectives and strategies that
enable individuals to experience their dream on a daily basis. Considerable time, effort, en-
ergy, and awareness are necessary to fully engage and enjoy the preparatory phase. As people
set goals to guide their development, it is important that their dream be lived during the acqui-
sition of these goals and amplified when their goals are reached.
Obstacles. The third component of the RPM suggests that various obstacles often can
disrupt the resonance experience. All of the interviewed participants encountered obstacles at
some point during their careers. These obstacles were either external—such as rejection, losses,
injuries, and even success— or internal—such as fear, self-doubt, and anxiety. What was re-
markable about the participants is that they embraced their obstacles and viewed them as part
of the performance process. For the most part, they were able to avoid the “obstacle-prepara-
tion trap.” In his consulting practice, Newburg observed that when faced with obstacles, many
people go back to the preparation phase and attempt to work harder. They get caught going
back and forth between obstacles and preparation and in this vicious duty cycle cut themselves
off from their dream. One day they realize they are no longer experiencing any of the feelings
they like to have and wonder how this came to be. In the interviews, it became apparent that,
although the participants worked harder when they hit obstacles, more often than not they first
attempted to reconnect with the feelings that motivated them to do their chosen activity in the
first place. This component of the RPM was labeled “revisiting the dream.”
Revisiting the dream. The importance of getting back in touch with one’s dream should
not be underestimated. The expression of revisiting is unique to every individual, but often it
is a reflective period that occurs after an obstacle has been encountered. Individuals can revisit
their dream by engaging in activities such as writing in a journal, looking at pictures, watching
a favorite movie, listening to a special song, resting, or simply thinking about situations or key
words that connect them with specific desired feelings. This can result in a rekindled motiva-
tion to live their dream within their performance context and can prevent them from getting
trapped in the obstacle-preparation loop, which can be problematic. Revisiting the dream also
is important because it allows people to reenergize themselves before setting new goals or
modifying those they initially established to engage in meaningful preparation.
Top performers reported that in revisiting their dream, they are better able to work
throughobstacles, derive meaningful lessons, and move into the preparation phase when ready.
Revisiting the dream involves regularly and actively reminding themselves of the original
feelings that captured their attention. A three-time Olympic gold-medallist swimmer provides
an excellent example of defining and revisiting the dream. At the 1992 Olympics, he did not
perform up to his capabilities in the 100-meter backstroke, a race he was expected to win and
in which he had hoped to break his own world record. Instead, he finished second to Mark
Tewksbury of Canada, who set the new world record. In his interview, the swimmer shared
that, following this disappointing event, he chose to take a long break and engage in an exten-
sive process of soul searching. He used this time to explicitly define his dream (i.e., easy
speed) and develop ways to revisit or remain connected to it. As he prepared for the 1996
256 D. NEWBURG ET AL.

Olympics, the swimmer changed his perspective and strategies and chose to focus on how he
wanted to feel in the water. As he clarified his dream over the period of four years, he also
developed strategies that allowed him to live it to the fullest as often as possible.
In sum, revisiting the dream is a crucial component of the performance process that is
perhaps too often overlooked. It appears that identifying and engaging in short- or more long-
term activities to remain connected with the dream leads people to thoroughly enjoy the devel-
opment of their talent and also to live fulfilling lives. One of the guiding assumptions and
findings of resonance is that identifying and living one’s dream as often as possible helps
individuals to fully engage in their performance and lives. When people take the time to learn
about the four components of the RPM and apply them in their daily lives, they increase their
chances of experiencing resonance (Doell & Durand-Bush, 2002). World-class—and, more
recently, less elite—performers have shared how they did this and how this process contrib-
uted to the development of their performance and well-being (see the subsequent section on
Recent and Future Research). Now that the RPM has been described, we will discuss how
resonance is similar to and different from other relevant performance-related concepts.

RESONANCE AND OTHER PERFORMANCE-RELATED CONCEPTS

Similar to other motivational and psychological models and theories, the RPM is a model in
progress that can be used to explain engaging performance and to guide consultants when
working with performers. In this section, we explain how resonance compares with relevant
concepts that have been found to play an important role in the achievement of performance
excellence and optimal well-being. Specifically, we examine the parallels and differences among
resonance, intrinsic motivation, emotions, and flow.

