The Champion’s Mindset

Simon Boulter
Jul 21, 2017 · 13 min read

Every story needs a hero, a champion that overcomes the odds and achieves their own form of greatness. Not all champions wear gold medals or title belts, a champion is somebody who does whatever it takes to achieve their goal, to be the best that they can be. Most important of all a champion is someone who every time they fail and get knocked down, gets right back up and straight back to work. You don’t need to be the best in order to be a champion, you just need to become the best you, that you can possibly be.

Champions do not allow themselves to be stopped by intimidation, their self-belief and determination is too strong, they immediately replace negative thoughts with positive self-talk. They control their thoughts and emotional state under pressure. Champions love to train, improve and achieve.

Champion’s refuse to quit. They might sometimes lose, but they don’t quit. If a champion slips up then they realize that they are human, pick themselves up and move forwards, but they don’t quit. A champion might make a lot of mistakes, but they don’t quit. It is ok to be discouraged, it is not ok to quit. You might not always win, but that is life and we are all just human, but as long as you always learn from your mistakes, refuse to quit and never stop moving forward, then you cannot truly fail. Champions either win, or they learn. The truth is that all heroes feel fear, but they don’t allow that fear to stop them. Champions cannot accept not trying and they do not allow the heat of the moment to make them lose composure.

Champions don’t have to be told to get to work, they don’t waiver from their commitment, they don’t lose sight of their goal. When it’s time to do the work they work, when it’s time to perform they perform. Champions stop at nothing to get the result and achieve their goals. In sports, a champion is often measured by victories, medals, trophies and belts. In day to day life being a champion is a state of mind that gives you the strength to achieve your goals, remain calm under pressure and overcome adversity. A champion is so incredibly hungry to create their vision, that the work becomes irrelevant.

Cultivating a champion’s mindset is not reserved solely for great athletes, it is applicable to all of us. It is a state of mind seen in people from every walk of life, who aim to be the best that they can be and achieve their goals to become as strong, healthy, wealthy and wise as possible and become the champion of their own story. While the strategies in this book do apply to high level athletes, it is the mindset of these athletes that determined if they became a champion, not just their physical attributes or natural talents. You can apply this mindset to your life just as champions do in their sport, as long as you are willing to do the work. Champions don’t stop until they get what they want and then they set a new goal and keep going until they get what is next, even then they keep working for more. Champions are intensely driven and will do whatever it takes to reach their goals, because they have an insatiable addiction to success.

Champions are not content with good, they find an extra gear to become the best that they can be. A champion always thinks gold and never settles for silver in training and in daily life, meaning that they strive to give their very best effort in the process of improving every single day. A champion creates greatness, they make it happen, despite the odds that may be stacked against them. Champions delete the word ‘try’ from their vocabulary, because if they’re just trying then losing is still an option. When all hell breaks loose around them champions are calm on the inside, because they’re ready, they’re prepared, they’re the best that they can truly be. Other people might not understand the champion’s mindset and how driven you are, but they don’t have to. Champions don’t do what they do for other people, they do it for themselves and nobody else. The champion’s mindset is about achieving what you once thought to be impossible, we all have that ability. After all, everything is impossible, until somebody goes and does it.

Champions demonstrate grit, they have tenacity, they tenaciously work hard towards their goals, maintaining their enthusiasm and work ethic for years, even when experiencing failures, adversities and plateaus. Champions know how to deal with adversity, they stay focused and optimistic when faced with an obstacle. They’re resilient and persistent, they demonstrate perseverance when having to overcome an obstacle. Discouragement doesn’t derail their efforts, they simply develop new strategies to continue moving forward and achieve their goals. Rather than succumb to failure, they adjust their approach and continue to pursue their goal.

Champions are relentless in their pursuit to become the best version of themselves, to them nothing is good enough except their very best and that no matter the outcome, their very best is good enough. When the stakes are high they don’t let others carry the lead and hope things work out, they do everything possible to put themselves in a position to succeed and raise their own standards beyond all expectation. Being a champion means never being truly satisfied, they feel pride when they achieve their goals but never get complacent, as soon as one goal is complete they move straight on to the next one. They always dedicate time and energy to achieving their goals and dreams. They have courage, they’re willing to take risks to achieve their goals and reach their full potential.

They don’t strive to be good, they strive to be their very best. There is nothing wrong with being good, it’s better than being average, being good means you do well, you do your job and excel at it. Being good means that you work hard and accomplish difficult goals that you should proud of, but for champions ‘good’ just doesn’t cut it. Good doesn’t make you a champion, it doesn’t make you the best version of yourself, champions perform on a different level of work ethic. Proud but never satisfied, never content, never complacent, always pushing harder and higher, that’s a champion. They strive not just to perform well some of the time, but all of the time, again and again, even on their worst day.

