Want to learn the ideas in How Champions Think better than ever? Read the world’s #1 book summary of How Champions Think by Dr. Bob Rotella here.

Read a brief 1-Page Summary or watch video summaries curated by our expert team. Note: this book guide is not affiliated with or endorsed by the publisher or author, and we always encourage you to purchase and read the full book.

Video Summaries of How Champions Think

We’ve scoured the Internet for the very best videos on How Champions Think, from high-quality videos summaries to interviews or commentary by Dr. Bob Rotella.

1-Page Summary of How Champions Think

Overview

Regardless of whether you’re a student, CEO, salesperson or athlete, you want to achieve your true potential. You spend your life striving for that success. And yet it’s difficult because negative influences keep us down and societal pressures dissuade us from the struggle to succeed. We often base our goals on what others expect us to do rather than what we actually want.

We can do better than this. As we learn from athletes, it’s possible to tap into our true potential and become a champion in whatever we do.

In this article, you will learn that the only reality is what you create. You can be an optimist and do great things in life. There are no barriers to success if you want it bad enough.

Big Idea #1: Competing against others is challenging. Yet you are your own toughest competitor.

Most of us want to be the best at what we do, whether it’s in business or sports. But most people end up being average because they don’t expect as much from themselves as they should.

A few people rise above the rest because they are able to turn their dreams into reality. They do this by creating process goals, which help them stay committed and realize their true potential.

To develop your own process goals, you should start by thinking of them as a ladder. Each rung is a day that leads to the next step, which eventually leads to success.

Your goals are important. In order to achieve them, you may need to train and practice a lot. You could also get some expert advice or change your diet in order to perform at your best.

Now, if you’re a salesperson looking to make $150,000 in commissions this year, you might set goals for the number of calls that you make during different times of the day.

When you first start setting goals, they might seem impossible to achieve. As a result, most people set low goals because they’re afraid of failing.

When you set extremely high goals, you will eventually accomplish more than those people who have low expectations. Never limit yourself and always push your limits.

Big Idea #2: Negativity beats you down and keeps you from being your best. Smile! Choose optimism.

Negativity is everywhere. We can’t escape it, even if we try to avoid the news and read only positive things. However, this negativity can make us sad and pessimistic about life. This in turn prevents us from reaching our true potential by being afraid of failure or judgement from others.

In 1954, experts said a person couldn’t run one mile in under four minutes. They claimed it was impossible, which resulted in no runner trying to do so. However, Roger Bannister tried and succeeded by putting his heart and soul into the challenge. He set an example for other runners to follow by breaking that record himself.

Many athletes have followed in Bannister’s footsteps and succeeded. Optimism is correlated with success, but pessimism correlates with failure. Choose to be an optimist – all you lose by being pessimistic is your bad attitude!

Optimism is like faith. It’s not something that you know based on evidence, but a feeling that you create to get through tough times. A simple trick in those situations is to smile because it signals your brain that you’re happy and relaxed—ready to give your all.

Big Idea #3: Confidence is the key to success. It is something you choose and must work to build everyday!

People often assume that confidence comes with winning. However, if this were true, how could someone win for the first time? It is a choice you make to be confident like optimism. If you visualize your goals and keep practicing, you will build confidence that helps fuel hard work.