Intrinsic Motivation
Intrinsic motivation has been defined as the “innate, organismic needs for competence and
self-determination. The intrinsic needs for competence and self-determination motivate an
ongoing process of seeking and attempting to conquer optimal challenges” (Deci & Ryan,
1985, p. 32). Self-determination is intimately linked to the concept of autonomy—that is, a
person’s sense that intentional behavior is self-regulated, flexible, and occurs when there is no
pressure. In contrast, the concept of control refers to intentional behavior that is perceived to
be coerced by internal and environmental forces.
Resonance is very much in line with the basic tenets of intrinsic motivation, especially as it
pertains to interest and engagement. According to Deci and Ryan (2000), intrinsic motivation

concerns active engagement with tasks that people find interesting and that, in turn, promote
growth. . . . Intrinsically motivated behaviors are those that are freely engaged out of interest
without the necessity of separable consequences, and, to be maintained, they require satisfac-
tion of the needs of autonomy and competence. (p. 233)

Individuals who engage in the process of resonance actively pursue interesting activities
that allow them to live their dreams. Their intrinsically motivated behaviors inspire them to do
the necessary preparation and to revisit how they want to feel when they become distracted
from their dreams. Identifying the dream and the strategies that contribute to living it on a
regular basis are, in essence, identifying what motivates people to pursue their activities and
what they will do to remain energized through both successes and obstacles. This motivation is
directly linked to emotions—that is, how people want to feel as they perform their activities.
 RESONANCE 257

Emotions
As discussed throughout this article, feelings are at the core of the resonance process.
Vallerand and Blanchard (2000) pointed out that terms such as feeling, emotion, mood, and
affect are used interchangeably in the sport and exercise psychology literature. However, the
feelings that are being iterated in this article refer to what Denzin (1984) called self-feelings.
Self-feelings represent emotions that people experience. Examples of self-feelings are sad-
ness, guilt, joy, and pride. Self-feelings are an important part of the human experience (Zajonc,
1980), and Denzin categorized them into four different groups: sensible feelings, lived feel-
ings, intentional value feelings, and feelings of the self and the moral person (see Denzin,
1984; and Kimiecik & Harris, 1996, for more details).
The dream, which represents how individuals want to feel on a regular basis, mostly refers
to the aforementioned category of lived feelings. Denzin (1984) suggested that “lived feelings
(feelings of the lived body) express a particular value content or meaning found in the world
by the person” (p. 125). These feelings are part of the self and reflect intentionality. Examples
of such feelings include sadness, joy, and happiness.
Resonance focuses on the positive lived feelings of individuals and assumes that most indi-
viduals (a) have a desire to experience positive feelings, (b) can access these feelings with or
without the help of others, and (c) seek and experience these feelings in unique and personal-
ized ways. This suggests some important questions that need to be answered: Can they actu-
ally easily access these feelings and, if so, are they experiencing them as often as they could?
Similar to Denzin’s (1984) typology, resonance is very much based on an interpretive/phe-
nomenological perspective, which emphasizes that the meaning of a given feeling lies in the
interpretation the individual brings to it.
The crux underlying the proposed resonance approach to living and performing is that
individuals can consciously identify unique feelings they want to experience in their daily
pursuits and place themselves in situations and environments that elicit these feelings. They
also can choose to manage their feelings when faced with obstacles. Rather than focusing on
their initial emotional response, which often can be negative, they can respond to their own
response. In other words, after a negative response, they can quickly change their reaction to a
more positive and appropriate one that is in line with their dream. Of interest is that the partici-
pants interviewed by Newburg realized that their initial emotional response was not the most
important one. By knowing how they wanted to feel each day and in each circumstance, they
responded positively to their initial response, which gave them energy and motivation to over-
come the obstacle.
This notion of responding to one’s response can be linked to Deci’s (1996) idea of regulat-
ing one’s emotions to foster autonomy within difficult situations. Similar to Newburg’s reso-
nance approach, Deci suggested that a powerful path toward autonomy is a reappraisal process
that gives people power over their emotions rather than being pawns to them. However, ac-
cording to Deci, most people do not engage in this reappraisal process of their initial emotional
reactions to an event or obstacle. It is a conscious process to which people must commit. For
example, revisiting the dream—or, in Deci’s terms, reappraising emotions—requires that people
be consciously aware of how they want to feel in the first place. Therefore, individuals must
deliberately invest time in identifying, understanding, and integrating the self-feelings they
wish to experience in their endeavors. They also must be experts at discerning when they are
not resonating or living their dream, so they can reconnect with it as quickly as possible. These
notions of deliberate engagement and consciousness are, in part, what distinguish the concepts
of resonance and flow, which will be discussed next.
258 D. NEWBURG ET AL.

