Elite Mindset: 9 Essential Routines to Help You Get There

If you’re an athlete or professional, you’ve heard about the elite mindset. It also means outlook or perspective. You've heard about how an elite mindset can help you to become more successful in meeting your goals.  

It’s this mindset that helps you keep going when things are hard. That allows you to become the best of the best – or at least the best you can be. A major part of an elite mindset is mental routines. 

The Best Routines for an Elite Mindset

The routines you create in your life push you toward an elite mindset. Having this mindset is about setting yourself up for success. It's something you do every day until you achieve the results you’re looking for – and then you keep going (Arlinghaus, Johnston, 2018).

Here are 9 routines to train and develop an elite mindset:

1. Create Clear Goals

Knowing where you’re headed gives your actions meaning and provides you with a purpose. It’s important to set goals that are specific, measurable, clear, and challenging. This way you know when you’re meeting them and when you need to make adjustments. 

These goals should be in line with your values and dreams. Making them a challenge helps to keep you on a path of continuous improvement. This way, you know when you’re making progress towards meeting your goals and when you need to adjust them.

2. Engage in Physical Health Care Routines

You can’t be at your best if your health isn’t at its best (Arlinghaus, Johnston, 2018). So it’s essential to keep on top of your health. First, go to your doctor for regular checkups. Then get tests done when recommended. Also, follow through with the doctor's orders. 

Your mental and cognitive functioning directly result from your physical health and fitness. A major part of physical health is the routines in our lives. These healthy routines include exercise, healthy food, adequate sleep, and recovery time (Doherty et al., 2021). A big part of being elite is taking care of your body. 

3. Manage Emotions and Thoughts                                              

The emotions and thoughts you’re experiencing effects your performance. So it's important to be aware of the thoughts and feelings you have. It's also crucial to know how they impact your performance. 

If you believe you can't do something, then you can't. If you go into a meeting feeling angry, you aren't going to put your best foot forward. Once you are aware of your feelings and can see their negative impact, it's time to work on changing them. 

Often we have overwhelming feelings or thoughts that we can't get away from. These thoughts can come from things that happened in our past, not just what is happening now. This is something that you need to seek help for from a therapist. 

Elite performers pay attention to their thoughts and feelings. They make the changes they need to meet their goals. Regular prayer and/or mindfulness can assist in this. They help you be in the moment and learn how to change the thoughts you’re currently having. When your thoughts and emotions control you, you aren’t your best self.

4. Self-Reflection/Awareness

Self-reflection/awareness is more than being aware of your thoughts and feelings. It’s also awareness of your actions and whether or not you’re on the path toward your goals. It’s looking at where you perform well and where you need work to improve.  

Self-awareness is knowing how you’re setting yourself up for success and figuring out what you’re doing to sabotage your goals. How do you keep doing more things that align with your values and less of the things that will get in your way? 

Self-awareness is also accepting feedback from others and making necessary adjustments. If you’d like more information about self-awareness, check out my e-book on the topic here. 

5. Engage in Healthy Community

The saying about being the average of the five people you spend the most time with is true. Especially when it comes to mindset. The people you spend time with can impact the way you think, the way you feel, and eventually, the way you behave. 

Your community influences your beliefs about yourself, the world, and your values. For more information about this, check out my blog on this topic here.

6. Faith/Mindfulness 

We are hard-wired to look to something bigger in this world than us. Research shows engaging in spiritual/religious practices helps to have a healthier mindset. Doing so helps our inner person be healthier. This, in turn, helps you to perform better.  

Spiritual/religious practices are helpful when it comes to optimism, engaging in healthy behaviors, and having a sense of meaning in life (Koenig, 2012). It also lowers your stress and helps you be more physically healthy (Koenig, 2012). All these things improve your mindset and help you be more successful in life.

Mindfulness activities include meditation, visualization, positive self-talk, and mental optimization strategies. It assists in improving focus and concentration as well.

7. Time Management

Time management skills are essential for productivity. Creating a schedule ensures you complete the tasks that help you reach your goals. It does this by ensuring that time is set aside for the most important things in your life. Which then makes sure that your professional and personal priorities actually become priorities.

8. Growth Mindset

Having a growth mindset provokes you to improve your skills and learn consistently. It recognizes that no matter how good you are, you can always be better. It’s about seeking the steps to improve and taking them once you know what they are. 

This is another crucial part of an elite mindset. It’s the main difference between an average vs. elite mindset. Average people limit themselves. The elite mentality is to never stop improving yourself and your life.

9. Balance and Recovery

Elite performers know that work and consistency are a vital part of the process. At the same time, they also recognize that having balance in your life and time to recover is important as well (Doherty et al., 2021) Doing something else allows your body and mind to process your progress. Allowing your body and mind to rest gives your brain and body the time it needs to recover and gain perspective. 

People with an elite mindset recognize the value of taking breaks. They realize it's important to spend time with loved ones. They know pursuing outside activities like hobbies impacts their ability to perform better. These breaks help provide a healthy balance and avoid burnout.

Developing these routines in your life will put you on the path to a healthier lifestyle and an elite mindset. Like any skill, developing the right mindset takes practice and repetition. Keep putting one foot in front of the other, and you’ll get there. You have to put in the reps.

In my work as a performance coach/therapist, I’ve seen firsthand the impact mindset and the routines that build it have on our ability to meet our goals. I know you can have an elite mindset and be successful with it.

Thank you for reading! I trust it was helpful.

I love helping people develop a healthy frame of mind for success in life. Let’s schedule a call and discuss what that could look like for you. Click here to book a call today, and let’s go from there. I look forward to our conversation.

Resources

1 Arlinghaus, K. R., & Johnston, C. A. (2018). The Importance of Creating Habits and Routines. American journal of lifestyle medicine, 13(2), 142–144. https://doi.org/10.1177/1559827618818044

2. Doherty R, Madigan SM, Nevill A, Warrington G, Ellis JG. The Sleep and Recovery Practices of Athletes. Nutrients. 2021 Apr 17;13(4):1330. doi: 10.3390/nu13041330. PMID: 33920560; PMCID: PMC8072992.

3. Koenig HG. Religion, spirituality, and health: the research and clinical implications. ISRN Psychiatry. 2012 Dec 16;2012:278730. doi: 10.5402/2012/278730. PMID: 23762764; PMCID: PMC3671693.