"For me, being a psychiatrist is
an honor. I'm passionate about what I do".
- author
Connect with Duda
High Performance Psychology was created for people who are interested, like Duda, in exploring their fullest potential in all aspects of life. Born Eduardo Alexandre Machado, Alexandre being his mother's surname and Machado his father's surname. Both descendants of Portuguese with Germans. As far as I know, my great-great-grandfather landed in the city of Pelotas, in the state of Rio Grande do Sul as a child; coming from Portugal. My great-grandfather was born when my great-great-grandfather had already created the famous Estância Galatéia, at the time of the Charqueadas (salted meat industry, active in the 19th and 20th centuries). Later my great-grandfather came to Porto Alegre, capital of the state of Rio Grande do Sul. My grandfather was born in Porto Alegre. While serving his country and assigned to participate in the Second World War, my grandfather on his way to Rio de Janeiro, which was the starting point of the missions at that time, passes through a small town called Florianópolis (which has the nickname of Ilha da Magia , due to such natural beauty). Enchanted with the city, he tells his family about his experiences. His attentive children, enchanted by their father's experience, keep this significant memory in their hearts. My father, upon graduating as an Electrical Engineer, receives numerous job and business proposals. However, he decides to accept a proposal from the University of Santa Catarina and come live with my mother in the charming city of his father's stories. A year after their arrival, I was born.
In the year I turned 1, my family, which at that time consisted of me and my parents, moved to Paris, France; where my father went to do his PhD in Power System (area of Electrical Engineering that develops the production and distribution of electric energy). We lived there for 4 years, where I learned to read. At the age of 5 we returned to Florianópolis. Same year my sister was born. At that time I fell in love with psychology through the experience of watching movies with my mother. Once, watching a movie with my mom, I was at the beginning of the movie and my mom made a comment about the plot of the movie. I thought to myself, "My mother's comment doesn't make any sense. Poor thing, she's not very smart. Still, I love her more than the world." The movie continued and I gradually began to understand more about the plot of the movie. To a certain extent, as the movie nears the end, I was finally able to understand my mother's comment in the beginning. I was so surprised, that to this day I keep this emotion with me. My thought was, "How was my mother able to understand so much about human behavior that it was so easy for her to understand the plot involved in the film?" My mother has always been and will always be my biggest inspiration when it comes to the study of human behavior.
At the same time my father inspired me about physical limits. Comparing my mother's inspiration, which is linked to emotions. My father's is linked to the physical, logical and rational. He was my father's helper in the maintenance of our house. One day he was plastering the outside wall of the house with cement. He prepared the dough and put it in the bucket, then climbed a ladder and using a spatula, he adjusted the plaster on the wall. My job was to keep the bucket of cement at the proper height so he didn't have to climb down the ladder to refill the trowel. The cement bucket was heavy, so I had to develop a method that involved leverage, posture, isometric work, and concentration.
The experience with my Father enabled me to resist pain, persistence and sacrifice in a goal. So that I wouldn't give up on my mission, I had to develop different ways to maintain the goal set by my Father. I had to manage my personal matters at that moment, because I couldn't fail. It helped me to develop resilience, creativity, taught me to work under pressure, etc. Making my Dad proud has always been one of the most important goals in my life. Another teaching of my Father was in relation to the planning of things. I must have been 7 to 8 years old and he smartly presented me with a model airplane. It was the experience of building my first model airplane. I remember him showing me the whole process. From sticking the instructions on a board to facilitating the process of building the plane, counting the parts, etc. Until adulthood I built model airplanes. Later I adopted this same planning approach to deepen my knowledge of Psychology and Sports Jiu-jitsu.
My childhood was always directly linked to a physical activity or sports activity. Be it soccer, tennis, table tennis, volleyball, capoeira, judo, handball, athletics, children's games (police and thief, etc).
At the age of 17, right after high school graduation, I accompanied my family again and we went to live in Durham, England. This time, my Father was accepted into the Post-Doctoral course at the University of the city and we lived at the Faculty of Saint Hilds and Saint Bedes.
At the age of 18 we returned to Florianópolis. The following year I started the Psychology course at the Federal University of Santa Catarina (UFSC). First, there were almost 4 years of exclusive dedication to the course. Especially at the Experimental Psychology Laboratory of the Federal University of Santa Catarina, where I had the privilege of finding pure inspiration in Professor Rogério Ferreira Guerra. I worked 7 days a week. Totally immersed in that world of knowledge of Ethology, Animal Behavior, Comparative Psychology, Evolution of Species. It was all very fascinating. I was a graduate student surrounded by so much excellence and inspiration. Teachers, Master's students, Doctoral students, monitors, etc. Few people have had such an impact and influence on my life as Professor Guerra. Eternal gratitude. At the same time I also had the privilege of being inspired by another teacher, José Luiz de Abreu Crivelatti. He taught me about the history of Psychology, about Community Psychology and was one of the main influences that made me fall in love with the study of human behavior. Later I decided to do a specialization in Behavioral and Cognitive Therapy at the University of São Paulo (USP).
At the age of 23 I went to live alone in the city of Miami, in the State of Florida, in the United States of America. It was at this time that I started training jiu-jitsu. At the age of 24 I returned to Florianópolis. I returned to the Psychology course, where I specialized in Clinical Psychology and Industrial Psychology. At that time I decided to pursue a career in Clinical Psychology. Being the son of teachers, I carry with me the DNA of the constant search for knowledge. And since I was little I learned that the best way to learn is to teach.
At age 24, when I returned from Miami and returned to Florianópolis, I started teaching English at a Wizard branch. At the age of 25, during my training in Clinical Psychology and having achieved prominence in International Competitions, I started teaching Sports Jiu-jitsu. At 29 years old, after graduating with a bachelor's degree and a degree in psychology, I started teaching my clients to have a happier life.
At the age of 32, after being influenced by a jiu-jitsu student of mine, André Wiggers, who graduated in Psychology and was doing a specialization in Career Planning at the University of Rio Grande do Sul, I started teaching professionals and entrepreneurs to be more successful in their careers and companies. Of course, the more we delve into a given subject, the more humble we become, because reality shows us that there is always much more to learn. Evolution is eternal and constant. And it never ends. I have had some experience in managing small and medium-sized companies. I had experiences in multinational companies. The vast majority of my clients are the result of the relationships created through my experience as a jiu-jitsu teacher. At last count, I had approximately 40,000 students.
Since I was 24 years old, I have participated in sports jiu-jitsu competitions. Although I have had some breaks during that time until today, I have been able to maintain a steady and systematic investment. Today, at 50, I continue to compete with the best in the world. And I'm so proud to share that.