The tenth and final Essential is learning to Focus and Refocus. Focus is having your brain paying full attention to the aspects that are important to your performance in that moment. In some sports, this focus is on one particular component that is mainly internal, such as driving out of the blocks at the start of the race. For other sports, there are a lot of external components that have to be simultaneously analyzed, like when a quarterback is finding an open receiver. What is the same in each situation is the need to focus the brain on what is important and push out the distractions that pull away from those components.

The ninth Essential is learning to Maintain a Growth Mindset. A growth mindset is one of two mindsets coined by Dr. Carol Dweck (the other is a fixed mindset). These mindsets describe ways that people view the qualities that we possess, the failures that we experience, and the role of effort. Adding in one three-letter word helps you shift from a fixed mindset to a growth mindset.

The eighth Essential is learning to Maintain Confidence. By far, this is one of the most common challenges that athletes mention when I work with them. There is this belief that confidence is necessary for athletes to achieve all that they are capable of in their sport. While I’m not convinced that it is necessary, having confidence certainly makes it easier for athletes to accomplish their goals and achieve high levels of success. When the doubt starts to creep in, all you need is one simple shift to create big results.

The seventh Essential is learning to Handle Adversity. Adversity is actually one of the things that makes us love sport! It’s always thrilling to watch or be the athlete that overcomes adversity, or makes a comeback. It’s why we always cheer on the Cinderella story in sport. The greatest athletes are not the ones that never fail, they are the ones that recover the fastest.

The sixth Essential is learning to Adjust and Be Flexible. No matter the sport, every athlete has a game plan, a strategy for how they are going to approach their competition so that they can achieve their goals. Just like you have a game plan for what you are going to do on the field or court, you need to have a mental plan for how you are going to deal with the mental challenges that may come up.

The fifth Essential is learning to Manage Emotions. There is a specific reason as to why you need to MANAGE them instead of CONTROL them. Emotions are a good, healthy, and natural part of life. It’s what makes you human! The challenge comes when you experience an emotion that is too big and impacts your ability to perform in the way that you want.