Being a champion is not about talent, resources, connections, wealth or luck, it’s about resourcefulness and work ethic, doing whatever it takes to achieve your goal. Champions get results, not by coasting on their talent, but by spending hours working on their craft and improving their skills. Natural talent is given and only goes so far, skill however is earned by taking responsibility and doing the work. Being a true champion has little to do with talent, many people are naturally talented and are physically gifted, but it doesn’t always lead to success. Champions don’t reach their potential by coasting on their talent and doing the minimum amount of work required. They take charge and do whatever is necessary to reach their goal. Talent alone will not make you a champion, becoming a champion has little to do with genetics, it has nothing to do with what you’re born with or what you’re given. I think that we’re all born with seeds of greatness, but few of us every realise it, I believe what separates champions from everyone else is the way they think.

Their confidence is not some delusion of grandeur, it is based on actual evidence, they expect to succeed because they work so hard. When they succeed they celebrate briefly and enjoy the moment, then it is straight back to work because the is always more to do. Every achievement is a stepping stone toward the next goal, the moment they achieve one goal, they’re already planning the next one. A champion doesn’t allow the fear of failure to stop them, they don’t worry about hitting the floor and they don’t put a ceiling on their potential either. What separates them from other people, is that they are addicted to the thrill of succeeding and they crave the end result so intensely, that the work becomes irrelevant.

Champions believe in themselves, they’re convinced they’re going to win. I’m not saying that everyone who believes they will win actually will, but if you don’t think that you can win, then you have no chance of winning at all. When you’re convinced you’re going to win, then winning becomes a possibility, but when you don’t believe you can win, then that option is taken off the table. When you’re convinced that you’re going to succeed and you’re more committed to mental and physical training than your opponents, then winning becomes an option. Champions don’t just do a job, they excel at it, reinvent it, define it and exceed expectations. They own their craft, they own their potential, they own their game, they own their work, they own it. The single mother working two jobs to make sure that the bills are paid and the children are fed, she does whatever it takes to get the job done, she is a champion.

Champions do their job behind the scenes, doing thankless work, without applauding fans, without the glitz and glamour, they don’t do it for show. Champions do the work to succeed, not for the attention. No one has to see them work, the job just has to get done. A champion does more than anyone could ever expect of them, even when nobody is watching, even when nobody thanks them or congratulates them, even when nobody applauds them. They do it, because they have to succeed and the job has to get done. True champions don’t care about the bling, they care about admiration or applause, they care about getting the result.

Champions honour their commitments, they do more than what is expected of them, aim to achieve better results than expected and sooner than expected, and they expect no fanfare or pat on the back for it, because they’re doing their job. A champion has integrity, they’re trust worthy and they know that trust can be destroyed instantly. When things go wrong they take responsibility, they don’t blame others, but instead ask themselves what they could have done better. Champions bend the rules when they have to, but they don’t cheat. They don’t break the rules if it compromises their integrity and honour, because they serve as a role model for others. When everything goes wrong and everyone else is panicking, the champion is calm, collected and observant, their composure is unshakeable, their determination unwavering. A champion doesn’t view obstacles as problems, they see opportunities to improve, situations to resolve and they get on with it.

Champions are addicted to the thrill of success, once they taste it they crave it so intensely that failure is not an option, they do whatever it takes to succeed.

In sports, there are losers, competitors, winners and champions. They are defined not by their successes, but their effort and commitment, although they are closely linked. Losers make next to no effort, they might have some talent, but they don’t have any drive to work at all and because of that they never find any success. A competitor is there to take part, not to win. They are often followers and don’t have what it takes to be a leader. They might be good, but they never commit enough to become great and when the pressure is on they often wilt underneath it. They work hard but they don’t give their best, they usually do just the minimum amount of work required to get by. This is why they never achieve their own form of greatness, they might achieve some modest level of success but nowhere near what they are capable of if they were to truly commit. They don’t they have a compelling vision and a powerful enough reason to create it. The competitor who wastes his or her potential is an unfortunate but frequent story, not just in sports, but in life too and what makes it so sad is that they have the potential for so much more.

Winners on the other hand do as the name suggests, they win. They work hard, they do their job and find high levels of success. They prepare ahead of time, they train hard, study the competition and plan their strategies to overcome their opponents. People look up to the winners, because they get results. Champions however, operate on a completely different level, champions make the competition study them. They are calm under pressure and when it is time to perform their training kicks in and they flow in the zone consistently, they don’t have to think about it. They perform well almost as if they are on autopilot, because they have prepared so thoroughly that when it is time to perform they don’t have to think, the training takes over. Winners practice until they get it right, but champions practice until they can’t get it wrong, even on their worst day.

