The 7 C's of Mental Toughness (Part 1 of 3) Excerpts from "The Mind Gym" by Gary Mack
“The most important attribute a player must have is mental toughness.” – Mia Hamm
Mental toughness: 7 defining characteristics: “They are a set of behaviors and beliefs about yourself, your work, your sport, and how you interact. A person who is mentally tough looks at competition as a challenge to rise up to rather than a threat to back down from.” (p25)
1. Competitive“Competitors take bad breaks and use them to drive themselves just that much harder. Quitters take bad breaks and use them as reasons to give up.” – Nancy Lopez
This quote speaks volumes and needs no further elaboration. Read it again. We will ALL catch bad breaks from time to time...use them as fuel, not excuses.
2. Confident“You get what the mind sets.” (Mind Gym – p11)
Whenever an elite athlete takes to the field/track/arena/etc., they have confidence that victory awaits. This applies at the macro level (expectation to win the championship), the micro (expectation to hit the shot) and in-between (expectation to win the game). Apply this to yourself and your goals.
Positive expectations and visualization will naturally extend into positive results. Have strong thoughts. I'm positively certain that there is power in positivity!
To be continued next week...this blog is intentionally short to allow us to take just a couple of these "Vitamin C's" each week, reflect upon them thoughtfully and then apply them to our own personal goals throughout the week...stay tuned for next week's "Vitamin C's" for Mental Toughness.
“The most important attribute a player must have is mental toughness.” – Mia Hamm
Mental toughness: 7 defining characteristics: “They are a set of behaviors and beliefs about yourself, your work, your sport, and how you interact. A person who is mentally tough looks at competition as a challenge to rise up to rather than a threat to back down from.” (p25)
1. Competitive“Competitors take bad breaks and use them to drive themselves just that much harder. Quitters take bad breaks and use them as reasons to give up.” – Nancy Lopez
This quote speaks volumes and needs no further elaboration. Read it again. We will ALL catch bad breaks from time to time...use them as fuel, not excuses.
2. Confident“You get what the mind sets.” (Mind Gym – p11)
Whenever an elite athlete takes to the field/track/arena/etc., they have confidence that victory awaits. This applies at the macro level (expectation to win the championship), the micro (expectation to hit the shot) and in-between (expectation to win the game). Apply this to yourself and your goals.
Positive expectations and visualization will naturally extend into positive results. Have strong thoughts. I'm positively certain that there is power in positivity!
To be continued next week...this blog is intentionally short to allow us to take just a couple of these "Vitamin C's" each week, reflect upon them thoughtfully and then apply them to our own personal goals throughout the week...stay tuned for next week's "Vitamin C's" for Mental Toughness.
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