Dev Roychowdhury

I study what separates good performers from elite ones. Not talent. Not genetics. Not luck. Mental skills. I'm Dr Dev Roychowdhury – researcher and consultant in performance psychology and mental health, with background in academia, industry, and the military. I work with athletes, coaches, business leaders, military professionals, and anyone operating under pressure who wants to perform at their best while protecting their wellbeing. Here's what I share: • Mental skills for peak performance • Evidence-based strategies (no fluff, no clichés) • How performance psychology meets mental health I translate research into skills you can use today. Whether you're preparing for competition, leading under pressure, managing stress in high-risk work, or wanting to elevate your mental game – I'm here to help you perform when it matters. 🔗 Explore more: drdevroy.com 📧 Get practical strategies: drdevroy.com/newsletter Follow for research-backed insights on performance, resilience, and wellbeing.

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What to do about it: → Train under observation – not just outcome pressure → Recognise "I'm being watched" as its own distinct pressure type → Build social pressure tolerance deliberately before it counts Who causes you more pressure – the goal, or the person watching?

You thought fear of failure was your biggest performance threat. New research says it's being watched. And the reason might surprise you. 🧵

There is a distinction between moral clarity and moral performance. You can hold a clear ethical position without broadcasting it into a diplomatic context where every statement carries real strategic weight. India's choice of silence here isn't weakness – it's the smarter play. Silence, in this case, is both strategy and safeguard. With dependencies spanning energy, diaspora, and defence supply chains, India sits at a genuine crossroads of competing pressures. A strongly worded condemnation might feel satisfying for a news cycle, but it trades long-term leverage for short-term applause. The government is right to protect that leverage. When your fingers are between someone's teeth, you don't lead with your fist. India has too many vital relationships at stake to let moral grandstanding set the terms of its foreign policy.

My latest #TharoorThink column in the @IndianExpress explains why I have not joined the widespread liberal critique of the Indian government’s “moral failure” to condemn the US-Israeli attack on Iran. India has too much at stake to indulge in the morally gratifying grandstanding that could have placed vital national interests at risk. As the late Kofi Annan advised me, citing a Ghanaian proverb: “never hit a man on the head when you have your fingers between his teeth!”

You are not a machine that needs to work non-stop. You are a person who needs space to breathe. What does rest actually look like for you this week? #PerformancePsychology #MentalHealth #Wellbeing

You don't have to earn rest. Rest isn't a reward for exhaustion – it's part of recovery itself. If you only stop once you're depleted, that's not self-care. That's damage control. You are allowed to rest before you break.

Elite athletes don't just prepare physically. Mental rehearsal activates the same neural pathways as physical practice. Five minutes of vivid, detailed visualisation before competition builds genuine readiness. Train the mind. Then trust the body.

Your worst decisions come after your most demanding work. Decision fatigue is real: quality drops sharply after extended cognitive load. Reserve high-stakes choices for your peak hours. Mental energy is finite. Spend it deliberately.

Before a high-stakes operation, your nervous system is already activated. That's not a problem. That's preparation. Box breathing: 4 in, hold 4, out 4, hold 4. Three cycles shifts you from reactive to ready. Work with your physiology, not against it.

Most academics try to work longer to get more done. Research says the opposite: focused blocks beat extended distracted sessions. Two 90-minute deep work sessions beat six fragmented hours. Protect the block. Email after writing – not before.

You thought fear of failure was your biggest enemy under pressure. New research says it's being watched. A recent study examined 30 participants in a demanding multitasking task. Researchers compared two types of pressure: 𝗼𝘂𝘁𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗲 𝗽𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘀𝘂𝗿𝗲 (fear of failing a specific goal) and 𝗺𝗼𝗻𝗶𝘁𝗼𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗽𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘀𝘂𝗿𝗲 (being observed and filmed). They fully expected outcome pressure to cause the most harm. Monitoring pressure – simply being watched – led to a statistically significant drop in performance. Outcome pressure? No significant effect at all. Here's what makes this finding remarkable: the performance drop under monitoring pressure happened without any change in how participants directed their attention. Their eye movements stayed exactly the same. Their task prioritisation stayed the same. The disruption happened below the attentional level. When someone watches you, your brain starts monitoring your own movements – even movements that are normally automatic. That self-consciousness disrupts the fluency of motor execution. You don't lose your focus. You lose your flow. This matters far beyond sport. Think about surgeons under senior observation. Drone operators with their commander in the room. Employees presenting to leadership for the first time. The audience doesn't change what you know. But it changes how your body performs. The fix isn't to "focus harder". That often makes things worse. Here's how to use this: • In training, gradually add observation pressure – don't only simulate high-stakes outcomes • Learn to distinguish "I'm worried about failing" from "I'm aware I'm being watched" • Practise your most precise skills under social pressure before high-stakes moments Who causes you more pressure – the goal, or the person watching? #PerformancePsychology #MentalHealth

High achievers don't dwell – they debrief. There's a real difference between the two. Dwelling drains energy and traps you in the past. Debriefing extracts the lesson and moves you forward.

Mental health isn't just crisis management. Waiting until you're overwhelmed is like ignoring a warning light until everything breaks. Proactive beats reactive. Prevention is performance.

Cutting sleep to work longer is a performance paradox. One bad night reduces your decision-making by 30%. You can't outwork a sleep deficit – only eliminate it. Your brain keeps score.

Your identity shapes performance more than your skills alone. If you secretly believe you're not capable, no tactic will save you. Change the story first. Then change the behaviour.