Flow
Because resonance is grounded in positive subjective experience, it can be tied to
Csikszentmihalyi’s (1997) theory of flow. Flow has been described as a state of performance
in which there is (a) loss of self-consciousness and feelings of control, (b) perceptual transfor-
mation of time, and (c) total absorption in the activity. Flow is a contributor to positive affect
and—according to Diener, Sandvik, and Pavot (1990)—the more often people are in flow, the
happier or the more enjoyable their experiences will be. Resonance and flow are parallel in
that they both can provide enjoyment and lead to positive affect in all types of domains. People
can experience flow in many different life activities, including sport and exercise settings (see
Kimiecik & Jackson, in press, for a review of some of this work).
Although there are similarities between resonance and flow, the experiences they generate
both are different but essential to long-term high-quality performance, whether it is in the
boardroom or on the basketball court. Resonance refers to a broader positive subjective expe-
rience, whereas flow pertains more to positive subjective snapshots of experiences.
Csiksentmihalyi (1997) himself suggested that, although flow states are positive, motivating
in nature, and can enhance quality of life, flow alone cannot explain why some people commit
to and excel in certain areas of life. He wrote, “It takes energy to achieve optimal experiences,
and all too often we are unable, or unwilling, to put out the initial effort” (p. 33). Flow may be
an optimal experience, but to place oneself into a situation for flow to occur requires a high
degree of commitment and energy. As stated earlier, practicing one’s craft is not always enjoy-
able. Ericsson et al. (1993) found that expert musicians did not rate deliberate practice activi-
ties as the most inherently enjoyable. Starkes, Deakin, Allard, Hodges, and Hayes (1996)
found that elite figure skaters fell more on the ice than nonelite skaters when engaging in
deliberate practice to improve and master skills. Thus, Ericsson (2000) suggested that the
process of becoming an elite or expert performer is not always conducive to enjoyable flow
experiences. What we suggest is that engaging in the process of resonance on a regular basis is
what motivates experts to continue and practice under conditions that may not always produce
flow experiences.
Csikszentmihalyi (1997) found that only about 20% of the population experiences some-
thing akin to a flow state as often as several times a day. In sport, for example, Jackson (1992)
found that 81% of the elite skaters she interviewed said they did not experience flow very
often, yet they were at the top of their profession and spent many hours training to improve
their skating. Why? Because of the possibility of flow? Maybe. But as Jackson and
Csikszentmihalyi (1999) reported, flow is not an easy state to achieve because it demands both
energy and self-confidence, often in the face of great challenges. Do high-quality performers
push through obstacles because they know flow awaits them on the other side? There must be
more to high-quality performance than the allure of an optimal experience in occasional situ-
ations. This is where resonance and flow can be further differentiated. Flow appears to occur
more sporadically or spontaneously, whereas resonance is a way of living on a daily basis
without necessarily investing extraordinary effort. In some instances, individuals may have to
consciously invest more time and energy to connect with or even redefine their dream. How-
ever, in most cases, being aware of how they want to feel and having cues and reminders to
fully engage in their actions may be sufficient to experience resonance.
In sum, intrinsic motivation, emotions, and flow all appear to be intertwined with the expe-
rience of resonance. In fact, the resonance performance process may facilitate intrinsic moti-
vation, positive emotion, and flow experiences. Future research should be conducted to further
examine the relationship between these concepts. As a step in that direction, the next section
presents relevant findings from two recent studies conducted on the process of resonance that
 RESONANCE 259

will shed more light on the applications of resonance, limitations of the RPM, and future
research possibilities.

RECENT AND FUTURE RESEARCH

Very little research has focused on identifying concrete or practical approaches to help
individuals engage in meaningful action and achieve enjoyment in sport and physical activity.
The RPM is oriented toward making such heightened, ideal experiences more available to
people. It provides a means for individuals to become self-aware of what they can do to consis-
tently experience desired feelings and, more importantly, to be mindful of living in the mo-
ment on a daily basis. As previously mentioned, the resonance approach was developed based
mainly on research and consulting work with elite performers. One of the reviewers of this
article posed an important question: Does resonance apply to all performers, in all contexts?
Our hypothesis is that, yes, it does; however, a three-year research program recently has been
devised to examine this particular question. It was acknowledged that it would be important to
test the RPM, for example, with athletes of varying levels to see if the process of resonance—
and, more specifically, the four major components of the model—can be applied in different
sporting contexts.
Consequently, two studies recently have been conducted (Doell & Durand-Bush, 2002;
Durand-Bush, Doell, Soulard, Trudel, & Newburg, 2002) to examine the process of resonance
of 12 athletes participating at different levels (i.e., recreational, local, provincial, and national)
in six different sports (i.e., track, swimming, water polo, mountain biking, volleyball, and
cross-country skiing). These women athletes participated in in-depth, semistructured inter-
views in which they were asked questions based on the RPM: What feelings do you seek to
experience in your sport on a regular basis? What prepares you to experience these feelings?
What prevents these feelings from occurring? How do you get these feelings back when they
are lost? How does experiencing these feelings affect your training, competition, and overall
well-being?
In the second study (Doell & Durand-Bush, 2002), the athletes (N = 4) participated not only
in an initial interview, in which they identified their dreams and the process of living them in
their sport, but also in three follow-up interviews that were conducted every third week after
the initial interview, for a total period of 10 weeks. This allowed a more thorough investigation
of their personal evolving process of resonance and its effect on training, competition, and
well-being. These athletes also kept a daily journal that included (a) a graph used to chart their
level of resonance throughout the day; (b) descriptions with justification of their most and
least resonating situations or events; and (c) rating scales to assess their level of resonance in
training and competitions, and their overall satisfaction with their performance.
The data from the two studies were analyzed using qualitative (i.e., deductive and induc-
tive) or quantitative approaches, or both. Overall, the results showed that all 12 individuals
who participated in the studies experienced resonance in their sports. Of interest is that they
defined their dreams in unique ways. For example, one track athlete described her dream this
way:

