you may think this gold medal is the
most important part of my Olympic
journey and sure it’s great but to me
the most important part was and still is
developing the mindset that gave me the
best chance to win this medal to develop
such a mindset that can help us perform
consistently at the highest levels we
first have to understand how powerful
our beliefs are for driving our habits
and actions research continues to show
that to build sustainable change
addressing our habits is not very
effective addressing habits does not
address our underlying mindset and so
that change is temporary if you want
proof of this raise your hand if you are
still pursuing your New Year’s
resolution instead the key is to
understand that our core beliefs are the
primary driving force behind our
behaviors as you might imagine we can
develop beliefs that empower us and
promote qualities like confidence and
grit however we can also develop beliefs
that lead to self-imposed limitations
such as fear of failure and entitlement
our core beliefs are the driving force
behind our behavior because they dictate
what we prioritize value focus on and in
general experience all of these elements
combined determine our everyday actions
ok this sounds interesting but how does
it really work here’s an example I go
out to you with one of my friends pretty
often and I noticed he always finished
his meal before me one day I asked him
why do you eat so fast
and he said in my family those who eat
fastest eat most his core belief of eat
fast or go hungry led him to the
behavior of eating really fast
and the occasional stomach ache my
friends eating habits show how even a
simple belief can have such a profound
impact on our everyday performances as
an athlete this begs the question what
is the most fundamental belief
impacting our ability to perform as it
turns out Stanford professor dr. Carol
Dweck has been studying this very
question
she found that perhaps most impactful
beliefs affecting our ability to perform
our beliefs about one’s own talent
specifically she observed two mindsets
stemming from differing beliefs about
talent that lead to radically different
experiences and behaviors fixed and
growth mindset in a fixed mindset we
believe that talent is a fixed trait
that it cannot be changed you either
have the talent required or you don’t
someone who believes this would likely
agree with the same and like some people
are just natural in a growth mindset we
believe that talent is a quality that
can be developed through effort someone
who believes this would agree with the
statement like no matter who you are you
can get better in a fixed mindset we are
training and competing under the belief
that either I am NOT talented or I am
talented if we believe I am NOT talented
well it’s likely to become a
self-fulfilling prophecy
most people who believe they don’t have
the talent in a certain area give
inconsistent effort and give up easily
because when we conclude we don’t have
the talent it’s easy to conclude there’s
little point in trying the belief I am
talented is it decidedly more positive
believe but can be just as dangerous
every time we go to compete or face a
challenge it becomes a direct threat to
our identity our label of talented is
threatened every time we appear to
ourselves or others as not talented
instead of prioritizing learning we
start prioritizing looking good
and above all avoiding looking bad this
avoidance approach to challenges is a
direct path to a fear of failure
conversely in a growth mindset our level
of talent can change that’s kind of a
scary thought we can have talent and one
day have
talent but we can also increase our
level of talent through effort this
means that the primary ingredient to
progress is effort rather than passive
resignation when I came to college two
and a half years ago I had never heard
of fixed in growth mindset I started
working with the WVU rifle teams
performance consultant and my personal
mentor dr. Raymond Pryor he began
teaching me about these two mindsets and
how they could potentially impact my
performances and experience at first it
was all very conceptual and definitions
but as I began applying what I was
learning I felt an immediate impact on
my performance and experience in March
of 2016 as a freshman I competed in the
n-c-double-a rifle championships now you
have to understand championships are one
of the most challenging matches of the
entire year it is a two-day team
competition surrounded by expectations
and distractions after two days of focus
effort with my team we won the
championship and I became the first-ever
freshman to win both individual titles
with these titles came more awards more
bling and more attention than I had ever
before received in my life but after
experiencing the highs of a great
success I crashed only a day after
Championships I thought to myself if
great outcomes only make us feel happy
for a short amount of time why are we
all chasing these outcomes believing
they will make us happy forever this is
like the first time you realize money
can’t buy happiness
this proved to be a very important
moment in my life as I learned that
outcomes alone cannot lead to sustained
