How to Have a Shooter's Mentality as an Athlete
The CEP Mindset Podcast
In this episode of The CEP Mindset Show, Cassidy, Nick, and Adam break down why so many athletes misinterpret what it means to be selfish. The episode covers why athletes in slumps need permission to be selfish, the difference between true selflessness and fear, and why every athlete needs a shooter's mentality.
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The Pre-Game Mistakes Every Athlete Makes
The CEP Mindset Podcast
In this episode of The CEP Mindset Show, Cassidy, Nick, and Adam share where athletes go wrong in their pre-game routine - and it's not because you're not doing enough. The episode covers the difference between superstitions and routines, why forcing positivity before a game is one of the most common mental mistakes athletes make, the fan mentality versus the player mentality, and why the perfect routine is actually an imperfect one.
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Hard Work Is Just The Entry Fee
The CEP Mindset Podcast
In this episode of The CEP Mindset Show, Nick and Adam cover why hard work is just the entry cost at the elite level, the five anchors every athlete needs to develop, and what hard work looks like as you rise the ranks might. Nick shares a story about an athlete heading into his third NHL dev camp who only got on the ice four times in two weeks — and why that was exactly right. When you get to a certain level, everybody's working hard. Everybody's in the gym and putting in the reps. Hard work stops being the thing that separates you and starts being the thing that just keeps you in the room....
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Accepting Range of Results, Cognitive Diffusion, & The Unconscious Mind
The CEP Mindset Podcast
In this episode of The CEP Mindset Show, Cassidy, Nick, and Adam break down how an athlete can tap into their unconscious mind. The episode covers Nick's broken triangle framework, the difference between standards and expectations, and why Rod Brind'Amour disconnecting himself from his own team's win is the perfect example of autonomy-supportive leadership.
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Change is Chaos, Taking Your Shell Off, & Off-Season Phases
The CEP Mindset Podcast
In this episode of The CEP Mindset Show, Cassidy, Nick, and Adam share what it actually takes to grow and why the most uncomfortable moments of an athlete's career are often the most important ones. The episode covers the lobster analogy and what it really means to shed your shell, the difference between being forced to grow and being stuck, why change is chaos before it's progress, and how themes are more powerful than goals when it comes to off-season focus.
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Playing With a Chip on Your Shoulder, Pseudo Ceilings, & Raising Your Standard
The CEP Mindset Podcast
In this episode of The CEP Mindset Show, Cassidy, Nick, and Adam break down two of the most misunderstood concepts in sport - the chip on your shoulder and discipline vs motivation. The episode covers why external motivation isn't always the enemy athletes make it out to be, and how there's a difference between principle and supportive motivation. They also chat about what selective disobedience actually means and why doing your best means something completely different when nobody's watching.
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Athlete Stress, Peaking Early, & The Unconscious Chase
The CEP Mindset Podcast
In this episode of The CEP Mindset Show, Cassidy, Nick, and Adam share why eliminating stress shouldn't be the goal for athletes - and why trying to get rid of stress too quickly leads to burn out. The episode covers the difference between distress and eustress, why the better you get the more challenging the journey becomes, and what it actually means to build versus chase when everything's on the line. Nick previews his upcoming book Now or Never and shares why the athletes who wait until the end of the runway to start their mindset work are already behind.
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Playing on the Edge, Staying Grounded, & Four-Part Growth Framework
The CEP Mindset Podcast
In this episode of The CEP Mindset Show, Cassidy, Nick, and Adam highlight the difference between taking responsibility and taking the blame. Confusing the two is one of the most common mental mistakes an athlete makes. They also cover the fault vs. responsibility framework, why the better you get the more other people are at fault, and how confidence fits into the three-four mindset. They also dive deep into why the nicest athletes are the easiest to beat - and what it actually means to play on the edge.
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The Childlike Athlete, Unstructured Play, & Creating Your Environment
The CEP Mindset Podcast
In this episode of The CEP Mindset Show, Cassidy, Nick, and Adam get honest about one of the most overlooked topics in sport - what the love of the game actually means. They break down why it's so hard to define and what happens when it starts to fade. The episode covers the three psychological needs every athlete has to have met to truly love what they do. They cover why unstructured play is disappearing and what it's costing young athletes. Plus - how to build the love of the game into your mental performance tools.
