Athletes Who Treat Competition Day as a Judgement VS an Assessment
Competition Day as Judgement Day:
Athletes who treat competition day as a day of judgement are prone to have both a fixed mindset as well as an ego oriented mindset. The outcome of the competition will either be a success or a failure. If the outcome is a success, then these athletes assume their process is working. It doesn’t matter how easy or unskillful their competition is, as a win is a win. Furthermore, being judged as a winner against an easy competitor is better than risking loss against a tough competitor.
If the outcome of a competition is failure, then these athletes assume that they either did not have enough talent or had bad luck that day. Moreover, these athletes only compare themselves to their opponent. They don’t have a sense of whether they are better or worse off than they were in their last competition. Being better doesn’t provide any satisfaction in a loss, so reflecting on better is pointless for these athletes.
Competition Day as Assessment Day:
Athletes who treat competition day as an assessment are prone to have both a growth mindset as well as a task oriented mindset that focuses on the process. The outcome of the competition simply identifies areas of mastery and growth. If the outcome is a success, then these athletes gain confidence but still evaluate opportunities for improvement. Easy wins are not as satisfying because when evaluation is the goal, easy is not helpful. Thus, the greater the challenge the more satisfaction these athletes get.
If the outcome is failure, then these athletes use the failure to help them grow. Instead of dwelling on the loss, these athletes dwell on the specific skills that they must improve to get better. Moreover, these athletes don’t compare themselves to their opponent, they compare themselves to who they were in their last competition.