fulfillment they have a short shelf life
and when we spend all of our time and
energy chasing these outcomes when we
achieve them we often find that
achievement isn’t nearly as rewarding as
the chase itself that day I learned that
no matter what medals I want in my
career
the pursuit would always be more
important to me
okay at this point we are three weeks
away from Olympic Trials and I went into
trials as a bit of an underdog
I just come off this successful NCAA
championship but there are so many
others great shooters in the country
knowing this I decided my mindset going
into the trials would be a growth
mindset one that prioritizes learning
above all I thought if I just learn as
much as I can during this competition
I’ll be really prepared for tough
moments later down the line after the
first of two of three days I was in the
lead and I realized I was in a position
to win what this realisation threatened
to do was have me fall back into my
fixed mindset and place my focus on the
outcome at the end of the match a
potential spot on the Olympic team I
knew that if I let my focus drift and
became emotionally attached to that
outcome I probably was not going to
shoot how I wanted to on the final day I
could even potentially set myself up to
experience the same crash I had just one
month before by believing that the
outcome good or bad would have a
permanent impact on my fulfillment so I
embraced the challenge of keeping my
growth mindset reminding myself that
whether I won or lost was not directly
within my control in fact the only
things I could control were what my
mindset would be and where and when I
chose to focus my effort the next day I
won Olympic Trials and was named to the
2016 United States Olympic team I spent
the next few months traveling around the
world and preparing to compete in Rio by
the end of the summer I arrived at the
Olympics confident and excited what I
found when I arrived was that the
Olympics are very results-oriented
and as distracting as they are
publicized but I was ready for this
I knew that my commitment to a growth
mindset had helped me reach this point
and I was prepared to maintain that
commitment on the first day of
competition I had my air rifle match and
about halfway through I was shooting
okay
but not great because I was partially
focused on whether I would have a chance
to medal this was distracting me because
meddling had nothing to do with taking
my next best shot as best I could so I
came off the line a little bit
frustrated and I went to the national
coach he told me Jenny just do the best
you can that’s all you can do when he
said this I remembered how hard it is to
perform at the highest level when your
mind is in the future wondering if you
will have a chance at the podium this
simple sentiment was exactly what I
needed to bring my focus back to the
present moment and to taking my next
shot as best I could with my focus
redirected toward the process instead of
the outcome I went back to the firing
line without the fear of failing and on
the very first day of competition a 19
year old underdog from the United States
won the first gold medal of the Rio
Olympics thank you after experiencing a
whirlwind of success in less than a year
most people only saw medals and scores
what they didn’t see was that every day
that year I worked to upgrade my mindset
by changing the beliefs about the
development of my own talent through
daily journaling hard work and delayed
gratification
I came to better understand the truth
about effort and the real value of
emotionally detaching from results and
outcomes all of this allowed me to
commit to mastery of my craft not just
that day but every day being the person
I want to become someone who is a fierce
competitor but also a genuinely good
person became much more challenging
after the Olympics my circumstances had
changed dramatically I felt people
valued me for something I did on one day
instead of who I was my first response
to realizing life after Olympic gold
would not be a fairy tale was to wish it
was easier and to return to my comfort
zone I came to recognize that the
realization from my post NCAA crash held
true for the Olympics I had spent a long
time chasing this very medal but the
metal alone does not define or fulfill
me after the Olympics I thought I had
found the perfect mindset because I had
achieved the ultimate outcome in my
sport however the reality is that who we
are and the circumstances we are in are
constantly evolving and so our mindset
must allow for our talents to evolve as
well my post games experience highlights
the fundamental reason a growth mindset
works sport life academics and business
are innately challenging no one goes
through any extended period of time
without making mistakes suffering
setbacks and failing but when we have a
growth mindset during these times we are
willing and prepared to apply effort
despite the challenges in sport there’s
always an end game like that medal well
when it comes to developing your mindset
there is no end game this means that by
prioritizing learning there is no limit
to the personal growth we can achieve on
our journey to build a high-performance mindset thank you
