The mindset of an athlete is extremely complex. It’s a challenge to delve into it without getting lost in the traps of ego, talent, money, and fame. However, beneath the initial masks, we find a mixture of discipline, suffering, competition, fear of failure, fear of not being good enough, fear of losing one’s talent, and the opposite: fear of success, fear of being the best, fear of fame, but above all, fear of having no more challenges or dreams to conquer. The mindset of a high-performance athlete is always a race of obstacles and endurance; it’s an endless Tour de France, and the only one you want to be in that race is Louis Armstrong without drugs.
Being a high-performance athlete is not the same as being a fitness person. Living for a sport is completely different from doing a sport or exercise for fun, recreation, or to stay physically healthy. Athletes face cruel and devastating failures, such as losing national or international competitions or not looking any thinner or fatter in the Christmas photo. It’s about giving yourself over to the sport you love with passion and discipline, as if your body depended on it and you were born for it. Talent is secondary, something you may or may not have. However, if you have enough passion, you can be just as good as someone who is talented. It just takes more work, but it won’t be impossible.
It’s hours and hours in front of the net for tennis players, hours and hours in front of the ball for soccer players, and in front of the backboard for basketball players. Not pursuing or losing your lifelong dream due to injury means death for natural and innate athletes. It’s a failure that, if not handled correctly, can mark them for life and ruin their entire careers. They’re never the same again; they’re not the same father, the same son, the same husband. Knowing how to face defeat is a quality that only the best athletes and high-ranking sportspeople know how to possess.
No one teaches you what to do when you lose, or worse, when you’re beaten. The real problem isn’t losing millions or fighting against someone else, but when you’ve lost the battle against yourself. You feel disgusted, ashamed, and self-pity. You don’t feel worthy of any recognition, and second place doesn’t fulfill you. It’s a frustration and anger that fuse within you and prevent you from seeing everything you’ve earned and everything you’ve already achieved. Defeat is a life lesson that not everyone accepts in order to grow, and it causes serious problems in their performance, confidence, and personal life.
Therefore, I recommend the following:
Attend a therapeutic process that focuses solely on what you need to face.
Continue training and preparing, but this time with greater passion and soul in what you are doing.
Accompany yourself and allow yourself to be supported by those who motivate and inspire you.
Face defeat as a life lesson, not as an athlete.
Be a complete athlete, have a disciplinary team (physio, nutritionist, and psychologist), as this helps avoid failures and possible injuries that could prevent you from reaching your full potential.