I just feel really free. It’s like someone running for fun through the woods, effortlessly. When
I think of running free, it reminds me of running for fun. I like racing and everything, but it’s
just a natural feeling for me to run. I am nervous enough about it to get up for it, but I am really
relaxed at the same time. It is the perfect balance.

Various strategies were used to prepare (e.g., proper nutrition, rest, stretching, self-talk,
260 D. NEWBURG ET AL.

visualization, and work with coaches) and revisit the dream (e.g., call a friend, listen to music,
go for a bike ride, reflect, and put things into perspective). All of the athletes experienced
various types of internal e.g., negative self-talk) and external obstacles (e.g., pressure from
parents, equipment) that distracted them from living their dream, but they applied revisiting
strategies to reconnect with it. It is noteworthy that revisiting strategies were short or long, and
were applied immediately or with delay after an obstacle.
Valuable positive feedback was gained from using the methodology in the second study,
which included multiple interviews and journalizing over an extended period of time (Doell &
Durand-Bush, 2002). It is noteworthy that the four athletes were able to increase their overall
perceived levels of resonance over the period of investigation. Participating in the study was
enlightening because it made them more aware of their performance and sense of well-being
not only in sport but in other areas of their life as well. One athlete reported, “I feel better about
myself. In school I have more confidence. I think I just believe I can do other things well. My
self-esteem is higher—so, yeah, feelings affect my well-being.”
Another interesting finding is that, although all of the athletes experienced positive feelings
in their sports, some of them had difficulty identifying their dream because they had never
really thought about how they wanted to feel on a daily basis. As they paid attention to this
over a period of 10 weeks, they eventually were able to target, connect with, and articulate
their specific desired feelings. For some athletes, their dream was clear right from the begin-
ning and remained the same throughout the study. However, other athletes reported that their
dream evolved as it became clearer through introspection and increased awareness. It also is
noteworthy that some athletes had more than one dream. They specified that they wanted to
feel a certain way in training and another way in competition. This suggests that consultants
must carefully examine all important areas or contexts to determine if athletes seek different
feelings in and out of their sports.
There are many possibilities to continue investigating the process of resonance in the fu-
ture. At the present time, one limitation of the RPM is that, although it appears to be applicable
to people performing at different levels in various domains, it must be further applied and
empirically examined by independent investigators and also tested against other existing mod-
els and consulting approaches. We cannot generalize the results to individuals across all per-
forming contexts. Moreover, the methodology that was used by Doell and Durand-Bush (2002)
is promising; however, we are still refining and expanding it to include both qualitative and
quantitative methods of data collection and analysis. For example, another study that will soon
be conducted involves investigating the process of resonance across different cultures. Ath-
letes from Asia, Europe, and Canada will participate in multiple interviews and complete not
only a journal but also a series of questionnaires to determine the effects of culture on reso-
nance as well as the effects of resonance on performance, health, and subjective well-being. It
is by continuing to gather data that we will build a solid database that will enable us to develop
more specific intervention strategies or programs to help individuals from all walks of life
experience resonance in their daily lives. This work also will help us refine the RPM as it may
change based on empirical work. The next section will focus on the application of the RPM in
different performance contexts.

APPLYING RESONANCE IN PERFORMANCE CONTEXTS

The RPM has been used across various situations and domains to help performers become
more engaged in their pursuits and increase the quality of their performance. Examples and
practical guidelines will be provided in an attempt to help individuals understand how the
 RESONANCE 261

RPM can be used to improve their personal lives and performance or those of others. We must
emphasize that the resonance approach is not something most certified consultants could im-
mediately use with clients. We suggest that consultants learn about the approach and its con-
cepts and then spend a sufficient amount of time applying resonance to their own lives before
attempting to use it with clients. What follow are basic guidelines that consultants can follow
when they are ready to begin integrating resonance in their professional work.

