Athletes Must Work on Becoming Optimist if They Want to Be Elite
If an athlete wants to be elite, then they must work daily to have an optimistic mindset. In general, optimists almost always put a positive spin on their past, present and future. While pessimists are constantly thinking of why things didn’t, aren’t, and won’t work out. This stark difference in mindset optimist have over pessimist is a major competitive advantage.
In Daniel Goleman’s groundbreaking book on emotional intelligence titled Emotional Intelligence: Why It Can Matter More Than IQ.
Goleman states:
People who are optimistic see a failure as due to something that can be changed so that they can succeed next time around, while pessimists take the blame for failure, ascribing it to some lasting characteristic they are helpless to change.
These differing explanations have profound implications for how people respond to life.
For example, in reaction to a disappointment such as being turned down for a job, optimists tend to respond actively and hopefully, by formulating a plan of action…or seeking out help and advice; they see the setback as something that can be remedied.
Pessimist, by contrast, react to such setbacks by assuming there is nothing they can do to make things better the next time, and so do nothing about the problem; they see the setback as due to some personal deficit that will always plague them.
While it’s true that everybody has a little of both mindset types inside of them, one can only wear one pair of glasses at a time. You either have on the rose-colored glasses or the gray-cloud colored glasses. What’s more, for athletes in particular, it’s difficult to take off the gray-cloud glasses once they are on. As a result, in sports it’s best to avoid pessimism completely. The table below comparing the mindsets of both types of athletes illustrates why.
The Optimistic Athlete vs. The Pessimistic Athlete
| The Optimistic Athlete | The Pessimistic Athlete |
| Takes ownership of their success | Attributes their success to things outside of their control such as the environment, luck, or weak opponents |
| Views failure as a result of temporary factors | Permanent personality traits and innate abilities are the causes of their failures |
| Never gives up hope and still gives their best effort even when failure is imminent | Stops trying and gives up hope when the odds of winning are too low. |
| Negative feedback is viewed as an opportunity to improve their skills, tactics, and strategy | Negative feedback confirms what they were already thinking and reinforces their pessimistic mindset |
| Finds positive feedback all around them from people’s words, body language, and environmental signals | Ignores positive feedback or interprets it as either being a coincidence or kindness |
| Winning and losing is neither a positive nor negative. The quality of the performance, skill, tactic, or strategy are the metrics to evaluate. | Winning is the only positive performance metric to evaluate. Losing is always negative. |
Why Optimism is Critically Important to an Athlete’s Success
Unfortunately, thinking positive in both good and bad times is a skill not all athletes have. For those who do have it, a positive mindset provides the ability to create expectations that bend reality in their favor. For those who don’t, it’s their job to train their mental skills to learn how.
According to a series of research studies, there are 5 proven benefits that optimistic positive thinkers get over pessimistic negative thinkers.
- Thinking positive helps lower blood pressure.
- In times of need, people who think positive have more social support than those who think negative.
- Positive thinkers get less viral infections than negative thinkers (i.e. positive thinking boost the immune system).
- Those who think positive have a 42% to 45% lower risk of death as they age.
- When it comes to overcoming adversity, those who think positive are significantly more successful than negative thinkers and have better long term outcomes.
In short, optimistic athletes are mentally tougher than athletes who are pessimistic. What’s more, mentally tough athletes have the ability to continue to think positive as they experience more and more adversity. On the other hand, pessimistic athletes are mentally weak and mentally weak athletes complain often and are quick to give up and quit.
These simple facts prove that the optimistic mindset is of critical importance in a quest to be an elite athlete.