I believe we all have the ability to embody the Athletic Mindset. Whether you are an athlete struggling to reach your highest potential, you were an athlete and have found yourself lost, confused, unmotivated, or whether you just want to ignite that fire within you to awaken your inner athlete in order to feel your best, move your body with confidence, and boost your performance level by miles. The myth about athletes is that they have to be immensely physically strong in order to be able to perform and go to such lengths of practice to be capable of reaching levels many of us "average Joe's" think is unreachable. My friends, and fellow athletes, this is beyond the truth, and I'm here to tell you how it is possible and that you have what it takes...whether you believe it or not.

As a young competitive gymnast, embarking on such a concrete journey of strength, resilience, and determination, one thing always stuck with me no matter how hard it got - being an athlete is 90% mindset and only 10% physical strength. This is why I define the Athletic Mindset in my book, Beyond the Sport, as a foundational platform of mental and physical abilities, but the most important of the two is mental. The second thing that stuck with me is never to say the words, "I can't" because if I had I would suffer the consequences...this meant an infinite amount of pushups,  but besides that, the belief that I wasn't good enough. 

This limiting belief is something that we all struggle with on a day-to-day basis, and I would be lying to you if I said I've mastered this. This limiting belief is what keeps us at odds with our inner athlete and stops us from accomplishing our goals. A question that always comes up is, "what makes me different from him/her?" The answer, my friend, is...mindset. First of all, one of the basic principles in my book is that 'comparison fuels doubt and it is the thief of confidence.' The most important thing to understand is, without cultivating the mindset first, your physical strength will only get you so far. I learned that the hard way.

Don't get me wrong, physical strength is super important in order to perform harder, more challenging skills and to prevent injury, but to stay motivated and persistent involves intense emotional and mental strength to stay on top of your game. That is why I've put together a collection of 8 core strengths that I have thoughtfully and deliberately matched with particular personality types in order to heighten your awareness and connection to your inner athlete!

I'm super excited to bring this to you and to offer you a chance to learn even more about yourself through the lens of an athlete - a powerful way to help you live #powerfullyauthentic to truly embody your signature strength in all areas of your life to love yourself more, move your body in ways that make you feel good, and perform your best. 

The Top 8 Core Athlete Strengths include:

1. Determination

2. Motivation

3. Confidence

4. Resilience

5. Wisdom

6. Commitment

7.  Persistence

8.  Adaptation

Each of these Core Athletic Strengths contains basic defining qualities that relate to a particular personality based on the MBTI (overview of the 16 personality types here), which correlates with a movement profile created by Susan Brue, author and creator of the 8 Colors of Fitness, plus the TAP assessment for discovering a specific Athlete Type based on athletic tendencies. I encourage you to take all three of these tests, but I have broken them all down into these basic, foundational strengths to give you a collaborative profile of your unique mental ability to connect with your inner athlete.

Take the quiz to discover your core athletic strength and unlock your potential to embody the soul of an athlete :P