Considerations When Using Resonance

Several considerations and questions are put forth as a first step to begin working with the
RPM. The most important consideration to address when initiating work with an individual is
the context of the application. Ask yourself a question: How are you involved in the situation?
Were you invited to provide an intervention or disseminate knowledge, or have you somehow
imposed yourself onto the situation? Knowing your role is critical to the application of reso-
nance. Depending on your role, resonance could be offered as an active philosophy for per-
forming or living or simply as a technique to improve a particular situation.
The second consideration involves understanding the experience of clients. When working
with the RPM, what clients do is less important than how they feel doing it. Resonance is about
understanding how and why individuals interact with their environment. If performance is,
indeed, the creation and expression of ideas (Newburg, 1993), then their ideas and experience
of attempting to express these ideas should be of the utmost importance.
The third consideration for effectively using resonance is the ability to research a person or
situation first before attempting to provide any type of assistance. It is noteworthy that in each
field of inquiry, except that of sport, the lead author was invited to study first and teach second.
In each field, he spent approximately one year understanding the dynamics of the context and
the people within it. Questions that were asked included these: What are the aspirations of
people who choose to be surgeons, businesspeople, musicians, or pilots? Why do they choose
their fields? Have their experiences provided what they wanted? In other words, have they
performed, created, and expressed their own ideas in these contexts?
A fourth consideration is that the application of resonance typically follows a certain path.
Once consultants have been invited in to work, the process begins by asking clients how it is
that they arrived at this point in their lives. Typically, the first response is, “Why is that rel-
evant?” The point is to allow people to tell their stories and to go back as far as needed to create
a context in which to put their current dilemma or desire. Resonance is a process, and simply
focusing on an obstacle does not provide enough information to help individuals improve or
refocus, depending on their situation.
Different techniques can be used to allow people to create this context for discussion. Some
people write their stories; others sit and talk for hours about themselves. They choose different
points in their lives from which to tell their stories, but most go back to when they were young.
Even children do this. This storytelling process is important because it allows them to disclose
as well as listen to the progression of their lives, the decisions they have made, and the reasons
they have made those decisions. The conversation is a process in and of itself in that people
share the transitions they have made from where they started to where they are.
For consultants, listening and paying attention to the nonverbal communication while people
tell their stories provide valuable information. In terms of the resonance process, it is much
easier for consultants to see individuals act out their dreams during this storytelling. Many of
the people who have been interviewed in the past have had moments in telling their stories
when they sat forward, became excited, or waved their arms around when describing their
experiences. These moments were engaging not only when participants experienced them
262 D. NEWBURG ET AL.

earlier in life but also at the time when they recounted them. This might be the most important
information clients can provide. What is interesting is that clients often are not aware that they
are engaged during their storytelling. If the story has been told in writing, a similar phenom-
enon occurs. The language becomes more descriptive and colorful. People describe in detail
the relevant people, situations, and events around them, as well as the feelings they had at the
time.
It is noteworthy that the engaging moments people describe rarely pertain to external situ-
ations or events, such as standing on the medal stand, winning an award, or receiving money.
Typically, engaging moments pertain to actual performances, such as shooting the ball, oper-
ating on the heart, making a sale, or playing the drums. These moments in their stories are
crucial because most of them would agree that it is the feelings they share that give the most
meaning to them and their pursuits. They might talk about winning an award, but what they
say with their language and their body is that they want to feel a certain way. That is why they
do what they do. It is those feelings or experiences that led them to make certain decisions
about what to pursue in life. Better said, it is the ideas that they created and chose to express
that led them to where they currently are. In working with the RPM, it is important to listen for
people’s descriptions of feelings and also the transitions they made in life to bring them to
their current situation.
Another important consideration is that the biggest obstacle to engagement often is success.
The more successful people are, the more they gain external rewards—which, or course, are
accompanied by external pressures. How well people respond to these pressures often deter-
mines their ultimate success more than their skill or talent. It is not that external rewards or
measures are inherently bad reasons for action. However, society is very good at setting goals
for people and encouraging and supporting material rewards. But helping people to discover
and focus on their own internal process of resonance can lead to more meaningful goals, as
well as more engaging performances and satisfaction, regardless of the outcome of events.
According to Newburg’s research and consulting experiences, most people seem to under-
stand the need for this fit between dreams and goals, processes and results, and achievement
and expression. The difficulty arises when they give power over their dreams to other people
or institutions. Resonance is about empowering individuals to design and gain control of the
process that allows them to perform with the utmost quality and satisfaction not only in their
specific domain but also in their lives in general. This process is very individual and often
must be teased out of them because, generally, they are not taught or encouraged to spend
considerable time reflecting on how they want to feel. Once the process is identified, it needs
to be protected and nurtured by the individuals themselves. Consultants can help clients to
identify not only their desired feelings but also strategies to protect and nurture these feelings
through optimal as well as difficult situations.
Knowing how people want to feel is important for several reasons. As consultants, the
obvious reason is that if clients know what they want and how they want to feel in life, then
they can design their lives around this. They can shape the process around those feelings by
choosing goals that allow them to feel the way they want. This appears to provide a renewable
source of energy to sustain the pursuit. Another important aspect is that knowing what they
want and how they want to feel provides direction when obstacles are encountered. If they do
not know this, how can they choose an appropriate response?
In summary, people’s stories are important, particularly parts that appear to engage them
and that refer to how other people or situations make them feel. The ability to listen and extract
significant details seems to facilitate the consulting process and develop trust, which then
allows consultants to ask unanswered questions such as why or how certain decisions in life
were made. In short, stories tell us (a) people’s initial motivation for choosing a certain activ-
 RESONANCE 263

