Athletes Must be Willing to be the “goat” if They Want to be the G.O.A.T.
Back in the 80s and 90s, calling an athlete a goat was a bad thing. As Sports Illustrated describes, goat was once a term to describe “an athlete who failed, garishly, hilariously, and at the worst possible time.” Nowadays, when a fan calls an athlete the G.O.A.T. they are calling that athlete the greatest of all time.
Obviously, these are two completely different extremes. However, as far apart as these two definitions are they are still inextricably linked. Russel Wilson says it best as quoted by Trevor Moawad in his classic sports psychology book It Takes What it Takes:
“…if you’re not willing to go there, you’re never going to get there.” In other words, you have to be willing to be the goat – the old, negative meaning of the word my generation grew up with – if you ever want a chance to be the G.O.A.T.
Preventing Failure Will Not Make You Successful
Wilson and Moawad’s statements will go over the heads of the vast majority of athletes. But I implore you to understand this critical point about success. Doing what it takes to prevent failure (not be a goat), will prevent you from being successful (being the G.O.A.T.)
The mindset of trying to prevent failure is one that focuses on threats. It causes athletes to constantly analyze their weaknesses and find ways to keep weaknesses from causing failure. Moreover, focusing on threats causes athletes to put a significant focus on the source of the threat, and how that source could cause negative consequences.
This then triggers emotions related to anger, fear, and scarcity. These emotional triggers are draining, and as a result cause premature fatigue. This fatigue then causes a decrease in performance. Which in turn prevents any possibility of an athlete performing at his or her best.
On the other hand, the mindset of trying to pursue G.O.A.T. status is one that focuses on finding and overcoming greater and greater challenges. It causes athletes to constantly work on maximizing their strengths and find ways to use strengths as the foundation for overcoming challenges.
Correspondingly, focusing on challenges is a much more optimistic mindset. Athletes with this mindset view the source of the stress as an opportunity to test them self. When an athlete’s mindset is ready to take on a challenge like this, the athlete’s mind prepares to be at its best.
This sparks the motivation to take steps to do things better than normal. For example, eat better, sleep more, seek additional resources, or prepare with more focus. Proactively taking these steps not only improves confidence, but it also increases an athlete’s energy levels. Which will unquestionably increase performance to levels that have the potential to produce G.O.A.T. level outcomes.
Simply stated, athletes can’t fear failure. In fact, they must embrace failure, as finding an opportunity to fail spectacularly is the only way to succeed spectacularly. Furthermore, succeeding spectacularly is the only way an athlete can be the G.O.A.T.