The Mindset Edge: What Champions, Creatives & Parents Have in Common
What unites world-famous painters, working parents, and professional athletes?
At first glance, these worlds may feel miles apart but they share a common foundation. While artists are renowned for their gorgeous art, athletes for their physical prowess, and parents for their wild mini-me’s … a substantial portion of their edge comes from something less visible — their mindset.
While we’ll leave the incessant, detailed, sports metaphors by the water cooler, we are going to touch on sports today.
Why? We’ve recently been inspired by Netflix’s Full Swing series.
Sports metaphors are helpful when talking about mindset, because you have a goal, basket or hole that you’re directing all energy, effort, and mental space towards so it’s easier to visualize, focus, and crystalize the conversation. In life, so much of what we are trying to achieve, feel and think is invisible, so using these metaphors can make the intangible, tangible, help us build a more complete picture of what we’re talking about, and allow people to “get on the same page.” And as we know from the late and great, Nobel-Prize-winning “Daniel Kahneman” we have a thinking trap called “what you see is all there is.” This is a cognitive bias that states that “we use the information we have as if it is the only information…we don't wait for more information, we form impressions on the basis of what is available to us.” So the job here is to help us form a complete picture of what is happening in our minds (and bring other people along too) so that we can better manage it if it’s not serving us! In addition, the strategies that athletes use to dig deep are relevant to the greatest game of them all … the game of life.
When we’re looking to do something well, or successfully, mindset matters. Think about the last thing that felt high stakes - like a board meeting, presentation to your team, getting the kids to soccer practice after a 12-hour day - how did you prepare for it?
Here are a few performance tips from athletes that you can leverage at work or at home:
Pick a moment where you need to do your best: First, identify a moment where you absolutely need to bring your A-game. Examples are plentiful and personal. This could be anything from a spirited (and hopefully amicable) debate with your partner about the perfect color to paint the accent wall, to a killer game of Pickleball, Padel, or just plain old tennis, or perhaps the big moment of presenting at your next all-hands meeting. Recognizing these moments allows you to apply targeted strategies.
Establish a Pre-Performance Routine:
Explanation:Performance routines are not just for the pros; they are absolutely essential for everyone. When you consistently perform a set of actions before a high-stakes moment, these actions become powerful cues. They tell your brain, in no uncertain terms, "Hey! It's showtime. We're getting ready to perform." This consistent signal helps to settle nerves, sharpen focus, and prepare your mental state for optimal output. It's about creating a predictable pathway to your peak performance zone.
Example: Athletes typically have a pre-game routine to settle their nerves and focus their minds like playing a certain song before stepping out onto the field. The same goes for professionals - developing rituals when starting your workday (turning on brain.fm, making a cup of mint tea, lighting a scented candle…) before starting the workday or engaging in a significant task can get us in the right frame of mind. They also have these performance routines they do throughout a game (when they miss a goal, when there is a TV break, etc.)
Embrace Process Goals:
Explanation: When you’re engaging in a behavior, focus on attainable process goals (we know, boring!). These are things you need to repeatedly follow to achieve the end result and they are equally as important as outcomes goals. Why? Your brain needs a clear plan to repeatedly execute and optimize it! Further, it takes less cognitive energy every time you engage when you have a process.
Example: In the world of golf, a player doesn't just focus on sinking a birdie on the 18th hole. Instead, mastering the intricacies of the swing, the precise stance, the controlled follow-through—these are the process goals. They are factors a player can directly control, and their consistent execution leads to the desired outcome. For professionals in any field, having a clear process for how you set up and end your workday, how you prepare for and run a meeting, or even how you tackle a complex problem, is incredibly meaningful. It creates a framework that reduces mental fatigue and improves consistency.
Practice Visualization:
Explanation: Visualization is a huge topic in sports psychology and as defined by Pearson et al - is essentially seeing with the mind’s eye or hearing with the mind’s ear. That is, when visualizing you are having a visual sensory experience without the use of your eyes. In fact, research has shown that visualization recruits the same brain areas that actual seeing does. Visualization prepares you mentally for success, builds confidence and mitigates anxiety. Note that it’s HARD TO DO. This is normal.
Example: Top golfers often visualize their shots, imagining the trajectory, landing spot, and even the roll of the ball. You can visualize yourself rallying your team around a quarterly goal or having a conversation with your boss about a raise (you heard us)!
Building these habits is hard and takes practice. Athletes don’t just perform — they show up to practice again and again because growth takes work, support, and repetition. And when you're tired or stressed, sticking to these habits becomes even harder — and even more essential. So get ready to show up for yourself, just like you would on your version of gameday, whatever that looks like.
Just remember – while you may not feel like an athlete like Rory McIlroy, LeBron James, or Serena Williams on a daily basis, you can access their winning mindset more easily than you think!
