The Jeff Bezos Mindset That All Athletes Must Have
Jeff Bezos is one of the most successful entrepreneurs in the history of the world. So, it’s not surprising that he has a mindset that other entrepreneurs can learn from. However, it may be surprising to some that athletes can learn from his mindset as well.
Athletes and entrepreneurs have far more in common than most people realize. Both are competitive endeavors, both require learning mental and physical skills concurrently, both face the risk of burn out, and both must be willing to take risks to reach their potential.
It’s in this last commonalty around taking risks where the Jeff Bezos mindset comes into play for athletes. This mindset comes from one of his famous quotes.
If you decide that you’re going to do only the things you know are going to work, you’re going to leave a lot of opportunity on the table.
For athletes, this translates to how one views competing when the chance of losing is greater than the chance of winning. Or, as I like to ask athletes:
“Are you ready and willing to throw your best punch when you must punch above your weight? “
Of course, all athletes answer in the affirmative to this question. But the reality is that what people say and what they do don’t always align. In this case, when an athlete is too focused on their ego, they do exactly what Jeff Bezos warns entrepreneurs not to do: “leave a lot of opportunities on the table.”
Why “Ego” Causes Athletes to Leave Opportunities on the table
Ego goal orientation is one of two ways to approach goals as defined in goal perspective theory. It’s when you focus on comparing yourself to others instead of focusing on being the best version of yourself. For example, measuring personal success against the accomplishments of peers or when your primary source of happiness comes from winning. While some positive motivation is possible with ego goal orientation, too much ego is the primary reason why athlete’s leave opportunities on the table.
Specifically, ego orientation causes three negative achievement behaviors that lead to athletes missing out on opportunities.
1) Lack of Persistence
Lack of persistence is when an athlete gives up too soon. An ego goal orientation drives this behavior in situations when competitors or teammates are making progress faster. That faster progress of others then causes feelings of self-doubt. This self-doubt then leads to thoughts that something is wrong, even when there is not. As a result, the ego drives a decision to quit prematurely without analyzing any other factors.
2) Debilitated Performance
Debilitated performance is when an athlete performs worse than their true ability. Ego goal orientation causes this in scenarios when too much focus is put on countering the competition’s strengths. When the focus is on countering the competition’s strengths, it’s typical to neglect the tactics and skills that utilize one’s own strengths. Consequently, the competition dictates the rules of engagement. This reactive approach rarely works. It drives the athlete’s attention away from skills that allow them to be at their best to seize opportunities.
3) Rescinding effort
Rescinding effort is when an athlete’s effort decreases when the challenge increases. Ego orientation causes this because the athlete seeks to protect the ego by intentionally not giving their best effort as the excuse for losing. If an athlete with an ego goal orientation gave their best effort and still loss, the emotional blow would be too much for them to handle. Therefore, they use the lack of effort to rationalize losing when they must “punch above their weight “.
How Athletes Can Use the Jeff Bezos Mindset to Master Their Ego
The first step an athlete must take to adopt the Jeff Bezos mindset is to apply extreme focus to the process of becoming the best version of themselves. Moreover, the only way to be the best you are capable of becoming is to 1) know the right things to do and 2) do those things right consistently.
This is why process is so important if you want to be at your best consistently. While every person needs a slightly different process depending on their strengths and personality, the genesis for all successful processes comes down to a process with 5 characteristics.
- The process focuses on mastering 3 to 4 essentials skills.
- The path to mastery is through using routines and staying consistent with executing those routines come hell or high water.
- The process includes a method for measuring progress and collecting meaningful data.
- The process includes getting help and honest feedback from coaches and mentors.
- There is a process to adjust the process based on honest feedback and meaningful data.
The Threat vs. Challenge Mindset
The second step an athlete must take to adopt the Jeff Bezos mindset is to approach difficult opponents and events that require “punching above one’s weight” as challenges instead of threats. The threat vs. challenge mindset is the primary mindset type that dictates how one performs under stress.
The threat mindset causes one to put a significant focus on the source of the stress, 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 a person performing at his or her best.
On the other hand, the challenge mindset is a much more optimistic mindset. A person with this mindset views the source of the stress as an opportunity to test them self. When one’s mindset is ready to take on a challenge like this, the 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 an athlete’s confidence when they must “punch above their weight”, it also increases an athlete’s focus on process, which further neutralizes their ego.