Feeling Olympic Insignificance? Success Tips for the Rest of Us

It’s easy to watch world-class performers, like those who participated in the Sochi 2014 Olympic Games, with wonder. How did they get to be so good?

They were born with natural talent, or they worked long hours to be the best. Maybe it’s a little of both.

The point is that what you believe can dramatically influence your results in business, sports, the arts — and life in general.

‘Fixed’ Is Only Good for Mortgages

Growing up, I thought I was naturally smarter and more talented than my classmates. By college, my standout achievements had faded. Maybe I wasn’t so intelligent after all.

I’d adopted a fixed mindset, an outlook examined in Dr. Carol Dweck’s book, “Mindset: The New Psychology of Success”. This way of thinking maintained that I was naturally talented and my abilities were static — leading to self-perceived limitations.

The Secret to Growth

Heading to hockey one day, a friend said something that stuck with me. I anxiously explained that I’d performed my pre-game ritual incorrectly; we were doomed to lose. His response was simple: “Do you really think that the way you tape your stick or pack your equipment makes you a better or worse hockey player?”

I owed my success to pre-game rituals, the stars’ alignment, and my place in line when God handed out hockey skills.

By contrast, my friend believed he could cultivate talent. As a player, he didn’t have the best hands, but he improved each year. He wasn’t the most gifted problem solver, but he developed study habits to consistently finish at the top of the class. I knew more naturally charismatic individuals, yet he was elected class president.

He knew that, like a muscle, his talent could be strengthened with training. Dr. Dweck calls this the growth mindset.

The Reason Most People Don’t Get to 10,000 Hours

Most are familiar with the 10,000-hour rule: Regardless of your innate aptitude, you must spend 10,000 hours doing an activity to master it. Many studies support this belief.

What leads elite performers (like Olympians) to practice? Unless you believe you can improve, you won’t notch 10,000 hours. Your beliefs about the elasticity of your talents will determine how you respond to setbacks and success.

Many parents and teachers understand this. As this study shows (http://www.uky.edu/~eushe2/mrg/MuellerDweck1998.pdf), when you praise a child’s effort, he’s more likely to persist and enjoy being challenged than when you praise his intelligence. A growth mindset leads to resiliency, leading to more deliberate practice, leading to mastery.

A growth mindset not only gives a person the confidence to continue strengthening his skills, but it also pushes him to keep learning and expect success as a long-term result, not a short-term one. This mentality enables its owner to see challenges as fun and to view each ho-hum outcome as a learning opportunity. A focus on growth means one will try to overcome setbacks, work hard, and accept feedback openly, knowing that success is a marathon, not a sprint.

A fixed mindset, of course, does just the opposite — it feeds a person’s belief that if he’s not already good at something, he doesn't have the capacity to get better. It pushes him to seek the path of least resistance, which will enable him to look the best in front of others. It also lets him default to thinking of himself as “average” or “failing” if he encounters average or failing results. He sees success as a direct result of being naturally talented, rather than hard work leading to talent. Feedback is pointless because he’s already as good as he’ll ever be.

Putting It Together

You don’t have a fixed mindset or a growth mindset. It’s a spectrum; for some things — like creativity — you might see your talents as malleable. For other things, like sports, you might see your talents as fixed. That’s okay, especially if you have no interest in becoming an Olympian.

Regardless of what you do want to achieve, fixed beliefs are likely holding you back. Perhaps someone said you weren't smart. Maybe you believe you’re lazy. The belief that’s holding you back is just that: a belief. You can change it.

Adopting a Growth Mindset

To adopt a growth mindset, challenge your fixed beliefs. In one area of your life, list one or two static beliefs, then think of ways to convert them:

- Career (I’m bad at managing people vs. I can learn to be a better communicator)
- Relationships (I’m bad at small talk vs. I’m really curious and can ask lots of questions)
- Money (I have expensive taste vs. I work hard to pay for the luxuries I want)
- Health (I don’t have the willpower to exercise vs. I try a little bit every day)

Consider hiring a life coach who’s trained to help people identify limiting beliefs, create strategies to overcome them, and become Olympians in their personal and professional lives.

A growth mindset enables you to put in the effort to become masterful and to enjoy the challenge of deliberate practice. Maybe we were all born to be Olympic athletes — but without a growth mindset, we’ll never grind it out to find out!