Competitors put in the work and make decent progress, losers don’t even try. Losers avoid hard work and pressure at all cost, competitors do the work but avoid pressure and look for the path of least resistance, winners will perform under pressure but it still makes them highly uncomfortable, champions just do the work and do their job no matter what.

Competitors often look for the approval and attention of others in order to feel successful, winners feel successful when they do a good job, champions never feel outright successful because the moment they achieve a goal there is always another one on the horizon. Champions don’t expect to be congratulated or told well done for doing their job, they do it because it is their job and they are expected to do it well. Everybody knows that the champion is in charge, their success speaks for itself as does their work ethic. Champions don’t need to be nudged to get to work, they don’t need to be told what to do, they just do it.

A loser essentially eats whatever they want, a competitor watches what they eat but cheats fairly often. A winner eats clean most of the time, but a champion is as meticulous about their nutrition as they are their training. A competitor might win the game if given the opportunity, a champion creates the opportunity and ceases it relentlessly. A champion doesn’t need a kick in the ass or a pep talk to stay motivated, even though everybody else usually does. When everyone else has had enough and decides to quit, champions keep going and push themselves harder. They focus, get into flow state, in the zone and press on. When everyone else on the team panics and hits the emergency button, they all look to the champion for help and advice.

While none of these observations are absolutes, they certainly ring true a great deal of the time and hopefully you have more insight into how champions think. You can build the beliefs, habits and traits of a champion and apply them to your fitness, sport and everyday life by consciously striving to develop them with hard work and determination, you don’t have to identify with all of them to be a champion, but I am sure some of them resonate with you. You can apply this mindset to your life just as champions do to their sport, as long as you are willing to do the work. There is no reason that you cannot learn to think this way, if you learn the strategies of the most successful people in the world. Find out how they learn, how they think, how they fail and succeed, discover what drives them to become champions. Learn their strategies and habits, apply them to what you do and level up your game.

While most people are not professional athletes, we can all still develop the mindset of a champion and learn to think like a champion. All of us can reach peak performance in our daily life by giving our best effort, staying professional in the face of adversity and approaching challenges like a champion. I believe that everyone has the ability to discover the power that is already inside and unleash that champion from within. If you’re reading this then you’re already motivated to improve, but you must continuously expand your knowledge, maximize your motivation and productivity, take massive action and get results. Everything that you need to become great is already inside of you, I believe that we all have something great inside, that we all have the potential to be the hero of our own story. You may not be able to play football, basketball, run, jump or fight like the world’s greatest athletes, but you can learn from their strategies, work ethic, relentless drive, goals and habits to develop a champion mindset of your own. Ask yourself how you can begin to think and act like a champion today, what more can you do right now, today, to help you reach your goals faster and cultivate your own champion’s mindset?

You must maintain your eagerness to learn, grow and improve and always stay a good student. Champions make the best of every situation, having a champion’s mindset means giving a gold medal effort, whether you’re at work, at school, in the gym or in the competitive arena. Will you sacrifice what you want in the short term and what is comfortable in the moment in order to achieve your goals? Will you remain consistent and committed to doing whatever it takes to get to where you want to be and become who you want to become? What is your dream goal, what does achieving excellence in your game look like to you, what does the best version of yourself look in your mind? Write that down and be as descriptive as possible, think about becoming that person when you’re training every day.

Are you arriving early for training, or always running late? Are you planning ahead and preparing for your training, or just winging it? Are you going the extra mile required to become great? You can either act like a champion and take the path less travelled, or you can remain comfortable and take the path of least resistance. Win the day, take advantage of the opportunities that each day brings, to be the best athlete that you can be. Excellence can only be achieved today, right now, not later, not tomorrow, because tomorrow never comes. The present moment, today, is the only chance that you have to win the day and begin achieving success. How are you getting better today, what will you achieve today, how are you taking one step closer towards your goal right now? Win the day, whether that means crushing your workout, staying mindful during skill training, being on top of your nutrition or giving your best effort in school or work.

When you wake up, ask yourself ‘how will I be a champion today?’ A champion turns up on time and on mind ready to work every day, so that they can consistently make progress and improve. Champions do what others don’t, so that tomorrow they can accomplish what others can’t.

)

Simon Boulter

Author, Fighter, Trainer, Nerd. Crazy Cat Lady.

Welcome to a place where words matter. On Medium, smart voices and original ideas take center stage - with no ads in sight. Watch
Follow all the topics you care about, and we’ll deliver the best stories for you to your homepage and inbox. Explore
Get unlimited access to the best stories on Medium — and support writers while you’re at it. Just $5/month. Upgrade