Understanding the Mindset of an Athlete After Losing a Competition
In her preeminent book Mindset: The New Psychology of Success, Carol S. Dweck, Ph.D. provides a simple definition of mindset. She defines mindset as:
The view you adopt for yourself [that] profoundly affects the way you lead your life.
Dweck goes on to make the case that one’s mindset determines whether or not a person becomes who they want to be and accomplishes their goals. Specifically, Dweck focuses her mindset research on the fixed mindset vs. the growth mindset. Moreover, these two mindsets are the most likely mindsets to impact an athlete after experiencing a loss.
When an athlete has a growth mindset, they believe their improvement is a product of their hard work. As a result, when an athlete has a growth mindset this also means they believe the innate talents they were born with are just the starting point for their development, not the ending point.
On the other hand, when an athlete has a fixed mindset, they believe that their characteristics are forever carved in stone at birth. Furthermore, athletes with a fixed mindset believe they’re either good at something or they’re not. If they are good at something it will be easy, if they’re not it will be hard.
Fixed vs. Growth Mindset After Losing a Competition
These two contrasting mindsets create a stark difference to how an athlete deals with losing. If an athlete has a fixed mindset, losing a competition is a demotivating setback. An athlete with this mindset views losing as an indication of lacking talent or having bad luck. In contrast, an athlete with a growth mindset views losses as motivation to work harder. An athlete with the growth mindset believes that if they can find a way to work harder and smarter that next time they will win.
This analysis of how an athlete responds to a loss can be a game change if you identify they have a fixed mindset. If you do confirm they have a fixed mindset encouraging them to change how they think can go a long way in helping them bounce back. This starts by helping them focus on the process instead of the outcome, praising their hard work instead of praising their talent, and rewarding their consistency instead of only providing rewards for winning.
Finally, I suggest you read Carol Dweck’s mindset book with all athletes who have even a slight tendency for having a fixed mindset. Then work with that athlete to incorporate the book’s suggestions into their training process.