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Attitudes of excellence

Excellence begins with the right attitude. Across the years in all sports, many a talent has been wasted because an athlete has failed to develop an appropriate way of thinking that will enable them to become the 'best they can be'.

The right attitudes

An athlete with a powerful, positive attitude towards training and competition might think in the following manner:

'I will always strive to give my best effort, regardless of the circumstances. I will always work to achieve the highest level of excellence I am capable of at the time. I have pride in what I represent and what I have accomplished as an athlete. I have set myself worthy goals and I'm ready to pay the price to achieve them. Last, but not least, I understand that my future as an athlete is in my hands. What I accomplish and what I fail to accomplish is the result of me. I accept full responsibility for myself. My destiny is shaped and moulded each day in accordance with what I dream, what I think, and what I do. I will be successful'

Impact on the ideal performance state

The above constellation of attitudes has two primary effects. It provides a very powerful source of positive energy, and it introduces a highly stabilising control factor over performance. These are the attitudes that continually energise performance when things go badly. The energy that is created from these attitudes is the only satisfactory substitute for the energy lost when an athlete ceases to have fun. These are the attitudes of a true professional, producing an element of control and consistency in performance that cannot be achieved in any other way.

The wrong attitudes

  • 'I never get the breaks'
  • 'Nobody can work that hard'
  • 'It isn't really worth it'
  • 'So what if I gave up, I wasn't going to win anyway'

Acquiring the right attitudes

Attitudes are nothing more than habits of thought. Our attitudes are formed principally in response to the ways in which we consistently construe the world in which we live. Our parents as well as significant others in our lives, particularly in our developing years, have a strong influence over the interpretation we give to our world of experience. If you tend to be a negative and pessimistic thinker, you learned it. Habitually thinking about your world in a negative way leads to the development of very strong and resistant negative attitudes. These negative attitudes can substantially alter the inner climate we are capable of creating as competitors.

Here are a few examples:

  • If you frequently feel threatened in competition, you more than likely think about competition in a threatening way.
  • If you rarely feel fun or enjoyment in competition, you probably rarely think about competition being fun or enjoyable.
  • If you consistently feel undisciplined or lazy as an athlete, you probably rarely think about how disciplined and hard working you could eventually be.
  • If you consistently become negative, frustrated, and angry in response to mistakes, you probably rarely think about how calm and cool you could be in response to mistakes.
  • If you're frequently feeling negative and pessimistic about yourself and your future, you're probably not thinking challenging, inspirational, or positive thoughts.

As simple as it may sound, the key to changing attitudes is simply to start repetitiously thinking the attitudes you wish to acquire. Hundreds of opportunities arise each day to practice new attitudes. You may not believe them when you first start. The daily programming, however, quickly begins to impact your belief system and eventually you will witness a very real and obvious change in the way you feel. The true test for determining attitude change is the corresponding feeling of change.

How to think about problems and adversity

Competition is nothing but a continuous presentation of problems. Your emotional response to problems will bring you either success or failure as a competitor. If you expect to enter the competitive arena and have everything go smoothly, you're in for performance trouble. 'Competition' and 'problem' are closely linked, and to be successful you must be a good problem solver. You must learn to control your emotional response to problems - you must learn to control your attitude.

Here are some ways to begin thinking about problems so that you trigger the right energy response and sustain your ideal performance state:

  • Problems will bring out my greatness - no problems, no greatness.
  • I choose the way a problem affects me in competition.
  • To become a good competitor, I must be a good problem solver.
  • I never lose; I simply run out of time before I solve the problem.
  • The right emotional response to a problem is 75% the solution.
  • Everyone is mentally tough when there a no problems; problems are a true test of my emotional skills.
  • I'm getting good at turning problems into opportunities.
  • Give me problems - I need the practice.