ity, (b) how people want to feel when they perform, (c) how certain activities produce those
feelings, (d) what takes the feelings away, (e) what brings back the feelings once they have
been taken away, and (f) how people made decisions either to protect those feelings or to
pursue outside approval. This is a crude list of some of the information that can be gathered to
help people perform better or live more engaging lives.
Listening to the story is the beginning of the process of working with the RPM. After
listening to the initial story, people are asked to go off for a certain amount of time to pay
attention to the way they feel and experience their lives. Based on the lead author’s past expe-
riences, two weeks usually is sufficient. Clients are asked to keep notes or talk into a tape
recorder, if possible. This process is crucial because individuals often have difficulty targeting
or expressing exactly how they want to feel. Sometimes they are in a transition and do not
quite know what they want to do next in life. Therefore, there is a lengthy process of self-
exploration and observation that is fundamental to identifying what makes them resonate.
Obviously, some people need help more quickly, so the reflective process may be shorter.
Following this, a discussion begins between consultants and clients. This discussion is about
the feelings and experiences clients described while telling the initial story or engaging in the
reflective process. A lesson has been that most people do not pay enough attention to their
feelings or experiences in such a way that they can use this information to design aspects of
their lives. Designing something into a life is very different from scheduling time to do some-
thing. It requires more commitment on the part of individuals and might mean changing the
way they perform basic activities. For example, the first question clients are encouraged to ask
themselves in the morning is, “How do I want to feel today?” not, “What do I have to do
today?” Once they have answered this question, they can build their days around specific
activities that will enable them to live their dreams.
The rest of the ongoing consulting process involves a free-flow discussion about what cli-
ents are experiencing, how they are responding to their experiences, and how they can design
the experiences that are positive and engaging into their lives. The RPM is a circular one
because, although people initially identify a dream, they sometimes need to fine-tune it or
redefine it altogether as they hit and overcome obstacles. Consequently, consultants must be
patient and nonjudgmental. They must create an environment in which people can talk openly
and demonstrate how they want to feel; they must listen to the clients’ experiences of trying to
redesign aspects of their performances or lives.

Typical Issues Faced by Consultants

The following are typical issues consultants face when working with the RPM. It might be
helpful to address some of them with clients; however, what consultants discuss should emerge
from their interactions with each individual client.
Dream vs. goal. The most common issue discussed is people’s difficulty understanding
the difference between a dream and a goal. This is not surprising, because so much of society
focuses on the achievement of goals as measures of success. There is no doubt that goals are a
necessary part of the process. However, Newburg’s past consulting experiences have shown
that people who focus on goals without paying attention to what they experience during the
process struggle to achieve their goals or create an unsustainable process.
Dealing with this issue can be delicate, because it often challenges the core of what people
believe. Many have accepted that working hard to achieve a goal is simply reality, and how
they feel is not particularly important. Perhaps this is a reason why so many people work for
years at jobs they do not really enjoy. However, each individual has a particular reason for
accepting individual or group goals. As consultants, we can help people make the process of
264 D. NEWBURG ET AL.

