In Chapter 8 of my book, Coach, Run, Win, I tell the story of how I and my runners developed a winning mindset. It is actually quite simple in theory. Make a decision to be the best that you can be, figure out the workouts necessary to help you reach your goals and then execute those workouts. You will not win your age group in a local 5k unless you have decided that you can. Your team will not be League Champions unless you have decided that you will.  Once a decision has been made and goals have been set, perform the workouts that will allow you to achieve those goals.

Set a season long goal. A winning mindset is rooted in being clear about where you want to go. Then study and plan your season of workouts to help you progress to those season end goals. Each workout you do should have goals. As an individual runner, keep a record of your workouts. Set goals and then record how you did in each workout. Not every workout is successful nor needs to be. In fact, they should be challenging enough that you don’t always accomplish the daily goal. Look at your progress week to week. Are you progressing towards your season end goal? Modify your workout plans accordingly.

Hoping to be better will not make you better. Wishing you could win will not make you a winner. Committing to the work and focus necessary to achieve your goals will bring you success. We often limit ourselves with a fear of failure. The result of this fear is that we limit our goals. What is the worst that can happen if you reach high and fall short? At least you tried. So, try to be the best. Have a winning mindset.