How to Get an Athlete to Eliminate Excuses
There are few things more damaging to an athlete’s mindset than having a habit of making excuses. When an athlete makes excuses such as “that wasn’t fair” or “they cheated” or “it was the ref’s fault” it’s a telltale sign that the athlete has an external locus of control.
Locus of control is a term to describe the mindset of how an individual perceives cause and effect. If someone has an external locus of control, they view cause and effect through the lens of fairness, luck, chance, and other external factors. On the other hand, if they have an internal locus of control, they view cause and effect through the lens of effort, strategy, and resilience.
Research suggests that those with an internal locus of control perform better under pressure and respond better to adversity than those who don’t. This is because those with an external locus of control tend to worry more and miss opportunities. They worry more because they don’t believe the process is under their control and external factors will dictate their success. They miss opportunities because they lack an understanding of the factors under their control that lead to opportunity.
For these reasons, helping an athlete change from an external to an internal locus of control is a game changer. Moreover, the best way to do this is to change how they view their goals from external to internal.
Moving from an External to Internal Mindset to Eliminate Excuses
External goals are the goals athletes have no control over. In other words, outcomes such as winning, rankings, and popularity. These goals are fine to use as a compass, but their terrible to use as a destination. The destination for athletes must be to master their process to prepare and execute.
When the process is the goal athletes have complete control over their success. Thus, when an athlete is in complete control, they have no choice but to eliminate all external excuses.
Your process tells you when to work, what to work on, how long to work and how much to do in the allotted time. Once an athlete has this process, it’s 100% on them to execute. What’s more, every time they execute, they achieve a goal and reinforce the internal mindset.