Written by: Stefan Peter, Executive Contributor
Executive Contributors at Brainz Magazine are handpicked and invited to contribute because of their knowledge and valuable insight within their area of expertise.
In this article, you will learn the best mindset strategies of professional soccer players and how you can apply them for yourself to perform better and become more successful without burning out.
1. Meditation
Kick it like Beckham or rather meditate like Beckham. If even the greatest of sports like Christiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi, Gareth Bale or David Beckham have recognized the positive effects of meditation for themselves, then you should too if you care about your performance and your health.
How does meditation improve your performance, you ask?
Pro soccer players use meditation to shorten their recovery time and get back to 100% performance faster. According to studies, you can equate 15 minutes of meditation to an hour of sleep, and many people who meditate regularly report that they need less sleep.
Building resilience
True champions are characterized by remaining calm in the face of the storm and not allowing themselves to be rattled. Strength is to be found in serenity. And also, practice makes perfect, which means to keep your cool in stressful situations you must prepare and learn how to calm your nervous system when necessary. Meditation and Breathwork are ideal mindset exercises to do just that and professional athletes swear by them.
Regulate your emotions and behavior
Emotions in all colors and facets are part of us and every emotion is allowed and desired. Even negative emotions like anger can have a positive influence on us and even give us a short-term energy boost. However, it is important that negative emotions do not become permanent, but come and go like clouds in the sky.
Most importantly meditation helps you to stay in control in difficult situations. Practicing this soccer mindset hack a few minutes daily will help you make the right decisions in stressful situations. When soccer players are guided by negative emotions in important moments, they often make the wrong decision and their performance suffers - so do you and I.
How do I improve my self-confidence?
Many of the soccer players I work with ask this question but the answer is actually quite simple for me. Probably no one ever told you but that’s how I see it. If you feel that you don't have enough self-confidence, it is usually because you don't accept a specific behavior about yourself or you would like to improve it.
For example, how you deal with mistakes (behavior of showing frustration and bad body language) or how you communicate with people (behavior of blaming others) or how you perceive yourself in the mirror, which is based on your eating and exercise behavior.
By changing your behavior and doing something for yourself you increase your self-confidence. Easy as that! The soccer mindset hack in this case would be start a daily workout routine – and again 10 minutes is all it takes to become fit and increase your self-confidence because you do something for yourself. Stay consistent and observe your own positive change in behavior and thereby gain more self-confidence step by step.
My online soccer mindset courses help athletes to change behavior in a step-by-step process. Personal development is never about changing who you are, but improving your behavior in certain situations.“ – Stefan Peter, MAS in Sports Health and Leadership
Basically it's very simple, but sometimes it can be helpful to get a coach on your side to work on this and get results faster. Soccer mindset training is not only beneficial for soccer players confidence – it will also boost you and your performance.
2. Become relentless
By regularly practicing overcoming obstacles and pushing yourself to your limits, you become unstoppable. Professional soccer players show this work ethic of giving their best every day. Why? Because a pro soccer player knows: "You play like you train“ So in order to reach their full potential in the important moments they know it is crucial to always give their best and implement a soccer mindset.
And that's exactly what you should do if you want to become or stay a high performer as well. This doesn't mean that you have to push yourself to the limit every day and certainly not that you should overexert yourself 24 hours a day.
Learn about Super-compensation
The key is the right balance between effort and recovery. In sports we talk about the principle of Super-compensation. Only if you push yourself hard enough and then have enough time for regeneration you will improve steadily.
When building muscles it is exactly the same.
You have to train with a certain weight to give the muscle the right stimulus to grow. If the weight is too low and the effort is not great enough then the muscle will not grow. And only If you then develop good relaxation and recovery habits as well, you will not only be able to go back to your base level of performance, you will also build a capacity for higher-level performance in the future. Neglecting recovery leads to decreased performances, exhaustion, burnout, chronic fatigue and injuries.
One simple yet extremely effective way to become relentless and incorporate a pro soccer mindset is a combination of breathing exercises and ice baths or cold showers. The method I am talking about is known as the Wim Hof Method and many athletes practice this breathing technique or other breathing techniques called pranayama techniques.
It is important to mention here that such breathing techniques are recommended only for healthy people and are best practiced under professional supervision. Please consider talking to a doctor if you are in doubt.
The more often you manage to overcome yourself, the more unstoppable you will become in the future.
3. Celebrate Teamwork
We can definitely achieve great things individually but as a Team we can make anything happen. Creating a sense of team and togetherness is another key mindset hack of pro soccer players in order to perform to perfection. A chain is only as strong as its weakest link. If you are interested about what we can learn from successful Formula 1 teams checkout this great Brainz Article.
What it needs to create a Team?
Communication! Strong communication skills are vital, that means for many young athletes who grew up communicating with their thumbs on a screen sometimes learning how to communicate in person, eye to eye. This also means learning to stand up for yourself but at the same time being respectful and able to listen, being able to give and receive feedback and meeting people with an open heart and open mind. These are traits of emotional intelligent people and a step-by-step personal development program like the Emotionset Method I use working with pro athletes, is what it takes to get there.
These are all key elements in order to create a team and, furthermore also to lead your team. As the saying goes: Lead yourself first and then others. If you improve your communication, with yourself and others, you will benefit in every aspect of life and build stronger teams and stronger relationships. Watch Juergen Klopp’s video talking about transformational leadership and how to build strong relationships
If you want to create a great team? That is all you need:
Clear goals that provide a sense of purpose and motivation to work and achieve together.
Effective communication to build trust, respect, resolve conflicts, and share information.
Positive attitude to create optimism and to help overcome challenges.
Trust and respect as the foundation of any successful team.
Shared experiences such as team-building activities, help build relationships and camaraderie and feel as a strong unit that can achieve anything.
Strong and positive leadership is essential for building team spirit. Leaders should be able to inspire and motivate team members, set a positive example, and create a culture of trust and respect.
Building a strong network of great people
Last but not least, having a strong network is one of the most important skills in this day and age. The best athletes in the world know that they need a team around them in order to succeed. By becoming more emotionally intelligent and mentally stronger through incorporating these 3 soccer mindset hacks, you can also increase the chance of creating this team and support system around you.
Stefan Peter, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine
Stefan Peter is an expert in personal development. He works mainly with international athletes and coaches in the fields of Soccer, Tennis, Basketball and American Football. His own experience with depression as a young athlete, after the death of his father, inspired him to become a coach and a mentor to athletes in similar situations. His major passion is to empower people to unlock their full performance potential and (re)discover inner fulfillment and performance joy. He is the creator of the 4 steps Emotionset-Method and holds a Masters Degree in Sports Health and Leadership.