achieving their goals more engaging and fulfilling by getting them to acknowledge and focus
on their feelings.
Identifying the dream. Discussing with people what they want out of a performance or
out of life can be challenging. This is where listening to their stories is valuable. Most people
have had energizing experiences in which their hard work was engaging. Paying attention to
these moments and discussing them can provide significant information. What can be learned
from these moments? What were the experiences like for them? One lesson derived from
working with a surgery department is that, many times, the students’ dreams could be dis-
cerned by looking at their applications for residency. It usually was not found in their personal
statements, but in their descriptions of hobbies and work experiences. Often they were good at
other activities, such as carpentry, working on cars, or playing an instrument. In other words,
they liked working with their hands and solving problems. In the process of selecting resi-
dents, this was far more important than test scores or grades, because the department was
looking for people who would take responsibility for their own dreams and who knew how to
reenergize themselves and the people around them. As consultants, the lesson is that helping
our clients to identify their dreams requires that we listen to and examine other aspects of their
lives that are meaningful to them, because it might be in these areas that they truly experience
how they want to feel.
Another important lesson has been that helping people discover and fully understand what
they really want and how they want to feel in their daily pursuits can take months or even
years. However, as they go through the process, they learn valuable information about them-
selves and consequently choose better responses to external obstacles or internal setbacks.
When people are looking for a quick intervention, processing past experiences and focusing
on their internal responses can help. Consultants bear a different responsibility in these situa-
tions, because clients most likely will need more prompting while they apply newly developed
perspectives or techniques. In the ideal case, consultants should continue to work with clients
until the latter feel they have mastered the process of resonance and can fully engage in their
performance and life on a daily basis.
Understanding and processing obstacles. It can be challenging to understand not only
people’s dreams but also the obstacles they face. One reason for this is that, like the dream–
goal distinction, external obstacles are easier to recognize and deal with than internal ones. If,
in fact, people’s dreams are determined by how they want to feel, then the obstacles to how
they want to feel often will be the feelings themselves. This is because the feelings are either
negative or not conducive to optimal performance and well-being. Also, when external ob-
stacles emerge, people invariably will have an emotional response to them. If they act on this
initial response without direction, who is to say where they will end up? This is why it is
important for them to know how they want to feel.
In helping clients overcome obstacles, they should first be encouraged to deal with internal
obstacles—such as anger, frustration, or fear—before they respond to any external obstacle.
Getting people to understand this often is difficult because they want to solve the problem in
front of them as quickly as possible. Some would say that it takes up too much of their atten-
tion or energy to focus on how they really want to feel in a given situation. However, excep-
tional performers have reported that taking responsibility for how they want to feel is not only
key but also a main reason for doing what they do.
Using resonance with groups. How to use the RPM in a group setting is another issue that
has been raised. Based on past experiences, helping people engage in the process of resonance
has been as effective with groups as with individuals. For example, in working with major
corporations, it was found that asking managers to articulate what they wanted and how they
wanted the work environment to feel made the entire process of resonance more accessible to
 RESONANCE 265

the employees. As the employees began to understand their own dreams within the company,
they were able to mesh these dreams with those of the company to form a corporate vision.
When working with teams, the RPM can provide a means to discuss the dreams of each indi-
vidual and, through observations and sharing, help the members come together and perform
effectively as one unit.
In sum, the RPM has been used in various settings to help individuals improve their perfor-
mance and to make their lives more engaging. Although the consulting process is unique with
each client or group, there are certain characteristics and procedures about the RPM that make
it an effective tool. A brief overview of valuable lessons was provided in an attempt to make
the RPM more accessible to those who are interested in applying it.

CONCLUSIONS
The process of resonance is simple: A person chooses or recognizes a dream, prepares to
experience that dream, deals with the obstacles along the way, and revisits the dream as a way
to deal with the obstacles and make the subsequent preparation more engaging. As perfor-
mance in many different fields grows more demanding, individuals in medicine, sports, busi-
ness, and music, for example, must look for competitive advantages, deal with pressure and
expectations, and fulfill themselves personally at the same time. There are only 168 hours
available in a week to do this. In this actual quest, the challenge for everyday people as well as
publicly successful performers is to make the best use of their time and energy. Resonance is
a simple process that can help individuals do this, as it encourages them to design and engage
in activities that enable them to sustain energy, perform with high quality, and enjoy life on a
daily basis.
One of the challenges in working with the RPM is to be not only a “knower” but also a
“doer.” Consequently, one should live resonance first, and teach it second. In each field in
which research or applied work was carried out using resonance—whether it was medicine,
business, sport, or music—a split between the knowing and the doing (or the science and the
art) was observed. Clearly, this is an issue in the field of helping others. The effective use of
resonance depends on the acquisition of knowledge of both the RPM and its underlying con-
cepts and skills to apply the resonance process to specific contexts. Resonance is not designed
as a way of simply passing on information, nor is it about simply helping clients to develop
techniques or skills. Resonance is about getting to the heart of why you as a helper do what you
do, and why clients do what they do. It is about helping yourself and your clients shape indi-
vidual resonance processes into useful, energy-producing mechanisms for performance.
As an example, in the medical field there is tremendous controversy as well as strong forces
reshaping the way doctors and patients interact. The heart of the matter is the split between the
knowers and the doers—the scientists and the artists. Patients are demanding that doctors not
only know about their disease but also have the skills to make it relevant to them beyond
simply treating it. Patients want their doctors to understand the context in which their disease
exists. Much of that context resides in the patients’ minds and hearts. Medicine is learning that
successfully applying knowledge requires as much art as science. Doctors are being forced to
listen to their patients and make connections with them in order to treat them. There is a
popular medical saying: “People will not let you care for them until they know you care about
them.” Resonance provides an opportunity to understand the context of individuals and apply
the knowledge of both the science and the art of performance psychology and performance
enhancement to help them achieve quality and excellence in their chosen endeavors. A quote
from the movie Zero Effect puts this best:
266 D. NEWBURG ET AL.

