Elite Athletes Adopt the Mindset of The Original Meaning of Competition
Everybody likes to win. However, everybody does not like to compete. Most people prefer the easy win over an unworthy competitor vs. the tough loss against a worthy competitor. The reason for this starts with one’s mindset on how they view competition.
If your mindset is one that sees the purpose of competition as a quest to beat someone else, then you have an outcome mindset. On the other hand, if your mindset is one that sees the purpose of competition as a quest to challenge yourself, then you have a process mindset.
This mindset differentiation has a big impact on how you live your life. In fact, research suggest that those with an outcome mindset are less satisfied with their life than those with a process mindset. Therefore, it’s worth your while to invest in shifting your mindset if you are a person who focuses too much on outcomes.
I recommend making this shift by adopting the mindset of the original meaning of competition. In the classic sports psychology book Flow in Sports: The keys to optimal experiences and performances, authors Susan A. Jackson and Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi explain this mindset:
It is useful to remember that the word competition came from the two Latin words con petire, which meant “to search together.” The idea was that the best way to find out how good your skills were was to match them against the skills of another person. The point of competition was not to beat someone else, but to search out the best in yourself.
Adopt this mindset on competition, and you will then understand what it takes to become an elite athlete.