Growth Mindset for Elite Performance
You have the capability to be as good as the best in the world.
Can you do what the best in the world do? Is it pre-determined, can we change it, and how do we continue to grow throughout our career. How do we approach our development of skills and talent as an athlete.
“Success leaves clues. Don’t hate them, watch them.” – Todd Jacobs - Mental Performance Coach
You think therefore you do
Want a quick way to ruin your chances of success as an athlete? Have a fixed mindset. Believe that you can’t change your talents. A fixed mindset alters our underlying neurobiology which makes the acquisition of new skills much more difficult. The first thing you need to do to begin learning new skills as an athlete, is to believe that learning is possible.
“If you think you can, or you think you can’t, well, you’re right” – Peter Diamandis
Mindset is everything. A growth mindset is like driving a car, whereas a fixed mindset is like the car being in park. To move forwards you have to allow for growth, allow yourself to make mistakes.
“A growth mindset helps you see mistakes as opportunities for improvement rather than condemnations of character” – Steven Kotler - Author of ‘Rise of Superman’ and ‘The Art of Impossible’
According to Carol Dweck, author of ‘Mindset: The new psychology of success’ A fixed mindset comes from the belief that your qualities are carved in stone – who you are is who you are, period. Characteristics such as intelligence, personality, and creativity are fixed traits, rather than something that can be developed.
A growth mindset comes from the belief that your basic qualities are things you can cultivate through effort. Yes, people differ greatly – in aptitude, talents, interests, or temperaments – but everyone can change and grow through application and experience.
How to cultivate a fixed mindset as an Athlete and reach your potential
Seeing a reason to act
One of the huge benefits of a growth mindset is that you’ll have an easier time getting into, and staying in a flow state. This is due to improved concentration. When an athlete with a fixed mindset makes an error, they dwell on it and talk negatively which disrupts their focus. However when an athlete with a growth mindset makes a mistake they let it slip past them and just learn from it. ‘Live and Learn’ is the mantra of the growth minded athlete. This approach will improve your learning and performance. It’s a huge part of why some athletes crumble under pressure at contests.
“Live and Learn” – A growth minded athlete
It can be easy to look at the top athletes in our sport and see them as superheroes. People born with superhuman talent and skill, unmatchable by us mere mortals. This sort of idolising is a sign of the fixed mindset creeping in. We need to believe that our idols were once like us and what got them to the level they are is hard work and grit. We must be able to believe we can get there, we can achieve greatness.
Actionable Steps to grow your mindset:
Cultivate Curiosity and ask questions (e.g. ‘What did I FAIL at today?’ Pose it daily as a POSITIVE question to yourself.)
Asses your inventory of skills you currently have and review how these skills came to be. How they were learned.
Discover Frameworks from common ways of learning from the previous step. (How did I learn or practice this skill, what ways of learning work best for me?)
Apply Frameworks which have a proven track record of working for you. (e.g. I always learn new tricks when I’m having fun.)
“Hard Work beats talent when talent doesn’t Work Hard” – Tim Notke - Basketball Coach
Top tips:
Advice for Parents of Athletes - ‘If parents want to give their children a gift, the best thing they can do is to teach their children to love challenges, be intrigued by mistakes, enjoy effort, and keep on learning. That way, their children don’t have to be slaves of praise. They will have a lifelong way to build and repair their own confidence.’ – Carol Dweck - author of ‘Mindset’
Spend time around high achievers. They will help you see and BELIEVE what’s possible. This is the Power of Proximity.
“You are the average of the five people you spend the most time with” – Jim Rohn
Quick Summary
Mindset is the difference between success and excuses.
Either you have a fixed mindset and believe talent is innate, no amount of practice will ever help you improve, or you have a growth mindset and you believe talent is the starting point and practice makes all the difference.
Cultivate your growth mindset by making small improvements and seeing compounding growth through time.
“I think that’s the kiss of death, if you’re convinced that you’re going to fail or fall or get hurt, that will come to fruition because that’s what you’re visualising. I was willing to get hurt along the way but I didn’t visualise myself getting hurt and I think that’s what stops a lot of people, and that’s what separates a lot of people from being world champions, or being as good as they can, because they stop at some point and say ‘oh no, I’m not capable of this, or I’ll probably get hurt’ and if you approach anything with that hesitation, you’re going to fail. I always approached it like this is going to work, I’m going to figure this out, even if it takes me hundreds of attempts” - Tony Hawk
Next Steps for You
Listen to the audio episode of this article on the ‘Make It Happen’ Podcast for Athletes from ESM.
Additional Resources
Watch
Michael Jordan: Growth Mindset - An inspiring 2 minute edit with 2 Micheal Jordan commercials exemplifying Carol Dweck's Growth Mindset.
Check it out here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W3FCbP8rdRU
Read
‘Mindset: The new psychology of success’ by Carol S. Dweck Ph.D.
A classic when it comes to talking about mindset and one of the breakthrough books about the power of the growth mindset. Well worth reading and applying.
Check it out here: www.booktopia.com.au/mindset-carol-s-dweck-phd-/book/9780345472328.html
Listen
Know What Drives You with Michael Gervais - The Chase Jarvis Show - This interview with Michael Gervais is a great introduction to his thinking. He is a high performance psychologist working with some of the best in the world, training the mindset skills and practices essential to pursuing and revealing one’s potential. His clients include world record holders, Olympians, internationally acclaimed artists and musicians, MVPs from every major sport and Fortune 100 CEOs.
Check it out here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FMZnDUy-9ds&t=1s