Who do you want to be, what do you want to do, and what do you have to do to achieve your dreams?
Bill Beswick is an English Sports Psychologist and former national basketball coach. In an interview with Jordan Mulligan, he talks about the difference between having a fighter’s mentality and a victim’s mentality and how we have to fight against our negative thoughts and fears to become the people we want to become.
He says the goal for every athlete, team, and coach he works with is to make them better people who can write their own stories in a better, more positive way by helping them overcome mental, physical, and emotional barriers.
How do you write your own story so you can become a fighter, not a victim?
Bill starts by saying there are 5 types of athletes:
1 - The athletes who just show up but don’t work hard and don't compete.
2 - The athletes who show up and work hard.
3 - The athletes who show up, work hard, and compete with themselves and others.
4 - The athletes who train to win. They train every session to win when it counts.
5 - The very few athletes who train to dominate - they train so hard that winning is inevitable.
Training to dominate every day is hard, and not many people are willing to do what it takes to be dominant. When asked what this looks like in real life for elite athletes, Bill said it looks like an everyday commitment to be great. He worked with a gold medal swimmer who trained every morning at 6 AM and every night at 6 PM, and before the swimmer walked into the gym, he said to himself, “Today, I will train like a champion.” Every time he trained, he gave it his all and trained to dominate.
This Olympic champion knew who he wanted to be and was willing to do what it took to become that person.
Who do you want to be?
When trying to figure out which type of athlete you want to be, Bill says you have to ask yourself 3 questions:
1 - What do you want?
2 - How badly do you want it?
3 - How much are you willing to suffer?
Bill says, "What do you want?" is a very powerful question that most people haven’t spent enough time trying to figure out, and when you figure out what you want, you then have to figure out how badly you want it. Most people waste their talent and never live up to their full potential because doing so is hard and requires both overcoming your fears and making sacrifices. If you are willing to sacrifice, Bill says you have to ask yourself, what are you willing to suffer to get and do what you want to get and do?
Finally, you have to have a fighter’s mindset, not a victim’s mindset.
Every morning, we wake up and have to make a decision: Am I going to be a fighter today, or am I going to play the victim?
Bill says: There are 1,000 excuses, but you only need one reason.
When you step into the challenge zone, the number of excuses for getting out and going back to your comfort zone multiplies. I’m too tired, it’s too hard, I don’t like running, or I’m not a morning person are some of the excuses that make us feel like victims, but fighters stand up to the excuses and refuse to be victims. Fighters acknowledge that while those excuses might be there, they never let the excuses stop them.
What is something you can say every morning to get yourself ready to perform, compete, and be a champion?
Every day, you have a choice. Are you going to train like a champion, or are you not?
Sometimes, we let character issues like fear or laziness hold us back. Bill says each person has two selves: your real self and your performer self, and sometimes we have to put on our performer mask to overcome negative feelings.
Kobe Bryant created the Mamba Mentality as an alter ego because he lost himself and had to organize his mind and thoughts so he would be mentally ready to perform at his best.
Kobe said, “There is a difference between who you are and what you are, and when he steps on the court, he becomes the stone-cold, killer snake.”
You can become whoever you want to become and do whatever you want to do if you are willing to put in the physical and mental work and make the sacrifices that success requires.
Step 1 - What kind of competitor are you going to be?
Step 2 - What do you want, how badly do you want it, and what are you willing to suffer?
Step 3 - Are you going to have a victim’s mindset that loses to the excuses, or are you going to have a fighter’s mindset where you fight back against the excuses?
The power is in your mind and the stories you tell yourself in the middle of the challenge.
Champions motivate themselves to do the work that leads to success in the arena. There is the physical element, the technical element, tactical intelligence, and the mental element - building the confidence and belief that you are a champion and you can do it.
Figure out who you want to be and what you want to do, figure out the mindset and habits required to become that, and have a fighter’s mindset - a mindset that is going to fight against the negative thoughts and feelings you have, the excuses that fly through your mind, and the obstacles in your way.
SOMETHING(s) TO THINK ABOUT
1 - What is your biggest takeaway from this post?
2 - Who do you want to be and what do you want to do?
3 - What is holding you back?
4 - What can you do this week to overcome those barriers?
For a printable PDF of this post, click here: Bill Beswick and The Fighter’s Mentality