The Everyday Athlete Mindset

The everyday athlete is a specific kind of person. It someone who tackles their training as a professional athlete would, except they carry additional stresses and demands from a life that also includes full-time work, significant family relationships and more. Because of this, the mindset that the everyday athlete maintains is a key part of their success. Without the right mindset, you'll find someone who loves going to the gym alongside their hectic work and life schedule, but they don't make progress in both at the same time. They become stale, stagnant, or even burnt out. They spin their wheels and sink deeper into a hole of their own creation. The everyday athlete is defined by their ability to succeed in multiple areas of their life and fitness. And these are 5 hallmarks of the the everyday athlete mindset that allows them to do so. 1. Delay Gratification The everyday athlete is more than happy to put in work today that doesn't come to fruition until much further down the line. They understand that each individual action or effort it part of a much bigger picture. Each action or effort is a building block that future efforts can be built upon. They don't have to leave every workout feeling like they won, or feeling like they emptied the tank. Every action and effort is deliberate towards a much greater outcome further down the line. And they value this because if it was achievable in just a few sessions or a few weeks, it wasn't really that much of a challenge in the first place. Anyone could have done it. The everyday athlete delays gratification to achieve bigger things that would have made most quit long before. 2. Process Focussed The everyday athlete is process focussed. That doesn't mean the outcome isn't important. Performance gains are the reason that get started in the first place after all. But the everyday athlete understands that the process is what delivers the outcome they want. They may want to run their first half marathon, marathon or ultra. But they know that the next step is to run a bit further than they have before. And they know that they need to cover that distance in the right way in terms of running technique, energy systems, and nutrition/hydration. They layer all of these building blocks on top of each other to climb the ladder to where they want to be. In the gym they may want to squat double bodyweight. But they understand that to achieve that, they need to progressively overload the movement while strengthening the weak links. They always do their accessories, they always value their technique, they always focus on the next step. They everyday athlete focusses on the process so the outcome can look after itself. 3. Prioritise Efficiency The everyday athlete prioritises efficiency as they do not have time or energy to waste. They are already taking on a lot. They're hitting 5-8 hours of hard training in alongside a demanding 40+ hour work week and the various other demands their home and family life puts on them. So they can't always come home from training with nothing left. There is still more to do. Or they can't show up at work at 50% after an early session. Every bit of work they do needs to have a clear purpose to move the needle forwards. They strive to get the more from less. To obtain more progress from their 5-8 hours of training a week than other get from 10-15. They demand that they drive their performance forward in the gym while remaining a high performer in the workplace and at home. They simply can't afford to spend too much time at less than their best. So efficiency is of vital importance to the everyday athlete. 4. Work At A Cadence The everyday athlete works at a consistent cadence. This is as true in the gym and on the road as it is in the workplace and at home. They have systems, routines, and non-negotiables in place to allow them to be efficient and process focussed. When running on the roads or out on the trails, or cycling on the flat or during climbs, they know that maintaining a cadence when things get uncomfortable is a vital part of achieving their goals. When knocking off gym sessions they know it is the repeated attendance and accumulation of reps on a weekly basis that is going to add up. At work they know that they have to knock off key tasks on a regular basis, and structure their day around that rather than reacting to every mini crisis that appears during a work week. And at home they know what they need to do and when to ensure they have all the little things in place to succeed at the big things. Whether it's food shops, meal prepping, clothes washing or sleep and waking routines. The everyday athlete works at a cadence which guarantees they're always moving forward at a pace. 5. Trust Finally the everyday athlete is someone who trusts others. When you take on a lot, you have to trust others to help you. There are no successful lone wolves. They trust coaches to organise, monitor and deliver their programming and coaching. They know that it will return 10 fold compared to trying to go it alone and write their own program between a 40+ hour work week and fulfilling home and family life. They trust that someone looking in with an unbiased eye can identify and tell them when they could and should be doing more, and also when they could and should be doing less. They trust someone to plan ahead and outline the process so they can commit to the actions of following it. They trust someone to help them identify what's important right now relative to the bigger picture down the line. They trust someone to identify the right cadence for them to train at, and the routines and habits that will give them the belief that they can maintain the maximum cadence for them to get the most progress. And they trust their support network at home and in the workplace in the same way. To allow them to be at their best, and do their best work in the areas they really need to. Everyday athletes are never lone wolves.