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Perfect Mindset Trap, Fear of Losing Success, & Authoring Your Story
The CEP Mindset Podcast
In this episode of The CEP Mindset Show, Cassidy, Nick, and Adam dive into the Survive Land vs. Thrive Land framework, why fear of losing success hits different than fear of failure, the river you have to cross to get to the next level, and why tending to your lead is more important than protecting it. They also cover why striving for the perfect mindset is actually a trap — and the legendary sports psych who hung up on his All-Star pitcher to prove it.
info_outlineThe ability to block out the ‘noise’ is key to having a clear mind and playing free.
But this is easier said than done - many athletes have trouble blocking out the ‘noise’ and end up:
Overthinking
Doubting their abilities
Worrying about things out of their control When you lack alignment within your thoughts, feelings, and actions, you end up losing the ability to play in the flow state.
The best strategy to clear and block out the noise is a Reset Routine.
The magic is not in the routine itself, but in what the routine represents.
Here are the ABC’s to creating an effective and personalized Reset Routine:
STEP 1: Accept
Most athletes get caught in the ‘need to, have to, and shoulds’ of performance - this leaves them:
Feeling the burden of expectations
Distracted by the results that are not in their control
Primed to be frustrated if they fall short of their expectations
The key to letting go of this noise is acceptance, but the problem is our society thinks acceptance is a weakness.
However, if properly understood and effectively used it is one of the most powerful tools to getting centered, grounded, and becoming the hero of your own story.
That is why this step is the most important - without it your Reset Routine will not be effective or reliable.
The Pink Elephant and the Bubble
One of the analogies we like to use is the pink elephant and the bubble.
If I say “don’t think of a pink elephant.” What do you think of?
A pink elephant…
This is not an effective strategy, yet that is exactly what most advice is for athletes:
Don’t worry about it
Forget about it
Be positive
These might be the results we want but they do not tell us how to get those results.
Think of your focus and awareness as a bubble, and what we want is to have a clear bubble - where you are dialed into the process.
But the problem is pink elephants show up - aka distracting thoughts and feelings.
The solution is to go to them, to understand them, to embrace them, to accept them.
By doing this the pink elephant is not necessarily gone forever, but it will move outside your mental bubble, and your mind will become clear and free.
Finding Your Pink Elephants
The hardest part of acceptance is knowing what to accept.
There are two common problems:
The pink elephant is in your blind spot: You can feel it but have a hard time seeing it and understanding it - which therefore makes it hard to accept and clear.
A lack of perspective: When you are too zoomed in on the situation, you often have a hard time seeing the bigger picture. It’s like only seeing part of the pink elephant, but you can’t clear it unless you can see and understand the whole thing.
This is a skill that takes a lot of practice. You use it every day so that you can continuously get better at clearing the noise.
STEP 2: Breathe
There are a vast amount of strategies on the importance of using your breath to help you get relaxed, calm and centered.
“An anxious mind cannot exist in a relaxed body.” Dr. Edmund J. Bourne, Clinical Psychologist
Regardless of what strategy you use - breathing is a fundamental strategy for managing your physical and mental state.
STEP 3: Commit
Steps 1 and 2 will help you clear the noise and get centered, but the last piece of the puzzle is to direct your attention back to the task at hand.
If you don’t commit to the process you might end up letting another pink elephant get back into your bubble.
So in this step we often have the athlete close their eyes for a brief moment (if applicable) and imagine how they want to show up in the next play.
It is not just what they want to do, but how they want to feel while they do it.
Setting a clear intention of how you want to move forward helps activate the best version of yourself.
This is also a great time to use a totem.
A totem comes from Todd Herman’s Alter Ego work - which is about creating a personalized narrative that clicks for you.
The totem is then something tangible that you can touch, hold, or wear, and use to help associate that narrative. It’s a really powerful way to finish a Reset Routine.
Now remember the routine and the actions are not what make it work - the ability to accept is the key.
So if your routine is not working well - the solution is often about doing a better job of finding your pink elephants, getting to the root of the noise, and fully embracing it.
Make it a tangible routine that should only take about 10-15 seconds.
You can make variations that are shorter or longer.
The bottom line is you need to personalize it and find what works for you.
I hope you found this helpful. Please share this with anyone you think could benefit.
If you are interested in getting one of our Mental Performance Coaches to help you build your Reset Routine - visit www.cepmindset.com to get started.