Now that the Winter Olympics are complete, it’s easy to forget about the years of preparation and the thousands of hours of practice that go into performing well on the world’s biggest stage. Check out these 5 principles from Dr. Colleen Hacker, who has served as the sports psychologist for six different Olympic teams, including this year’s gold medal-winning women’s ice hockey team. She also serves on Positive Coaching Alliance’s National Advisory Board.

According to Dr. Hacker, “The same principles and techniques that we cultivate to achieve excellence in the Olympic Games can be mastered and adopted by athletes and teams at any level and in any sport.”

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1. You don't have to finish first to be a winner. We challenge our athletes to carry themselves as champions regardless of the score or outcome, in practice and in competition. Athletes can exhibit integrity and positive character in all aspects of sports and in life. They don’t depend on winning to maintain confidence, a passion for playing and practicing, joy in being with their teammates and a commitment to becoming a better version of themselves as athletes, as teammates and as people.

2. Control the controllables. Each sport is comprised of four pillars: the technical components (the skills unique to that sport), the tactical components (team strategy, offense and defensive sets, etc.), the physiological components (strength, endurance, speed, flexibility, anaerobic power), and the psychological components (mental toughness, imagery, focus, confidence, action plans, etc.).

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Just like Olympians, athletes at every level should be actively practicing and targeting improvements in each of the four pillars on a daily basis. However, not all aspects of sport are completely under an athlete’s control. Athletes can’t control their opponents, the officials, the weather or the score (and countless other competitive variables), but they can control many factors.

Focusing on and targeting the variables that are under their control can help athletes improve, enjoy the process, maximize their potential and play like champions. So, when we ask athletes to “Control the Controllables,” we emphasize things like attitude, work rate, effort, their response to errors, bench behavior, good sporting behavior, being a good teammate, positive body language and productive actions to name a few.

​​​​​​​3. Understand the power of "new math," which we represent with the equation 1+1 = 3. We remind our team that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. We are stronger together. We challenge our athletes to “make a teammate look good,” to “play for something bigger than themselves,” to adopt a “team first” attitude and celebrate and recognize a range of important team behaviors much broader than simply talent on the ice.

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4. Play in the now! There are only three points in time; the past, the future and now. Only one of those time frames is under your control, and that is “playing in the now." It’s so easy to get caught up in the future: if we score, or don’t, if I make the team or don’t, if we win a gold medal or don’t, and on and on. Equally likely is the temptation to dwell on the past: thinking about a mistake you made, the “bad” call from the official or the time the coach corrected you in public. However, only when you focus on the now, the present, this moment, this play, this puck, this defensive stop, only then are you really in control as an athlete.

5.  Adopt a beginner's mindset. We challenge our athletes to expect to learn something new every day. When you expect to learn, you do! Have a spirit of openness and cultivate a growth mindset. Be coachable. Take responsibility to share knowledge and experience and insight as often as you ask for help, guidance and correction. Appreciate small improvements in any of the four pillars, and understand that big things come from the smallest changes. 

To read the full article click here, Adopting An Olympian’s Mindset.  Check out more from Colleen Hacker and others at dev.positivecoach.org.