Mind of an athlete: Part 1
(Based off Jarrod Spencer’s book : Mind of the athlete : Clearer mind, better performance)
Part 1 : What does the inside of an untrained mind look like?
Part 2 : How do athletes train their minds to better perform under pressure?
Part 3 : How different would our days be if we prepared our mind for life the same way athletes prepare for performance?
The athletes mindset isn’t only for the gym but for school, work, habits, everything. But lets start with sports.
Here’s the first truth, 90% of sport is mental.
When it comes to competition and performance, the mental part outweighs the physical one. The true difference between two athletes or two teams does not fully depend on the size, the strength or the physical ability, but most importantly on the development of the mind. Jarrod Spencer explains that you can’t really know someone until you compete against them. Four time Super Bowl champion Matt Millien says “the beginning of wisdom is knowledge and the beginning of knowledge is awareness”. Many athletes fail to reach their full potential not because of their bodies, but because of the limitations of their minds. To be aware of your anxiety, fear, doubt, depression before or during any performances/competitions is the first step towards reaching your full potential. These emotions are not weaknesses but natural signals. To work through them in a positive and proactive way is how you can develop real strength.
*A lot of athletes fall short of their potential simply because their emotional development doesn’t match their physical training, but also because the emotional side of sports is still underdeveloped and not deeply talked about.
“Have your mind work with you not against you” – Jarrod Spencer
In his book, Jarrod Spencer focuses on the principle that we use 10% of our conscious mind and the other 90% is subconscious. For anyone who has ever competed, whether it was the finals of a hockey tournament, your first soccer game, or even a regular-season match against your biggest rival, you’ve likely felt this firsthand. Think of a moment where you truly wanted to win but anxiety or fear took over.
Here’s a clear example of how your mind can override your body during competition or performance, in 10 simple steps:
- Fatigue begins to set in
- Your mind begins to break down
- Psychological defenses become compromised
- You start to lose the ability to manage any negative thoughts or feelings
- First mental mistake happens
- Your emotional energy begins to drop
- Momentum shifts against you
- This is the thin line between a well trained mind and an untrained one
- Without a trained mind, your athletic performance begins to deteriorate
- Your mind/thoughts begin to unravel
- Frustration sets in, you become more careless, there are too many stressors to deal with now and you give up.
- Your mind wins, but against your potential.
This spiral shows exactly why mental training is just as important as physical training. The body can be in top shape, but if the mind isn’t prepared for pressure, emotion, or adversity, performance unravels from the inside out. A trained mind recognizes the early signs of this breakdown, the fatigue, the doubt, the shift in momentum, and knows how to respond instead of collapse. That’s the real difference.
“Learn to control your emotions or they will control you” – Edgar Martinez
Now if the conscious mind is only 10% of our mental capacity, it means that 90% of what shapes our reactions, emotions, and performance happens below the surface, in the subconscious.
Let me explain what the subconscious is in simple terms. Firstly, it consists of 3 parts :
The unconscious mind :
The unconscious mind is the deepest layer of your mental system.
It holds past experiences, emotions, and memories that were too overwhelming, too stressful, or simply not necessary for your everyday functioning. Much of what sits here developed in early childhood, especially within the first five years of your life.
The exconscious mind :
This is the middle layer of your subconscious. It’s where outdated or less useful memories are stored. Sometimes seeing a picture, smelling a scent or hearing a song can help you recall these memories. It’s holding information that isn’t gone, just stored away until something calls it forward.
The preconscious mind :
This one we will explore a little further. Jarrod Spencer explains this part of the mind as “memories that you can recall easily but are outside of your immediate awareness”. The main difference between the conscious and the preconscious mind is that the conscious mind holds what you are aware of right now. Things that require your immediate attention. On the other hand, the preconscious holds all the things that happen to you that you are not currently dealing with. Mental clutter. Performance wise, the clearer your preconscious mind is, the better your performance becomes.
But why is that? How can a clear preconscious mind improve performance?
Let’s talk facts first. Dr. Spencer mentions that when your preconscious mind is less cluttered, your productivity increases, your focus is sharper, your energy level is heightened, and your mood becomes more consistent and positive. For example, think of how you feel after taking some time off or after having a full night sleep. Rested, lighter and clearer. When your conscious mind is at rest, you’re finally allowing your preconscious to declutter. For many athletes, the preconscious mind is flooded.
And when the pressure hits, competition, performance, or any big moment,the preconscious pushes all that clutter upward… and the mind becomes overwhelmed.
This brings us to the end of Part 1.
In Part 2, we’ll explore how a flooded preconscious mind impacts performance, and more importantly, how athletes train their minds to stay clear, focused, and emotionally steady under pressure.
What we’ll explore in part 2 :
- What a flooded mind actually looks like
- Why trained minds respond differently under pressure
- Why and how some athletes stay calm under pressure while others collapse
- Some tools athletes use to clear their minds before competing/performing
With sincerity, Camelia