I cannot possibly overstate the importance of good research. Everyone goes through life drop-
ping crumbs. If you can recognize the crumbs, you can trace a path back from your death
certificate to the dinner and movie that resulted in you in the first place. But research is an art,
not a science, because anyone who knows what they’re doing can find the crumbs, the wheres,
the whats, and the whos. The art is in the why, the ability to read between the crumbs. For
every event there is a cause and effect, for every crime a motive, for every motive a passion.
The art of research is the ability to look at the details and see the passion.

REFERENCES
Csikszentmihalyi, M. (1990). Flow: The psychology of optimal experience. New York: Harper & Row.
Csikszentmihalyi, M. (1997). Finding flow. New York: HarperCollins.
Deci, E. L. (1996). Why we do what we do: The dynamics of personal autonomy. New York: Putnam.
Deci, E. L., & Ryan, R. M. (1985). Intrinsic motivation and self-determination in human behavior. New
York: Plenum Press.
Deci, E. L., & Ryan, R. M. (2000). The “what” and “why” of goal pursuits: Human needs and the self-
determination of behavior. Psychological Inquiry, 11, 227–268.
Denison, J. (1996). Sport narratives. Qualitative Inquiry, 2(3), 351–362.
Denzin, N. K. (1984). On understanding emotion. Washington, DC: Jossey-Bass.
Diener, E., Sandvik, E., & Pavot, W. (1990). Happiness is the frequency not intensity of positive versus
negative affect. In F. Strack, M. Argyle, & N. Schwartz (Eds.), The social psychology of subjective
well-being (pp. 119–139). Elsmford, NY: Pergamon Press.
Doell, K., & Durand-Bush, N. (2002). Understanding the process of resonance of four track athletes.
Manuscript in preparation.
Durand-Bush, N., Doell, K., Soulard, A. D., Trudel, P., & Newburg, D. (2002). Exploring the role of
resonance in achieving optimal performance in sport. Manuscript submitted for publication.
Ericsson, A. (2000). How experts attain and maintain superior performance: Implications for the en-
hancement of skilled performance in older individuals. Journal of Aging and Physical Activity, 8,
366–372.
Ericsson, A., Krampe, R., & Tesch-Römer, C. (1993). The role of deliberate practice in the acquisition of
expert performance. Psychological Review, 100, 363–406.
Gorman, C. (2001). Repairing damage. Time (February 5), 52–58.
Jackson, S. (1992). Athletes in flow: A qualitative investigation of flow states in elite figure skaters.
Journal of Applied Sport Psychology, 4, 161–180.
Jackson, S. A., & Csikszentmihalyi, M. (1999). Flow in sports: The keys to optimal experiences and
performances. Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics.
Kimiecik, J., & Harris, A. (1996). What is enjoyment? A conceptual/definitional analysis with implica-
tions for sport and exercise psychology. Journal of Sport & Exercise Psychology, 18, 247–263.
Kimiecik, J., & Jackson, S. A. (2002). Optimal experience in sport: A flow perspective. In T. Horn (Ed.),
Advances in sport psychology (2nd ed.). Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics.
Locke, E., & Latham, G. (1985). The application of goal setting to sports. Journal of Sport Psychology,
7, 205–222.
Monmaney, T. (2000). The upshot is it pays to be upbeat. Los Angeles Times (January 5).
Newburg, D. (1993). The role of freedom in the performance of a professional musician and an Olympic
swimmer. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, University of Virginia, Charlottesville.
Newburg, D. (2002). Resonance: Developing your dream and mastering your fear. Manuscript submit-
ted for publication.
Newburg, D., & Clawson, J. (1997). Resonance. Charlottesville: University of Virginia Darden School
Foundation.
Orlick, T. (1990). In pursuit of excellence. Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics.
Rennie, D. L., Phillips, J. R., & Quartaro, G. K. (1988). Grounded theory: A promising approach to
conceptualization in psychology. Canadian Psychology, 29, 139–149.
 RESONANCE 267

Seligman, M. E. P., & Csikszentmihalyi, M. (2000). Positive psychology: An introduction. American

Psychologist, 55, 5–14.
Smith, C. (2001). Understanding the experience of trying to become more physically active in mid-life:
The stories. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand.
Starkes, J., Deakin, J., Allard, F., Hodges, N., & Hayes. A. (1996). Deliberate practice in sports: What is
it anyway? In K. Ericsson (Ed.), The road to excellence: The acquisition of expert performance in
the arts and sciences, sports, and games (pp. 81–106). Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.
Vallerand, R. J., & Blanchard, C. M. (2000). The study of emotion in sport and exercise: Historical,
definitional, and conceptual perspectives. In Y. Hanin (Ed.), Emotions in sport (pp. 3–37). Champaign,
IL: Human Kinetics.
Zajonc, R. B. (1980). Feeling and thinking: Preferences need no inferences. American Psychologist, 35,
151–175.

View publication stats