There are three types of athletes, and I can tell you this, if I can identify which of the three levels you fit in most accurately, I can completely predict within a very high level of accuracy. The type of athlete you are, the level of success you are, and I could almost predict your future.

My name is Dr. Jay Cavanaugh of Behind the Beast.

Today we will cover the three levels that athletes compete in, which will be a very simple breakdown. Still, when you start to see the differences between all three levels, you’ll gain many ideas on which level you are in and how to approach the higher levels to get better results with your competition, your training, and your mindset.

So let’s start with level one.

A level-one athlete tends to focus on one thing, and they focus on their problems. You’ll hear, uh, an athlete like this talk about, well, I seem to not, you know, compete like I practice, or I really struggled with the pressure, or, you know, I just didn’t feel like myself out there.

Now what you’ll find them doing is, They tend to talk about the problems. That’s it. The conversation ends there. All they do is talk about what went wrong, what they didn’t do, what they, they don’t even really go into what they should do. They talk about what didn’t happen and what they didn’t do.

That’s a level-one athlete.

Let’s talk about a level-two athlete. A level two athlete is one step above, one step better. Now, they still talk about problems, but then they at least pose some potential solutions. Now, what you’ll notice about their solutions is they tend to be somewhat general.

Let me give you an example. So a level two athlete will say something like this. Yeah, you know, I didn’t seem to handle the pressure that well, and you know, I just need to get better control of my emotion. , right? Um, they’ll say something like this, but the thing is, when you’ve got a potential solution like this, you’re on the right track.

So I will tell you this, A level two athlete is on a much better path than a level one. But here’s the mistake that I’ve noticed in working with the professional athletes that I work with, is that specificity and clarity. Is king. Let me say that again.

Specificity and clarity are king. If you don’t get crystal clear, when I say crystal clear, I’m talking in such detail that you can almost see it as you describe it, or if someone else is describing it, you can almost see it with your mind’s eye because the level of detail is so clear.

This brings us to the level three athlete, and I jumped ahead because this is exactly what a level athlete, a level three athlete will do—level three athlete. Discusses and is aware of problems, learns from them, is aware of potential solutions, starts to ponder them, consider them hypothesize about them.

But what they do is they come up with a very clear and concise strategy with details as to what they’re going to test or try to alleviate the problem. So let’s say we go back to the previous example with a level two athlete who say, Hey, listen. I had a problem, uh, you know, crumbling under the pressure.

I need to gain better control of my emotions. Okay? A level three athlete will continue the conversation with something like this. So, I think there are three areas I want to play around with this week in practice and see what we can learn from each of them. First of all, I want to really focus on my breathing.

So what that’s going to look like is I’m going to practice box breathing, the physiological sigh, and when I’m going to do it. Is, I’m going to be very aware. I will work on the awareness of when my heart rate is rising and when my thoughts are starting to create an emotional response that no longer serves me.

At that point, that’s when I’m going to test, drive box breathing, and then check in with myself and say, Hey. What did my emotions do? And then I’m also going to do another test where I’m going to do the physiological side twice and then see what kind of impact that has on my emotions, right? So you start to realize that the more clear you get, and the easier it is to see it in your mind’s eye, the more you have a crystal clear strategy, the more you can execute.

Right? Because the whole game of improvement as an athlete is setting intentions that are crystal clear and specific and then simply executing. But I will tell you this. In my experience, the people that struggle to execute often don’t realize that it’s not for a lack of desire. It’s not for a lack of effort or ability, and it’s just because you lack clarity.

What exactly am I executing? You know, um, I sometimes poke fun at it, but, you know, sometimes people say, I gotta. What does that even mean? ? What is regrouping do? To me, regrouping is a group dissembling, and then it reassembles. Uh, couldn’t you show up to a game and regroup?

I guess? What is regrouping? You know, I have to put my head down. Okay. I’m putting my head down now. Nothing seems to be changing other than I need to vacuum my floor. But you see, this is the issue, and this is the opportunity because most athletes don’t think to the level they need to achieve success.

So, If you want more tips like this, you’ve got to become a member of the Beast. This weekly bulletin goes out every single Monday and is your sneak tip, your secret sauce to becoming a better athlete. And also have a section for parent coaches, whether you’re a student-athlete, pro athlete, or casual athlete.

Every episode has a crystal clear game plan for what you can do Monday through Friday, as it’s sent out early in the morning on Mondays. And honestly, this is our number one resource at a price that you literally cannot beat for helping you master your mind and becoming a mental beast honestly.

Thank you so much for your time. I’m Dr. Jay Cavanaugh of Behind the Best, and we’ll talk soon.