1. Attitude

Attitude is a choice that athletes need to make. Their attitude should be positive, to allow them to view the sport they are playing, as an opportunity to push themselves to the limits and perceive their failures and successes as a learning opportunity. Athletes learn to pursue excellence rather than perfection and treat the people around them as teammates who are not perfect but are working as hard as them. They make sure to achieve a balance between the sport they play and the other activities they do.

2. Motivation

For successful athletes, awareness of everything they could benefit from is a must. They are able to get over difficult times, because they are frequent, especially when they do not reach the rewards they were hoping for. They are motivated to participate in every opportunity in order to improve their performance, rather than to win.

3. Goals and Commitment

To be successful, one needs to set a goal and commit to it. Athletes set goals in the long-term and the short term, based on measurable, realistic and time-oriented factors. They are totally aware of their performance and their ability to develop plans to achieve almost anything they want. They do so by being highly committed to their goals and by training enough to reach them.

4. People Skills

Even if you work in a playground, you need people skills. To do so, athletes realize that they represent not only their teams but also their families and friends. They make sure to keep a decent image that their environment would be proud with. They are open and learn to communicate their thoughts, needs and feelings. They make sure to learn how to deal with conflicts and difficult times and opponents which makes it less of a burden to them.

5. Self-Talk

Mentally healthy athletes know how to talk with themselves. They preserve their self-confidence especially while going through hard times by practicing positive and realistic self-talk. They consider themselves their own best friends when they do so. They use this method to control their feelings, thoughts, and behaviors during competition.

6. Dealing Effectively with Anxiety

Learning how to face anxious times is very essential. These athletes learn to accept the fact that anxiety can be part of the game. They also understand that some of this feeling might be good to push them to their limits and help them improve their performance. With time they learn to reduce it when it takes much more space in their life than it should.