How to Have an Elite Mindset

Mindset

Nov 3

According to Brian Cain in his Mental Performance Mastery Certification Course, there are ten steps to developing a high caliber mind. I want to talk about the first, which is having an elite mindset (outlook).

In the simplest terms, your mindset is how you perceive your world and yourself. For that matter, two people can look at the same thing and view it differently. This different perception can totally make or break some people, depending on if the perception is positive or negative.

So, having an elite mindset means having an elite perspective. Quite often, the majority of athletes do not have an elite perspective. Think about how many times or for how long people dwell on the negative; it totally ruins their day. Having an elite mindset needs to be coached and practiced daily until it becomes a habit. I once heard a quote, the most contagious thing in the world is not a positive attitude; no, the most contagious thing in the world is negativity. For that matter, it is the coach’s role to coach an elite perspective within their athletes, no matter what lies ahead of them.

An elite mindset is the difference between a growth (elite) and a fixed mindset.

People who have a fixed mindset believe their basic qualities are fixed traits. They spend time documenting and not developing. They don’t focus on effort, rather present moment talent or ability.

A growth mindset believes that their most basic abilities can be developed through effort, hard work, and consistency. Talent and ability is their starting point and everything else builds upon it. People with a growth mindset see the grey area and know that there will be ups and downs, but realize that they are part of the growth process.

With all this being said, one of the biggest challenges of a coach is being able to get athletes to stay in the right mindset when things seem out of their control. When athletes don’t have the right mindset, they will have more moments of feeling lost and searching for an excuse versus teaching them how to grow and evolve during moments of despair and/or hardships.

So, how can we coach athletes into having an elite mindset?

Bring awareness to their current state.
Teach them the following equation: Event + Response = Outcome. Meaning, no matter what happens to them, our response contributes to the outcome.
Have daily check-ins. Get your athletes to grade themselves around what they did well, where they fell short, and how they can improve upon that.
Teach about their body language, focus, and self-talk. This relates back to point number one and awareness. The more our athletes are aware of how they act, what they say, and where their focus goes to, the more they can be coached on how to grow and further develop their growth mindset.

Now, as coaches, we need to walk the walk and talk the talk. So, the first step is for us coaches to go first. Each coach needs to work on their growth mindset and improve it around areas where they are fixed. Only then can we coach our athletes with conviction and know-how.

If you are an athlete out there and want to work with coaches who go beyond just the X’s and O’s, contact us at help@conquerathlete com and set up a free consultation.