most important part of my Olympic
journey and sure it’s great but to me
the most important part was and still is
developing the mindset that gave me the
best chance to win this medal to develop
such a mindset that can help us perform
consistently at the highest levels we
first have to understand how powerful
our beliefs are for driving our habits
and actions research continues to show
that to build sustainable change
addressing our habits is not very
effective addressing habits does not
address our underlying mindset and so
that change is temporary if you want
proof of this raise your hand if you are
still pursuing your New Year’s
resolution instead the key is to
understand that our core beliefs are the
primary driving force behind our
behaviors as you might imagine we can
develop beliefs that empower us and
promote qualities like confidence and
grit however we can also develop beliefs
that lead to self-imposed limitations
such as fear of failure and entitlement
our core beliefs are the driving force
behind our behavior because they dictate
what we prioritize value focus on and in
general experience all of these elements
combined determine our everyday actions
ok this sounds interesting but how does
it really work here’s an example I go
out to you with one of my friends pretty
often and I noticed he always finished
his meal before me one day I asked him
why do you eat so fast
and he said in my family those who eat
fastest eat most his core belief of eat
fast or go hungry led him to the
behavior of eating really fast
and the occasional stomach ache my
friends eating habits show how even a
simple belief can have such a profound
impact on our everyday performances as
an athlete this begs the question what
is the most fundamental belief
impacting our ability to perform as it
turns out Stanford professor dr. Carol
Dweck has been studying this very
question
she found that perhaps most impactful
beliefs affecting our ability to perform
our beliefs about one’s own talent
specifically she observed two mindsets
stemming from differing beliefs about
talent that lead to radically different
experiences and behaviors fixed and
growth mindset in a fixed mindset we
believe that talent is a fixed trait
that it cannot be changed you either
have the talent required or you don’t
someone who believes this would likely
agree with the same and like some people
are just natural in a growth mindset we
believe that talent is a quality that
can be developed through effort someone
who believes this would agree with the
statement like no matter who you are you
can get better in a fixed mindset we are
training and competing under the belief
that either I am NOT talented or I am
talented if we believe I am NOT talented
well it’s likely to become a
self-fulfilling prophecy
most people who believe they don’t have
the talent in a certain area give
inconsistent effort and give up easily
because when we conclude we don’t have
the talent it’s easy to conclude there’s
little point in trying the belief I am
talented is it decidedly more positive
believe but can be just as dangerous
every time we go to compete or face a
challenge it becomes a direct threat to
our identity our label of talented is
threatened every time we appear to
ourselves or others as not talented
instead of prioritizing learning we
start prioritizing looking good
and above all avoiding looking bad this
avoidance approach to challenges is a
direct path to a fear of failure
conversely in a growth mindset our level
of talent can change that’s kind of a
scary thought we can have talent and one
day have
talent but we can also increase our
level of talent through effort this
means that the primary ingredient to
progress is effort rather than passive
resignation when I came to college two
and a half years ago I had never heard
of fixed in growth mindset I started
working with the WVU rifle teams
performance consultant and my personal
mentor dr. Raymond Pryor he began
teaching me about these two mindsets and
how they could potentially impact my
performances and experience at first it
was all very conceptual and definitions
but as I began applying what I was
learning I felt an immediate impact on
my performance and experience in March
of 2016 as a freshman I competed in the
n-c-double-a rifle championships now you
have to understand championships are one
of the most challenging matches of the
entire year it is a two-day team
competition surrounded by expectations
and distractions after two days of focus
effort with my team we won the
championship and I became the first-ever
freshman to win both individual titles
with these titles came more awards more
bling and more attention than I had ever
before received in my life but after
experiencing the highs of a great
success I crashed only a day after
Championships I thought to myself if
great outcomes only make us feel happy
for a short amount of time why are we
all chasing these outcomes believing
they will make us happy forever this is
like the first time you realize money
can’t buy happiness
this proved to be a very important
moment in my life as I learned that
outcomes alone cannot lead to sustained
fulfillment they have a short shelf life
