COMPETITION MINDSET

Posted by Coach Excellence on June 23, 2017 in Competition, Mind Work | ∞

IS THE WALL THE PROBLEM?

I had the good fortune of attending a conference conducted by Carol Dwek a while ago, yet her concepts of how we approach our work and sport is still firmly lodged in my brain.

Carol talked about “mindset” when applied to athletes, coaches, staff, volunteers.

Her concept of Fixed or Growth mindset presented a number of interesting possibilities that I’m sure that all coaches and athletes can utilise.

FM = FIXED MINDSET
GM = GROWTH MINDSET

FM approach…Talent is fixed. nothing can be done to change that—you’ve either got it or not. “I can’t change things”

GM approach…Talent is a malleable quality: a potential that can be developed with effort.. “the harder I work, the more I’ll succeed”

THE MINDSET RULES…

FM ….. “LOOK TALENTED AT ALL COSTS, it should look to come naturally”
GM …. “LEARN, LEARN, LEARN, work hard, effort” EFFORT + TALENT = SUCCESS.

FIXED MINDSET – a guide	GROWTH MINDSET – a guide
Often hide mistakes, has no recipe for recovery from failure, easily give in or blames others	Capitalises on their mistake, works to learn from error, challenges themselves to grow
Likes to stay in their comfort zone and only practice the known	Looks for increasing challenges and level of difficulty
Failure = loss of confidence and humiliation. Won’t try again.	Failure = temporary setup
Often in self-denial…”it wasn’t me”	Attacks challenges and the unknown
Genius has expectations, which sometimes leads to extreme actions to save face.. eg cheating	Effort is very positive, uses strategic choice, chooses the difficult task, learns to improve
Fixed Mindset Coaches, Officials or athletes do not want feed back from others too much, as it may highlight an error	Happy to take feed-back on board, as a means of self-improvement and willing to share knowledge

Excellent questions when seeking to determine your personal mindset …ask…
“In your opinion, ability is ___% natural talent and ___% effort and practice”

“How did you get so good at ________”

These types of questions give an indication of mindset. Where do we get our mindset …language – what we believe and value. Remember that a Mindset can be changed over time.

FM praise… “Wow, you are good at this”
GM praise… “Wow, you’ve worked hard to get this process right”

The “MINDSET” approach—where is your mind and where do you sit? Is the wall to be gone over, around or through, or is all too hard. Hmmm more thinking to be done.

Enjoy the challenge
Tricia Van Nus