You are down by six, with a minute left to go in your game. There is still plenty of time for your team to take the lead, but sadly, they don’t have the right mindset to come back and win. If your team were to still have the right mindset going into this last minute of the game, then you could easily have taken the lead.

There are two distinct types of mindsets that a player can possess: a fixed mindset or a growth mindset. Obtaining a fixed mindset means that you already are under the impression that you are the best. You might feel as if there is nothing else for you to improve upon. Having a growth mindset means that you know that there will always be areas for improvement and knowing that no matter how good you are, you can always be better.

Mindset is an essential part of anything that you do in life. Every time that you fail or don’t perform as well as you could have, your mindset gets stronger. If you have the capability of turning constructive criticism into motivation or into a learning experience then your attitude toward life will be a immensely better and allow you to grow.

I have heard numerous times that “practice makes perfecta��, but I have never seen a perfect player. Whenever I get nervous before a game my soccer coach always tells us that, “College coaches watching your games are not looking at how many times you lose the ball, but at how you react when we lose it.”

There will always be at least one player that is better than you in at least one aspect of the game – you can never be flawless. Whether you see the field for the whole game or ten minutes of it, it is still your game to be played and your time to prove yourself. Skill is replaceable but attitude and mindset are not.

Mindset is everything.