and when we spend all of our time and
energy chasing these outcomes when we
achieve them we often find that
achievement isn’t nearly as rewarding as
the chase itself that day I learned that
no matter what medals I want in my
career
the pursuit would always be more
important to me
okay at this point we are three weeks
away from Olympic Trials and I went into
trials as a bit of an underdog
I just come off this successful NCAA
championship but there are so many
others great shooters in the country
knowing this I decided my mindset going
into the trials would be a growth
mindset one that prioritizes learning
above all I thought if I just learn as
much as I can during this competition
I’ll be really prepared for tough
moments later down the line after the
first of two of three days I was in the
lead and I realized I was in a position
to win what this realisation threatened
to do was have me fall back into my
fixed mindset and place my focus on the
outcome at the end of the match a
potential spot on the Olympic team I
knew that if I let my focus drift and
became emotionally attached to that
outcome I probably was not going to
shoot how I wanted to on the final day I
could even potentially set myself up to
experience the same crash I had just one
month before by believing that the
outcome good or bad would have a
permanent impact on my fulfillment so I
embraced the challenge of keeping my
growth mindset reminding myself that
whether I won or lost was not directly
within my control in fact the only
things I could control were what my
mindset would be and where and when I
chose to focus my effort the next day I
won Olympic Trials and was named to the
2016 United States Olympic team I spent
the next few months traveling around the
world and preparing to compete in Rio by
the end of the summer I arrived at the
Olympics confident and excited what I
found when I arrived was that the
Olympics are very results-oriented
and as distracting as they are
publicized but I was ready for this
I knew that my commitment to a growth
mindset had helped me reach this point
and I was prepared to maintain that
commitment on the first day of
competition I had my air rifle match and
about halfway through I was shooting
okay
but not great because I was partially
focused on whether I would have a chance
to medal this was distracting me because
meddling had nothing to do with taking
my next best shot as best I could so I
came off the line a little bit
frustrated and I went to the national
coach he told me Jenny just do the best
you can that’s all you can do when he
said this I remembered how hard it is to
perform at the highest level when your
mind is in the future wondering if you
will have a chance at the podium this
simple sentiment was exactly what I
needed to bring my focus back to the
present moment and to taking my next
shot as best I could with my focus
redirected toward the process instead of
the outcome I went back to the firing
line without the fear of failing and on
the very first day of competition a 19
year old underdog from the United States
won the first gold medal of the Rio
Olympics thank you after experiencing a
whirlwind of success in less than a year
most people only saw medals and scores
what they didn’t see was that every day
that year I worked to upgrade my mindset
by changing the beliefs about the
development of my own talent through
daily journaling hard work and delayed
gratification
I came to better understand the truth
about effort and the real value of
emotionally detaching from results and
outcomes all of this allowed me to
commit to mastery of my craft not just
that day but every day being the person
I want to become someone who is a fierce
competitor but also a genuinely good
person became much more challenging
after the Olympics my circumstances had
changed dramatically I felt people
valued me for something I did on one day
instead of who I was my first response
to realizing life after Olympic gold
would not be a fairy tale was to wish it
was easier and to return to my comfort
zone I came to recognize that the
realization from my post NCAA crash held
true for the Olympics I had spent a long
time chasing this very medal but the
metal alone does not define or fulfill
me after the Olympics I thought I had
found the perfect mindset because I had
achieved the ultimate outcome in my
sport however the reality is that who we
are and the circumstances we are in are
constantly evolving and so our mindset
must allow for our talents to evolve as
well my post games experience highlights
the fundamental reason a growth mindset
works sport life academics and business
are innately challenging no one goes
through any extended period of time
without making mistakes suffering
setbacks and failing but when we have a
growth mindset during these times we are
willing and prepared to apply effort
despite the challenges in sport there’s
always an end game like that medal well
when it comes to developing your mindset
there is no end game this means that by
prioritizing learning there is no limit
to the personal growth we can achieve on
our journey to build a high-performance mindset thank you
Please follow and like us: