The Ideal Competitive Mindset
“Elite athletes know how to prepare themselves to compete at the outer fringes of their abilities.”
SARAH SOMMER
One of my heroes is Dr. Michael Gervais. Gervais is a high-performance psychologist who works with some of the best in the world, training the mindset, skills, and practices essential to pursuing excellence. His clients include world record holders, Olympians, internationally acclaimed artists and musicians, MVPs from every major sport, and Fortune 100 CEOs.
A while back I was listening to Gervais on Tim Ferris’ Podcast and he asked the question…
What is your ideal competitive mindset?
The ideal competitive mindset is the mindset you are in when you are at your best. It is a snapshot of your mood when you are mentally and physically at your peak. Gervais uses this when coaching fighters. The strategy is to help these athletes identify their ICMs so they are able to fire them at will thus giving them the ability to compete at their highest capability.
He went on to share these questions he uses to illicit his athletes ideal competitive mindsets…
What is it like inside of you when you’re at your best?
What does it feel like?
How do you use your body?
What are you focused on?
What language do you use both inside and outside?
How do you describe the experience of being totally tuned in?
So what is your ideal competitive mindset? What is it like to be at your best? Can you fire your ICM at will? What advantages would this give you when you are about to lead generate, meet with super talent, or rock an awesome appointment? Would having the ingredients and recipe to your most powerful self give you a leg up over the competition? Do this work. Do the work of the elite.
