My interest in psychology began in high school when I was unintentionally drafted (but in hindsight, it was quite fortuitous) into the Counselling & Guidance unit. Although I did not provide any counselling to my fellow students, I had the opportunity to observe the counselling teacher giving motivational seminars to students. Once, I even decided to try out the counselling service to solve some of my personal problems. Although it wasn’t what I thought it would be, I still benefited from the sessions and had a different perspective on my problems. As such, I was very intrigued with this field and decided to explore more into this area of expertise.

My journey into psychology began with a diploma in counselling at Tunku Abdul Rahman College. I completed my undergraduate degree at Liverpool John Moores University in Human Psychology. My first job was in a human resource company dealing with foreign workers and I had the opportunity to counsel foreign workers who were facing anxiety due to acculturation difficulties.

Eventually, I moved into education counselling. During this time, I was exposed to students and parents from various backgrounds. Initially I found it tough but eventually I was able to assist students in choosing the correct pathway and field of interest to further their studies.

Sports and Exercise Psychology at Northumbria University in Newcastle was the next stop on my journey through psychology. During this period, I was privileged to be able to learn from various sports psychologists and athletes. I also had the opportunity to collaborate with Sunderland Football Club’s Under-21 Academy players in exploring various psychological aspects of football during my research. In addition, my participation in the university’s Kendo club provided me better perspective of the martial arts world and first-hand experience of the mental aspects involved in sports. I was also able to assist some of the members in improving their game via the usage of cognitive skills such as visualisation, imagery and goal-setting. The time spent with the Kendo club was a valuable experience that helped me to appreciate the application of sport psychology.

In 2013, I returned to Malaysia and rejoined my previous education counselling company. There, I had the opportunity to administer the Holland codes (RIASEC) test and discussed their education plans based on the psychological reviews.

With sports and exercise psychology being a relatively new area in the world of psychology, I am glad to have the opportunity to provide the knowledge to athletes, sports enthusiasts and the public in general. Over the past 5 years, I am glad to work with athletes and sport teams ranging from school to national levels in helping them enhance their performances, coping with pressure and managing expectations as well as motivating. I also conduct mentality training workshops for sport teams as well as fitness centres, mainly with the aim of providing a sustainable approach towards maintaining performance level as well as motivation. Apart from the main psychology-related duties, I am also glad to have opportunities in exploring coaching children and teenagers in sports with sport academies, involved in personal fitness training for adults and imparting physical activities lectures in universities.

At present, I work with The Mind to service their corporate partners, catering to clients in areas like cognitive-behaviour changes, mindfulness, goal-setting and basic stress management. In these endeavours, I found out that many of the sports psychology-related skills are also applicable in our daily and working lives, and it is a marvellous opportunity to pass on what I know to the public as well.

I believe that individuals have the potential to tap into their talents, skillset and motivation with the appropriate mental approach. I recognised that sports and exercise psychology is still a very new and niche branch, both in the psychology and sports realms. When it comes to sporting events, it is just natural that the physical aspects are more focused upon. As such, I am keen to promote the mental aspects of sports, including performance enhancement, anxiety and stress management, motivation, injury mental rehabilitation. I am also keen to work with the individuals and coaches who need leisure sports and health interventions in their daily lives as well long-term planning of sports and exercise programmes.