5 Mindsets That Block Potential

After coaching top athletes and training to become one I have been studying why some people succeed and others don’t. I wondered if there were some fortunate people destined to reach their goals in sport and I was super worried I wasn’t one of them! I also wondered if luck had anything to do with why some of my team mates always seemed to be getting all the breaks. 

Here is what I found to be the top reasons some paddlers just don’t reach their potential:

• Undisciplined mindsets
• Investment attitudes 
• Misunderstood setbacks
• Acceptance of circumstances
• Undervalue challenges

Why these mindsets matter?

THEY STOP US FROM THINKING CONSTRUCTIVELY

Without thinking in certain ways, that lead us to our desires, we become the product of our “go to” habitual thinking. Scary when we realize that the things we are experiencing are what we thought!

In Alcoholics Anonymous they have a saying: Your best thinking got you here.

Essentially, we are all exactly where we are in our sport today as a result of our thinking. Good or bad, we thought ourselves where we are. The good news is that just becoming aware of this allows us to change it.

Now, if you are in disbelief from that statement you could be suffering from investment attitude. This mindset does whatever it can to validate that we are who we are and what we are, good or bad, positive or negative. And sometimes we even tell the story that led us to this place. This attitude is a sure fire way to block potential.

The thing is, if we are seeing this story and our situation as a result of circumstances we had no control over we fall into another mindset trap called acceptance of circumstances.

The problem with both those mindsets is they are a form of powerlessness. Feeling we have no control over who we are and what we aim to be based on our life situation deems us unable to move forward. But, we can stay here for years because to shift it means we have to take 100% accountability for our actions or non actions that created this situation. That is WORK!

HOW TO SHIFT A MINDSET

Yes, ultimately we are responsible. When we take full responsibility we access the power to change. If we don’t, we can hope and wish for other people or circumstances to change but we cannot control it. 

So, the first step in creating a mind of constructive thought that leads us to reaching our competitive goals is to take back our power and become aware that we can change. It starts with our mindset and the thinking that creates this fertile ground where our potential lives.