Success Depends on a "Growth Mindset" (Part 2)

Fighting the negativity within

Despite consistently holding a strong position in the U.S. over the past few years,400The top spot in the men's individual medley, but2021The year's disappointment hung over him.At the 2020 Tokyo Olympic trials, he finished in the top...250Mi has been consistently in the lead, and350Also at the 10-meter mark, alongside Olympic gold medalist Chase・Kaliz（Chase Kalisz）Together in the top two, but at the very end50In the freestyle leg of the race, Olympic silver medalist Jay was...・LiselandJay Litherland) Catch up,Leading toThe dream of competing in the Tokyo Olympics has shattered. After the competition, Kaliz and Lyseland comforted the athlete.19Young adults in their twenties,Tell himThe best is yet to come.

Over the next few years, with the help of a mental coach, Foster managed to400Won two silver medals at the World Championships in the men's event.

However,2021The shadow of the year still lingers. For several years, Foster has been battling the negative voices inside his mind. He’s grateful to his mental coach, Susana.・MüllerSuzanne Mueller) and Jim・MurphyJim Murphy), it was their support that helped him overcome the doubts and fears that had lingered with him throughout these past few years.

The two mental coaches alsoHelpFosterBreak free from your excessive reliance on your phone. He won at the World Championships in Fukuoka400After winning the silver medal in the medley, there were no competitions the next day, so I just scrolled endlessly on my phone—right up until early morning.2:30"When I first started working with my mental coach, they asked…"："When you're looking at your phone, everything is affecting your brain. How much do these pieces of information actually help you? Do you gain anything meaningful from any of them?"APPHow much positive feedback did it receive?"I answered truthfully," I said.：“No.” I don’t think I’ve ever been to any of them.APPI didn’t receive any positive information from China. Later, I deleted them.APP” 

Foster started reading and made it a priority to call his parents every day.“I started reading a lot of books, and now I can even leave my phone in another room.” This day-to-day transformation has helped him swim better. By focusing on “the things that give life,” his goals have become clearer. Foster admits that since then, he’s learned to “turn off his brain”—embracing the monotonous, repetitive nature of his training without overthinking it anymore.

 Last year6Month,FosterSelected for the U.S. National Swimming Team to compete2024The list of athletes for the Paris Olympics.7Month29Day, reaping the man400Mixed Medley FinalOf theBronze medal.7Month31DayAtMan4×200Men's Freestyle Relay FinalWon in the middleFinished as runner-up.At2024World Aquatics Championships25Miles) Men400In the men's individual medley eventSwim out3:57.45OutstandingGrades, harvestof his/her career8One World Championship silver medal (long course and short course).

Discard the flawed growth mindset

Exploring how to cultivate"Before adopting a growth mindset," the key is to be like WalshJohnston andLike outstanding athletes such as Foster,Capable of being found"Triggers of a 'fixed mindset'—and how to avoid them. While lack of motivation, low resilience, and limited personal growth are common triggers, it’s unlikely that all of these apply to you. But if you can’t identify even one factor affecting you, that’s actually quite surprising—it might mean you’ve genuinely adopted the wrong growth mindset."

Most athletes love to claim they train hard and diligently, but in reality, society seems to place greater value on certain things, such as“Gifted” or “naturally talented.” If relentless discipline is one of the mental triggers that motivates you, you might find yourself overwhelmed by tasks that demand sustained, long-term effort—essentially making it more likely that you’ll give up. And if you tend to compare yourself to others, you may feel discouraged when someone else achieves the same goals with far less effort. But just because hard work feels like your natural mindset doesn’t mean you’re lazy—it simply reflects a self-limiting belief: no matter how much effort you put in, you secretly believe you’ll never measure up as well as those who seem naturally more gifted.

Challenges and setbacks are inevitable in the process of achieving your goals. For instance, you promised yourself to go for a run every week.3Next timeBut unfortunately, it rained all week. Running in this kind of weather isn’t ideal, so you ended up skipping it and throwing your plans off track. However, now you have…"A growth mindset"—that’s not a big deal. In your mind, setbacks aren’t setbacks; they’re just obstacles.

Everyone handles criticism differently. Professional athletes often receive extensive feedback from their coaches. Faced with this sometimes harsh feedback, they listen carefully, reflect thoughtfully, and even choose to act on it. The challenge, however, is that some of us struggle to separate our performance from our sense of self. When things don’t go well, we tend to blame ourselves entirely, assuming it’s a reflection of our inherent worth rather than just a matter of performance.

As a professional athlete, stepping out of your comfort zone is one of the strongest indicators of both training and growth. After all, unless you venture beyond it, you’ll likely end up simply repeating what you already know. Some people naturally shy away from exploring and pushing the boundaries of their skill sets. If this tendency aligns with your fixed mindset—where you’re prone to believe that the goal itself is too challenging as soon as your initial attempts don’t yield results—you may be tempted to give up altogether.

Sometimes, it’s hard for us to admit when others succeed. When we encounter people who’ve placed higher in competitions or achieved better results than we have, we can’t help but compare ourselves to them. Yet, your brain doesn’t fully grasp that these individuals simply have more experience in certain aspects of their sport. With a bit of dedication and effort on your part, there’s no reason why you couldn’t reach a similar level of excellence. Being around professionals who outshine you in their careers, however, might stir up feelings of intimidation—and could even trigger a fixed mindset.

At the 2024 Paris Olympics, Foster won the bronze medal in the men's 400-meter individual medley.

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