The Mindset of an Elite Athlete
One thing I constantly preach to athletes is that they must work on becoming optimist if they want to be elite. To be considered elite an athlete must first outperform someone who is currently considered elite. In other words, to be the best you must beat the best. Therefore, the primary requirement of becoming an elite athlete is to outperform another athlete who is better on paper.
A pessimist would never believe they can outperform someone who is better on paper and that’s why pessimist don’t elevate to elite status. On the other hand, optimist not only remain resilient through the adversity of repeatedly losing to elite competitors, but they also continue to believe they can win as underdogs. This mindset fuels the breakthrough to elite status.
To understand why you must first understand the most important difference between optimist and pessimist is not positive vs negative thinking. In fact, optimist don’t always think positive, and pessimist don’t always think negative.
However, what optimist do differently than pessimist when they have negative thoughts is attribute those thoughts to things they control. Conversely, when pessimist have positive thoughts, they attribute those thoughts to things they don’t control.
For example, when an optimist fails, they will attribute the failure to their need to prepare more. When a pessimist succeeds, they will attribute their success to luck. The reverse of each of these situations is true as well. Pessimist attribute failure to a permanent lack of ability they were born with. While optimist attribute success to their ability to work hard and prepare.
In short, elite athletes are mentally tough. What’s more, mentally tough athletes continue to be optimist as they experience more and more adversity. Pessimists are mentally weak and mentally weak athletes give up as they experience more and more adversity.